Budapest Food You Have to Try

When we decided to visit Central Europe we had no idea what to expect in the way of food. All we had heard about was goulash (spelled totally incorrectly by the way) and Hungarian salami. We were amazed by how good Budapest food really is. From main dishes to snacks, Hungary has a rich and diverse selection of foods available at kiosks, bistros, restaurants and markets. Here are our top 10 Budapest food you have to try!

Budapest Food You Can’t Leave Without Trying

1. Kürtőskalács

Chimney Cakes – dough wrapped around a thick stick and cooked over fire. Rolled in cinnamon, chocolate or other items while hot. Totally yummy and one of the best treats we had so absolutely the kids’ favourite Budapest food. We tried three types: cinnamon, chocolate and coconut.

2. Gulyás soup

Beef and paprika soup – Often available as both an appetizer or main meal. This was different from any other goulash I had ever tried. Where Czech gulyás is more of a thick stew, Hungarian gulyás has a delicious flavourful broth. Caiden added this wonderful dish to our list of must try Budapest foods as he asked for it at almost every meal.

3. Hortobagyi palacsinta

This is a savory crepe with chicken. It’s covered with a delicious paprika sauce. So delicious in fact that I totally forgot to take a picture! You’ll have to visit Hungary to try it because it’s absolutely one of the must try foods in Budapest.

4. Töltött kaposzta

Cabbage stuffed with meat – If you’re familiar with cabbage rolls these are very similar. Like the Hortobagyi palacsinta, I spent more time eating than taking pictures. You’ll have to take my word for it. They looked great and tasted awesome!

5. Pickles stuffed with cabbage

Ok, so I can’t find the name for this in Hungarian. We tried them in restaurants and they’re definitely available in the pickle section of the Central Market Hall in Budapest. These are like large dill pickles stuffed with sauerkraut but they’re more of a sweet flavour. Yummy! In fact, Hungarians like to pickle a lot and everything we tried was delicious. Hungarian pickles as a whole are on our list of the 10 must try foods in Budapest.

Pickle kiosk at the Central Market Hall. You can see the pickles stuffed with cabbage to the far right.

Peppers stuffed with cabbage

Pickled plums stuffed with garlic

6. Langós

Pan fried dough with toppings – These are so good! There’s no doubt they’re near the top of the must try foods in Budapest. The best we tried was actually not in Budapest but in a little kiosk in an alley in Szentendre; aptly named, Langós. Traditionally the langós are fried, spread with garlic sauce and then cheese and sour cream added. They were reeeeally good! I wish I had a chance to try one with cinnamon toppings too. Next time!

Adding garlic sauce to our langos in Szentendre

Had to take a bite before taking a pic!

7. Paprikás Csirke

Chicken with paprika sauce – Also known as chicken paprikash and is often served with spaetzle. We had this a few times during our visit. It’s a regular on most menus and while some restaurants in Budapest used boneless chicken, it was delicious in each location.

8. Homemade soda

This was a HUGE hit with the kids. Lavender, elderflower and orange flavours were all great.

We received the drinks in two different ways. Their favourite was when a bottle of soda water with a sprayer on top was served with a small bottle of condensed syrup. You spray the soda water into your glass and add some of the syrup. At other times it arrived fully mixed in a large glass filled with slices of citrus fruit. Whatever way it was served, the kids loved it! We found it yummy too!

While not a food per se, its absolutely one of our 10 must try tastes in Budapest.

Homemade soda with spray soda water and orange syrup at Hungarikum Bisztro

Homemade Mango Lemonade at Muvesz Kavehaz

Lavender and elderflower homemade soda at Balthazar on Castle Hill

Homemade soda at Zeller Bistro

9. Túró Rudi

Chocolate coated cheese curds – We found this in the refrigerated section of the grocery store in Budapest but you can also find it in other locations, as long as they have a refrigerated area. We bought extra at the airport on the way home!

The chocolate bars have a white with red polka dot wrapper. They’re made with cheese curds but taste more like cream cheese. We tried both dark and light chocolate varieties.

10. Hungarian red wine

John and I are huge fans of red wine. He likes malbec and I like zinfandel. We both really enjoyed the Hungarian cabernet sauvignon. Hungary is also known for it Tokaji (a white dessert wine), Unicom (a liqueur that comes in original, plum or orange flavours) and Pálinka. Beware, the Unicom and Pálinka are not for the weak of heart. They are incredibly strong. The Tokaji, on the other hand, is light and delicious!

If you’d like to try some amazing Hungarian wines before you buy, you have to check out the Everyday Wander’s post about CultiVini which is located right in the tourist area of Budapest on Vaci Utca.

Incredibly, since we’ve been home, we’ve found both Unicom and Tokaji at the local liquor store. Try it for yourself!

Cabernet sauvignon at Devino Wine Bar

A display of Unicom from Central Market Hall. It’s available in most stores in a variety of sizes.

A display of Tokaji from Central Market Hall.

Bonus: Hungarian salami

Ok, so I added another food but didn’t want to change my title to 11. You can’t visit Hungary without trying Hungarian salami. We have it often at home but don’t be fooled. It’s not the same. We were told that Pick is the favoured brand and we tasted several at, believe it or not, the deli section of a huge souvenir store in Vorosmarty Ter. We preferred the winter salami,  that’s the salami with a whitish outer appearance. It’s definitely more oily than the Hungarian salami at home but very tasty.

Hungarian salami at Szimpla Kert’s Sunday farmers market

If you’d like more information on the restaurants mentioned, check out our post on our favourite restaurants in Budapest.  You also might like to try a great cooking class in Budapest.

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