photo essays
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!...
Feb 10 '09
Mangalica Mania (IV): 2009 Festival in Pictures
To conclude our recent coverage of "Mangalica mania" below is a nice little gallery of pics taken at the festival devoted to Hungary's favorite pig. Our thanks to reader David Erickson for the shots of the pork-party, which he...
Nov 17 '08
I'll Have a Kilo of… Oh, Never Mind
Just when you thought your culinary Hungarian was getting good enough for eating out or shopping in local markets without embarrassing yourself, along comes this shocker of a pic, which we snagged from local blog Subba. Apparently some heritage-minded...
Oct 09 '08
Actually, Do You Have any Frozen Fish on the Menu Today?
Though the above pic won't come as a shock to most long-time Budapesters, I still get a thrill (or a chill) whenever I see people "cityfishing" in the middle of town. I saw these horgászok while taking a little...
Oct 09 '08
Lost in Translation (II): I Said Watch the Menu's English "Like a Hawk," Dummy!
Via the félrefordítások ("mistranslations") blog we get this snapshot of a menu featuring a dish described in English as "Roasted seafish fillet with freid (sic) potatoes in hawk." But what may seem like the mother of all menu translations...
Oct 09 '08
Lost in Translation (I): Something Doesn't Smell Right With This
At least three reasons you have to love the above mistranslation of rántott sertésszelet. One, it seems to have involved several different foul-ups: rántott (fried) being mistaken for the verb "to pull," and szelet ("slice") getting messed up with...
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...
May 09 '08
The Perfect End to a Delicious Meal of Chicken Catastrophe and Mackerel Debacle
For a sense of what this is all about, click here. And for a sense of what it may taste like, click here....
Jan 30 '08
Thanks, But We'll Have the Fish Instead
The ongoing saga involving shady companies in Hungary being busted for selling rotten meat and other past-date-of-sale product has reached its logical Euro-conclusion, in a giant piece of conceptual art. A billboard of the poster pictured above is currently...
Jan 07 '08
Holiday Cheer (II): New Year's No Party for Hungarian Pigs
As seen around noon on December 31, at Budapest's Nagyvásárcsarnok (Central Market Hall). And you thought the end of the long holiday break made you feel gutted......
Jan 07 '08
Holiday Cheer (I): This Soup Has No Balls
Via Pestiside.hu reader P.M. we get the above pic of a rather unappetizing menu offering, taken at the historic Hunguest Hotel Palota out in scenic Lillafüred. ("Quite an interesting 'inter'-course offered by the cook along with the traditional halászlé,"...
Nov 19 '07
Lack of Options Facilitates Quick Decision Making
Sometimes you'll go to a restaurant and be overwhelmed by the choices. That cannot be said for the location above, the menu for which we found via humor portal Legalja.hu. As the menu makes it oh so clear, you...
Oct 24 '07
A Bittersweet Reminder of Would-Be Hungarian Gourmands' Purchasing Power
While waiting for our morning metro the other day at a station in downtown Budapest we spotted this billboard on the other side of the tracks. If your Hungarian is poor enough that you can't tell what it is,...
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 24 '07
Budapest Steak Lovers' Woes Go Up In a Blaze of Irish Tesco T-Bones
A few weeks after this website officially launched last September, we noted that gourmet food shops seemed to have become generic in Budapest. In the 11 months since, this trend has intensified, with local gourmands constantly telling us about...
Apr 24 '07
Hungarian Food Retailers in Pioneering Discount Pricing Program
We have a few serious - and no-so-serious - posts on the way. But first just enjoy these two shots that ended up in our E-mail inbox via Hungarian gagsite legalja.hu. We're sure they are innocent mistakes. Or at...
Feb 26 '07
And Don't Forget to Try the Hot Road Apple Pie
The above little chestnut just appeared in our in-box. While it's entitled "Romania in the EU" and was no meant to show how poor and primitive our eastern neighbor is, we're posting it anyway, because a) we're not 100%...
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 09 '07
Gourmet Food in Budapest Now Officially *Really* Generic
A few months back, we observed that the opening of a gourmet food store in Pest's District VI called merely the "Gourmet Deli" showed how generic imported or otherwise exotic food had become in Budapest. Well, it seems that...
Feb 05 '07
Inside the Insane World of the Gresham Kávéház's Ft 1,900 Espresso
When we last checked in on Budapest's super-luxury coffee scene, our correspondent was bemoaning the demise of the Ft 800 latte "bargain" at the Four Seasons. Well, it turns out that even a Ft 1,500 latte served in the...
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...
Jan 16 '07
Three Little Disznósajts
When a recipe's ingredients include a full pig's head, 2 hearts, 4 kidneys, 4 tongues, 1 kilo of pig's skin, 0,7 kilos of bacon, 2 ears and a couple of pig's stomachs you can be sure about two things:...
Nov 30 '06
First Pics of Wunderlich's Fantastisch New Villány Digs
If you've ever visited the Hungarian red-wine capital of Villány, you've probably noticed that, for a relatively famous wine-producing center, there is relatively little "there" there. The town itself is unremarkable, the pincészetek of even the better-known producers are...
Nov 28 '06
Fear, Loathing and World-Beating Mangalica Ham at Foodapest '06
Until last Friday, the last food trade show I attended was the "Fancy Food Show" in New York, where the exhibitors practically throw food at you, shove wine glasses in your face, and then send you away with more...
Nov 02 '06
Exploring Budapest's Four Tigers Food Market (V): Rong Rong is Right Right
Living in Hungary one can easily forgets that there are things known as "green vegetables." While most of our expatriated food needs have been either satiated or squelched over the course of time, our craving for good and diverse...
Oct 30 '06
Exploring Budapest's Four Tigers Food Market (IV): The Büfé of the Gods
While Budapest doesn't really have a distinct Chinatown with a great selection of fresh Asian ingredients, a bit of poking about reveals the secret places where Chinese "home style" and prepared food is available. First on our list is...
Oct 27 '06
Exploring Budapest's Four Tigers Food Market (III): Saying "Yes" to Pho
Even though Budapest's Four Tigers Chinese Market is best known as a place to get your kínai fix, there are other great tastes of the East to be had, including pho, the delicate soup found wherever Vietnamese are serving....
Oct 26 '06
Exploring Budapest's Four Tigers Food Market (II): The Dumpling Lady
As the weather gets cold, nothing warms the folks at the Four Tigers Chinese Market like shiu-jiao, or boiled dumplings. Boiled dumplings are the comfort food of North China, and a specialty of Beijing in particular. Most of the...
Oct 25 '06
Exploring Budapest's Four Tigers Food Market (I): Introduction
The old adage goes that if you want good Chinese food, look for the places where Chinese people eat. While kínai büfék seem to crowd every Budapest district, you never see Chinese folks eating in them. That's because they...
Oct 16 '06
Taste of Bulgaria Leaves Budapest Culinary Critic Near Tears
Posting was a bit light last week, as your trusty founding editor was taking a little break from Hungarian food and drink in nearby Bulgaria. Because this site is dedicated to Magyar culinary goings-on, I won't go in too...
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...
