cuisines: traditional hungarian
Mar 12 '10
The Ultimate Chef's Table (With Wine)
Hernyák Birtok in Etyek is like no other place I have been in Hungary. I was already plotting my return nearly as soon as I walked in the door, had my first sip of sauvignon blanc, and began chatting...
Feb 15 '10
Hungary Wins Knife-Edge Victory Over Romania in Fourth Annual Pig-Killing Olympics
This opening of the Vancouver Olympics wasn't the only closed-watched international winter sporting event this weekend. Over in the heavily Hungarian (81.75%!) Transylvanian city of Miercurea Ciuc/Csíkszereda, Sunday witnessed the fourth installment of what we assume is the world's most...
Feb 09 '10
Walkin' in a Winter Pork Wonderland
If you're wondering why posting has picked up so dramatically today, the answer is inspiration. On Sunday, I stumbled down to Budapest's City Park to catch the tail end of this year's Mangalica festival. Maybe it was the incredibly...
Dec 29 '09
Can Hester from London Beat Baraka's New Year's Offer? Unlikely Indeed!
Among the holiday greetings and other assorted messages dropped in our inbox over the past week were two interesting and related items having to with New Year's Eve dinner specials. Here's the first: Hi, I have been such a fan...
Dec 23 '09
Finally, a Budapest Restaurant Concept to Sink Your Teeth Into
It is one of those ideas that seems so obvious, you can’t believe it hasn’t been done before: take a traditional Hungarian butcher shop, add a few up-market flourishes, and emphasize the pre-prepared food rather than the meat counter....
Sep 30 '09
Back to the Future at the (Red) Star of City Park
There are a lot of reasons to go to Pántlika, which sits behind Petőfi Csarnok in the Városliget. Foremost is that the weather is changing, and the City Park in the Zugló section of Budapest actually gets nicer as...
Jul 22 '09
How We Know the Házi Kovászos Uborka at Gerlóczy Kávéház Really Are Házi
Didn't get a chance to stop back later and try any of these kovászos uborka we saw fermenting away outside the Gerlóczy Kávéház [details/user feedback] [related Chew items] a few weeks back. Still, in an age when many restaurants...
Jul 21 '09
Építészpince's Garden is Built to Please
It is hard not to be predisposed to enjoy Építészpince (follow link for contact details and user feedback). What's not to like? The "Architects' Basement," which occupies a part of the headquarters of the Magyar Építész Kamara (Chamber of...
Jul 17 '09
Special Lunch Specials: World's Most Tender Chicken Versus World's Most Elegant Főzelek @ Csalogány 26
Our last check-in with Csalogány 26 (follow link for contact details and user feedback) occurred after someone had trashed the restaurant's service at lunch. Back then we found the service just fine, and the specials on offer just delicious....
May 20 '09
Introducing the Peasant McMagyar®
Via on-again-off-again contributor Bede we get this great pic that was shot yesterday by Sándor Bisztray at the McDonald's over on Blaha tér. In addition to the half-eaten parasztkolbász ("peasant sausage") note the Túró Rudi sitting on the bench...
Feb 17 '09
Cheer Up People, It Could Have Been a Czech Restaurant
We were just doing a little surfing around photo-sharing site Flicker looking for some uplifting, user-uploaded Hungarian restaurant-related inspiration. Well, remind us never to try that again!...
Jan 13 '09
A New Golden Age for Aranyszarvas?
Like food itself, restaurant reviews are perishable, meaning that after a certain period of time they always go off. In some cases, though, a review can remain valid for years. Back in the summer of 1998, for example, a...
Jan 08 '09
A Genuine Transylvanian Love Story Turns to Horror in Final Scene
For a city with so many Hungarians originating from Erdély (Transylvania) there are precious few restaurants in Budapest specializing in the hearty fare from that region. And if you have been to Transylvania, you know just how good the...
Nov 21 '08
Yes, We Have No Hungarian Restaurants
Overheard late the other night at a pub in Buda: Young Hungarian Guy (with a German-speaking friend, poring over a Budapest map): "Can you recommend a few places downtown for my friend to get good Hungarian food - and not...
Nov 11 '08
Dream of World's Tallest Túrós Palacsinta Ends in Tasty Failure
An attempt to make the world's tallest túrós palacsinta tower has failed. The effort was spurred by users of the unusual community website Mr. Noproblem, who submit wishes to the site (e.g. "I want to spend a weekend in Miami")...
Oct 31 '08
All Hell Breaks Loose as McDonalds Hungary Goes "McMagyar"
Believe it or not, the really big news in Hungarian cuisine this week involves none other than McDonald's, which on Tuesday launched a new promotion as part of the celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the opening of Hungary's...
Oct 21 '08
They Really Weren't Joking About Taking Túró Rudi to China
No matter how often the story of the Chinese Túró Rudi rises to the top, it always smells a little bit off. But despite these suspicions, it finally looks like Hungary's number one dairy snack really will be rolling off...
Oct 14 '08
Hungarians Play Culinary Defense for NATO Visit
While Pestiside.hu reported yesterday on the bitter ironies of the recent NATO Partnership Running Festival, the chefs organizing the buffet dinner for the recent invasion of NATO dignitaries at Budapest's Museum of Fine Arts were in equally "defensive" mood, refusing...
Sep 29 '08
And Make Sure to Try Our Boiled Disznósajt and Fried Túró Rudi Bars
This has to be the best sentence I've read today: I could hear Zoltan trying to explain in Spanish that his was the only Hungarian restaurant in Scotland. More follows in this review. What is the world coming to?...
Sep 03 '08
The Early Bird Gets the Strudel at Rózi Néni Rétesei
When you think of Budapest, great street food does not immediately come to mind. More often that not, you are either stuck with the omnipresent gyros-stand, or, as of late, an American Hot Dog cart, looking like some misbegotten,...
Sep 01 '08
They Say Wine Stimulates the Appetite, But…
The above pic was snapped at the wine festival recently held near Budapest's City Park by our Paris-based friend B.D., and is terrifying for several reasons that have nothing to do with the Spanish Inquisition-style implements being used to...
Aug 29 '08
Rock-hard, Tasteless Food New Culinary Rage in Hungarian Village
If you think the average Hungarian bread roll or sausage is dry and flavorless, that's only because you haven't been to Várdomb-Báta. According to portal stop.hu, the new culinary sensation in the Tolna County hamlet involves "incredibly lifelike" versions...
Aug 25 '08
Kortyolda and Sör Forrás: Miskolc's Macro-Micro Miracle
My expectations for dining in Miskolc couldn't have been lower, partially due to the prevailing opinion amongst Budapesters that Hungary's third largest city is the arm-pit of the country: something like America's Pittsburg during the '80s. Well, Miskolc may...
Aug 15 '08
Some Tasty Bits from Hungary's Őrség Region
After spending five days in the gorgeous Őrség region, I cannot believe that it took me this long to get around to visiting this corner of the country. Much of the region is a nature reserve, and the place...
Jul 03 '08
Visit Hungary and Die of a Heart Attack and Alcohol Poisoning
Someone recently passed along the above video about Hungarian food and wine, which was apparently produced by some independent video production company for use by travel-related websites. While my tipster seemed mostly concerned by the fact that the thing...
Jun 13 '08
Savoring the Flavors of 17th Century Hungary - Sort Of
Back in March, when we unveiled our Treasury of Hungarian Recipes, we published a companion piece underscoring the difficulties of cooking from old Hungarian cookbooks. In our case, the "old" books mostly went back no farther than the turn...
Jun 09 '08
A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma Crammed in a Big Can of Hungarian Mystery Meat
Even though we've just made the executive decision to limit the Budapest Burgerwar™ to burgers made from meat that can be readily identified, don't think we're the kind of people who believe you always need to know what kind...
Jun 02 '08
Time Traveling at the Baross Étterem, Breakfast Included
Food-wise there is no real good argument for the Baross Étterem (follow link for contact details and user feedback). It is your standard Hungarian fare, with no bells and whistles, unless you count those on the departing trains of...
May 23 '08
Grab a Korsó and Fill Your Stomach at the Csaba Beer Festival and Knuckle Parade
The "Csaba Beer Festival and Knuckle Parade" ("Csabai Sörfesztivál és Csülökparádé") held at the Békéscsaba Sports Hall has been a tradition since first being held in 2001. This year's event started on Tuesday and runs through Sunday, and as...
May 22 '08
We're Sure This is a Retek, Just Not Sure It's a Sörretek
When I decided that what Chew.hu - and the world - really needed was a comprehensive English-language encyclopedia of Hungarian food and drink, I assumed the work involved would be painstaking but relatively uncomplicated. After all, how difficult is...
May 07 '08
Historic Budapest Restaurant Treats Tourists Just Like Locals
Any Budapest expat who thinks foreigners are the only customers treated like vermin by restaurant wait staff should learn Hungarian and read blogs like ilovebp* (*if only it wasn't the way it is). The short of a long post is...
Apr 25 '08
An Early Bite of Lake Balaton's Best
Although I've always liked Lake Balaton, I'm not much of a lake person. Even when I visit in summer, I never do more than stick my toes in the water. So on a recent weekend I discovered that the...
Apr 15 '08
The World Gags on Hungarian Flavors
Over the past couple of weeks, we've received not one but two emails pointing us to spoof advertisements for non-existent products featuring traditional Hungarian flavors. The first (above) features a range of condoms flavored with such typically Magyar ízek...
Apr 09 '08
Budapest's First UK-Style Gastropub, or Just a Smoky Kocsma with Square Plates and High Prices?
I know I sound like a broken record, but it never ceases to amaze me what "trend slaves" Budapest restaurateurs are. Given the choice between simple good eats and some highfalutin' new concept, décor or foreign cuisine, most seem...
Apr 04 '08
Fly to the Nightingale Before the Spring Birds Really Start to Sing
Despite a weather forecast for this weekend indicating gray skies and icy-cold rain, it's otherwise clear that Spring has finally arrived in Hungary. While in general this is a great thing (especially if, like me, you like your fruits...
Mar 27 '08
The Art of the Old Hungarian Recipe
Fish soup in 25 words or less: The skimpy details in some Hungarian cookbooks makes them hard to follow, even if you're a Hungarian. Since I've been living in Budapest I've acquired a pretty good sized collection of Hungarian...
Mar 27 '08
I Hear the Gypsy Band at Rézkakas is Great. It Better Be.
After a few years of observant eating at traditional Hungarian restaurants in Budapest, it's hard not to come to a few basic conclusions/rules. Among them are 1) when it comes to value for money, you almost always do better...
Mar 21 '08
Hungarian Húsvét Calls for Eggs and Ham, Pálinka and Perfume
The nénis have been out selling pussy-willow branches for awhile now, the days are longer, and the sun even shines. But it’s still cold here in Budapest, and it feels a bit too early for Easter to arrive this...
Dec 18 '07
Regős Vendéglő Skips on the Musicians, Provides Good Affordable Meals Instead
I first came across the Regős Vendéglő és Falatozó a few months back, when I had some guests from overseas, and we were looking for some decent traditional Hungarian eats that wouldn't bust our (student-sized) wallets. I must admit...
Dec 12 '07
Does Budapest Really Need a $50 Meat Pancake/Fried Slice Combo Dinner?
Followers of our (soon to be re-started) Budapest Burgerwar™ will know that we are giant fans of the Gresham Kávéház's Ft 4,200 hamburger. Yes, €16.50 is a heavy price to pay for a burger, but since it's hard to...
Dec 06 '07
Mikulás Madness (I): "Early" Christmas Brings Nasty Surprise for Nation's Largest Pig
If you hadn't heard, today is Mikulás-nap - St. Nicolas Day - the day on which Hungarians traditionally exchange gifts, in the process baffling Americans and others who are more accustomed to swapping trinkets in the last week of...
Oct 17 '07
Pesti Lámpás Needs to Shine Its Light on Dreary Downtown Dinner Scene
Probably our most longstanding complaint about the Budapest dining scene is the appalling lack of high-quality "white-tablecloth" restaurants where one can eat good traditional Hungarian food at night. Because the "business lunch" menus commonly offered by area eateries tend...
Oct 15 '07
Giving Hungarian Food a Good Name in Barberton, Ohio
There are few Hungarian restaurants outside of Hungary and the Hungarian-speaking parts of nearby countries, and when you do hear anything about these restaurants, it's hardly ever good. Instead, they almost always seem to give Hungarian cuisine a bad...
Oct 02 '07
Piercing the Myth of the Hungarian "Superpig"
Among all the various articles of faith followed by Hungarian epicures, perhaps the strongest involves the mangalica, a type of pig bred in Hungary. Not only is the long-haired disznó (above) universally considered in Hungary to be tastier than...
Oct 01 '07
Beware Friends Bearing Cans of Sausage Lentil Főzelék
Like many other Hungarians, full-blooded or not, I'm not particularly a fan of főzelék, which is best described as a creamy vegetable dish. However, considering that lencsefőzelék is almost always just thick lentil soup, I decided to go ahead...
Sep 20 '07
Italian-Hungarian Festival Offers "Bridge" to Culinary Confusion
The first Kultúrhíd ("Culture Bridge"), what the organizers hope will grow into a series of cultural festivals celebrating European diversity, has set itself the ambitious goal of broadening cultural and gastronomic ties with Italy. The focal point of the...
Sep 19 '07
Sarkozy Unharmed in Unexpected Vargabéles Incident
As you may have heard, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in Budapest last Friday to consult with some of Hungary's leaders. (And to get snubbed by some others). But in addition to all that greeting and meeting, there seems...
Sep 11 '07
Budget Budapest: The Glorious New Age of Old Amsterdam
Don't you love it when things get better? Despite what you may think, this actually happens in the world of Budapest dining. Old Amsterdam was, when I arrived in the city so many years ago, a dingy pub that...
Sep 05 '07
Hungary's Biggest Dessert Treat Heads to World's Biggest Market
The slow but inexorable march of Hungary's favorite sweet snack took a giant leap forward at a Hungarian-Chinese economic forum held in Beijing on Monday, when a recently-formed Hungarian company, EU-Milk Technologies Kft. signed a co-operation contract with a Chinese...
Sep 04 '07
Magyar Microwave: Hungarian Stuffed Peppers, Without the Peppers
In the interest of providing Chew's budget-minded readers with more practical dining tips, I have been charged by the editor with the task of probing the growing array of ready-made microwaveable Hungarian dishes. As you can see in the...
Sep 03 '07
Hungarian Education Ministry Offers Troubling Cooking Lesson to Budapest Commuters
Taking the metro to work this morning in Budapest, our typical pre-breakfast trance was broken by a poster of the above picture by Hungarian photographer Anna Fabricius, plastered on the wall of various subway cars courtesy of the culture...
Aug 28 '07
Study Underscores Hungarians' Unusual Taste in Pasta
Hungarian "consumer protection" magazine Kosár ("shopping cart") recently published the results of an interesting test comparing some of the various brands of pasta commonly available on the shelves of domestic retailers. According to a summary of the finding on marketinginfo.hu,...
Jul 10 '07
Hungarian Culinary Crisis (III): The Chew.hu Manifesto
Several weeks ago, when we published a translation of the so-called "Culinary Charter" addressing the alleged crisis in Hungarian dining and culinary culture, we promised to publish our own thoughts on the matter in "a few days." Well, it took...
Jul 10 '07
Hungarian Culinary Crisis (II): More Wisdom from the Experts
Below is a follow-up to an earlier post of a translation of the so-called "Culinary Charter" signed by dozens of Hungarian culinary figures decrying what they see as a crisis in Hungarian dining and food culture, and how to address...
Jun 24 '07
Hungarian Culinary Crisis (I): An Open Letter from the Experts
Is Hungarian cuisine and culinary culture in crisis? According to some members of the country's culinary elite, the answer is yes. Following is a (mostly) unabridged translation of an "open letter" signed by almost 100 leading members of the Hungarian...
Jun 21 '07
Unassuming Countryside Hungarian Restaurant May be Most Important on Earth
No, really! According to many Hungarian spiritualists, and apparently even the Dali Lama, the woods surrounding the Platán Panzió in the Pilis hills northwest of Budapest may be the actual "center of the universe."...
May 11 '07
You'll Want to Chase This Gulyás With a Whole Lot of Unicum
As our sister site Pestiside.hu reported back in March, the makers of Hungarian "national" liquor Unicum are using a zany new "viral" video campaign to market the potent herbal tipple in America, and other lands beyond Hungary. Above is...
May 10 '07
Garden Restaurant of the Fészek Művészklub More Good than Evil
Without a doubt, one of the oddest and longest-running restaurant dramas in modern Budapest history involves the Fészek Művészklub Étterem, the eatery attached to the District VII artists' club whose name translates as "bird's nest." As this feature from...
Apr 24 '07
International Obesity Experts to Pig Out Tonight in Domonyvölgy
If you've noticed a larger than normal volume of stories in the international press about the problem of obesity over the last few days, the reason may be the 15th European Congress on Obesity, which is currently underway in...
Apr 24 '07
Mysterious Hungarian "Super-Chef" Doubles as International Crime-Fighter
A year or so back we noticed that a somewhat intriguing entry had been submitted to our sister site Caboodle.hu's list of caterers and party planners. What piqued our interest about Cheflaszlo was that it advertised high-quality catering not only...
Apr 23 '07
Leading Sports Bar Increasingly Competitive in Overlooked Food Category
With the recent start of this year's grand prix auto racing season, we again find ourselves exiled from our own home for several hours most Sundays, thanks to our race-hating better half. But that's just fine, because we're happy...
Apr 18 '07
Growing Opposition to Hungarian Cookbook by Opposition Leader's Wife
In what must be one of the oddest collisions between politics and food in recent Hungarian history, a new cookbook by the wife of the country's opposition leader is being unfavorably compared to a collection of recipes endorsed by the...
Apr 04 '07
Romania-Mania (II): Best. Breakfast. Bacon. Ever.
Though Romanians may be streaming across the border to forage for food in Hungary, you shouldn't get the impression that there is no decent grub to be had next door. Exhibit "A" is this gorgeous plate of thickly-sliced and...
Mar 23 '07
Five Big Reasons Café Kör Will Probably Stay on the Top 33 Forever
We're not going to list all of the restaurants that seem likely to remain on our "Top 33" list of Budapest restaurants forever. But having given five little reasons why the manically inventive Baraka can claim near-permanent T33 status,...
Mar 06 '07
Bor LaBor Bad Breath Bombs Underscore Perils of Romantic Dining in Budapest
With its dramatic cellar space, interesting wine list and reasonable prices, Bor LaBor should be high on any single's crib sheet of hot Budapest dinner date spots. But a recent visit to "Wine LaWine" (or "Wine Laboratory," either way,...
Mar 02 '07
Diaspora Food News (III): Hungarian Restaurant Celebrates Half-Century Killing Canadians
Our final look at the world of Hungarian food beyond our (current) borders involves the story of the 50h anniversary of the Budapest Restaurant, located in London, Canada, and run by the 75-year-old Marika Hayek (above). According to this...
Mar 02 '07
Diaspora Food News (II): Authentic Hungarian Restaurant Experience Now Available in Chicago
In other Hungarian food news from the world outside, we stumbled upon an interesting review in the Chicago Tribune's reader "feedback" area, for an eatery in the Chicago suburb of Hillside known as the Epicurean Hungarian Restaurant. See if...
Mar 02 '07
Diaspora Food News (I): Australians, Americans Shock With "Hungarian" Parmesan Rolls, Olive Oil Gulyás
In addition to keeping an eye on what's cooking here in Hungary, we try to occasionally check in and see what the millions of "hyphenated" Hungarians living abroad are doing to keep the homeland's culinary traditions going. And it's...
Feb 21 '07
Pótkulcs Pörkölt Shows Food, Smoke And Hipsters Do Mix
The above marhapörkölt (beef stew) with sztrapacska (greasy noodles usually served up with sour cream and crunchy bacon bits) was only intended as something to prevent the Löwenbräu from sloshing about too much at super-agreeable pub/hang-out/music venue Pótkulcs. Amazingly, it...
Feb 20 '07
The Idiot Foreigners' Guide to the Perfect Bográcsgulyás
Our carnival of beefblogging continues today with a big shout out to renowned Hungarian cyberfoodie Domestic Goddess, who responded to our item gently teasing her for only now learning to cook marhapörkölt with an even more candid follow-up post...
Feb 16 '07
Beef Bloggers' Delight (II): Domestic Goddess's Maiden Marhapörkölt
In other local beefblogging news, the popular Hungarian cyberfoodie known to her fans as the Domestic Goddess celebrated this Valentine's Day by posting a recipe for marhapörkölt (beef stew) from the cookbook widely considered to be Hungary's favorite, Ilona Horváth's...
Feb 16 '07
Beef Bloggers' Delight (I): Dibbuk's Cow Leg Osso Bucco
As we recently discovered in Mauritania, even African camel meat can sometimes beat Hungarian beef in the tenderness and tastiness department. But that hasn't stopped many adventurous Hungarian foodies from going to great lengths to turn the country's often shamefully...
Feb 05 '07
Hungarian, African-Style (II): Mauritanian Camel Beats Magyar Beef in Desert Tarhonya Test
Just because many participants in the 2007 Budapest-Bamako rally chickened out of eating fresh fish, it doesn't mean the event was devoid of culinary adventure. Far from it! In fact, one of the most memorable interludes of the trip...
Feb 02 '07
Hungarian, African-Style (I): Delicious Fresh Fish? No Thanks!
Apologies for the light posting, but we've just gotten back from Africa, and have been slow in getting our appetite for work back. Not that we are sick from anything we ate; like most of the participants in the...
Jan 29 '07
Bourgeois Tram Depot Fails to Dissappoint
Oh, the anger! Is there no justice for miserable restaurant critics with an agenda? Apparently there isn’t. After literally dozens of visits, the last couple of which were truly horrendous, we went to popular Buda eatery Remiz so we...
Nov 24 '06
Giving Thanks for America's Embrace of Hungarian Food
So yesterday was Thanksgiving, the day most Americans set aside to give thanks for their good fortune, mostly in the form of giant stuffed turkeys and other traditional fare. But over the past couple of weeks we've happened upon several...
Nov 17 '06
Culinary Traitor Stalks Hungarian Prime Minister's Kitchen
When a dignitary from one country entertains a fellow dignitary from another country at his residence, several age-old customs are usually recognized. First, the mood and conversation is expected to be polite but businesslike. Second, the dress is expected to...
Nov 10 '06
Who Was Szent Márton, and Why Is His Feast Day So Darn Delicious?
The last few days have been very bad ones for geese around Europe, and especially in Hungary, as butchers and cooks have finished preparing for Márton nap (St. Martin's Day), a traditional feast day that falls every year on...
Oct 17 '06
Thousands Flock to Annual Hungarian Pumpkin Festival
The mood was tök jó (that, believe it or not, is how Hungarian say "excellent") at the "Third International Őrség Tök Festival" in Őriszentpéter over the weekend, hirtv.hu reports. Several thousand visitors, including many from Austria, Slovenia and Croatia,...
Oct 17 '06
Thousands Flock to Annual Hungarian Egg Festival
Hungarian "master" chef László Benke and his team reportedly set a "Guinness" world record in Siófok over the weekend when they cooked tojáspörkölt (egg stew) for 3,500 people at the fourth annual Siófok Egg Festival. According to legend, the dish...
Oct 04 '06
What We Were Eating While You Were Wasting Your Weekend Voting
Seemingly overlooked during the tense election weekend, the Festival of Hungarian Gastronomy quietly took place in Budapest's City Park last Saturday and Sunday, attracting a sparse crowd of hungry Magyars to sample good, straightforward Hungarian food. Little publicity preceded...
