Gourmet products local specialties and wines Budapest

The Szimpla kert, a famous bar in ruins, hides a peaceful Sunday market. In the Sunday Szimpla, you can buy cheese, cold meats, honey, jam and other homemade products, often organic. A few fruit and vegetable stalls complete the picture. The atmosphere is family and even musical. To put at the top of your list of Sunday activities, especially since you can drink and eat there (the profits go to a different association each time).

A bit of Hungarian countryside in the heart of Terézváros. The hall has been rebuilt even if the outside is almost invisible. In the open air, on Hunyadi square, producers from the surrounding regions invade the square during the week on Friday and Saturday mornings until 2pm. It's full on Saturday morning! We buy paprika, smoked sausages, fresh milk, homemade syrup or, in the fall, an excellent apple juice. Not to be missed under any circumstances!

Le Ruszwurm, a small baroque tea room founded in 1827, is perfect for enjoying a pastry shop after visiting the castle. Empress Elizabeth (the famous Sissi) often frequented it. The Ruszwurm pastries had such a high reputation that couriers were sent from Vienna to supply a few privileged gourmets with cakes. The beautiful Biedermeier style furniture of the small tea room (renovated in 1960) is now classified as a historical monument. Even today, the quality of the pastries maintains the reputation of this establishment.

The Auguszt family is not kidding around with tradition, which has been carried on for 130 years in this cozy downtown tea room. The establishment overlooks both a boulevard and a courtyard shared by the small designers of Paloma. Cakes and pies in the purest Hungarian tradition: beijgli at Christmas time, dobos torta, Rákóczi turos, Esterházy pie... simply exquisite. Warm wine and chocolate in winter or homemade lemonade in summer. Three other establishments in town (Fény út 6, Múzeum krt. 14-16 and Sasadi út 190).

The number of establishments serving Hungarian strudels, or rétes, can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Hooray for this small café-pastry shop ideally located in the Jewish quarter, where you can stock up or taste these real little puff pastry delights! The poppy seed and plum pastry is stunning and completely original. Unless you opt for the fresh cheese or cabbage retes. In short, with plum, chocolate, apple... there are about ten of them per day. Very good welcome and cheap strudel.

A pastry shop - tea room more than a century old which has no equal in Budapest. The Auguszt house, which is famous throughout Hungary, was already a supplier to the monarchs. Their establishment in Buda, close to the large popular market of Fény utca, the most established and patinated of its branches, is a treat for lovers of the greatest Hungarian sweet and savory classics (including salami sandwiches). Go there with your eyes closed, everything is divine!

It is certainly the most touristy of all the (covered) markets in the city, but it is certainly the most aesthetic (from the outside anyway)! On the first floor, there are stalls selling fruits and vegetables, meats, dry sausages (kolbász), salami, paprika; on the first floor, all kinds of Hungarian souvenirs (most of them made in China), a bit like a tourist souk, as well as small buffets where you can eat and drink, standing up and on the go.

One might be suspicious of the place, which seems to be geared towards tourists, but these ice creams are truly delectable, artisanal and designer! The tradition is to ask for a cone, fill it with successive layers of ice cream of different flavors and colors, so that the whole thing forms a rose as pretty as appetizing. Also ice cream cups and coffee in winter. Among other original flavors - basil-lemon, white chocolate with lavender, and pumpkin - there are also vegan and sugar-free ice creams.

An artisanal ice cream parlour operating as a franchise, with about ten establishments in the city (including an ice cream parlour in the very pleasant district of Újlipótváros, Hollán Ernő utca 4, or one next to the central market, Vámház krt. 6). Dozens of original flavours - in sorbets as well as ice cream - often combining lavender(levendula) with other components, such as lemon, without any additives or colouring. A delight, especially the Sicilian pistachio or the salted butter caramel.

A young team of talented Magyar ice cream makers has invaded the city with their vegan ice creams, and all the better for it! They can be found in addition to this address in Pozsonyi út 5, Lövőház utca 24 and Lake Balaton. Artisanal ice cream sticks 100% natural, gluten-free, lactose-free, animal product-free, high in color, which will blow your mind and your taste buds. Among the most original flavors, we award the prize to the avocado, with tarragon and lime, or to the raspberry-litchi-pink flavor. Establishments closed between November and April.

It's just a stone's throw from the zoo, where you can taste the famous kürtőskalács, spiral pastries from Transylvania. Here they are served to take away or on the spot, enjoying the spectacle of the nearby flamingos. The place is ideal for brunches and breakfasts. More classic palates will opt for cinnamon, vanilla, walnut, almond, coconut or cocoa icing; the more gourmand will be tempted by various variations: chocolate-raspberry (with a scoop of ice cream), kürtőskalács-chocolate fondue or even floating island style!

The city's most popular market, housed in a surprising hall, a kind of remix of Budapest's own architectural eclecticism. One critic did not hesitate to speak about it "as an image of the fall of totalitarianism described in the radical language of the East"! No matter, the interior is bright, the ground floor is a deli palace, the grandmothers sell their goods a little further away and the buffets allow you to eat at the lowest prices.

The Daubner pastry shop is a real institution in Budapest. Even though the shop is out of the way, there is a long queue to buy a cake or an ice cream (in summer and winter) on weekends. The plethoric choice of pastries makes your mouth water: cream and raspberry pie, Sacher pie or caramel pie... The ice creams are also a treat. You can eat on the spot, while having coffee, and there are two lines: one for those who have already ordered and the other for those who have just arrived.

Mr. Szamos' store looks like a candy store with its stuccoed ceiling and gold walls. However, the store is only a showcase for the Szamos company. The marzipan specialties have been made since 1935 in the family's factory in Pilisvörösvár, which today has about a dozen machines, some of which were created by Szamos himself. In Budapest, marzipan, chocolates, candies and cakes are sold. The packaging makes it easy to take everything away and give it as a gift.

This wine store, near the Chain Bridge, was the first to open in Budapest in 1992. Its owner, Csaba Malatinszky, one of the pioneers of modern Magyar winemaking, was Hungary's first sommelier. He produces his own wines in Villány, in the south of Hungary, which he sells exclusively in his shop in Budapest. The selection is not large, but the wines (including several vintages) are certainly of high quality. You can also buy pálinka there. He is not the one to receive guests, but his perfectly English-speaking employees.

à table! (yes, there's no capital letter) is a good place to stop and pick up some pastries or sandwiches before continuing your shopping at MOM Park. It's also possible to eat in, with coffee or tea on the side. Breakfasts are also available. The menu is quite varied, with rather good products. This address, one of fifteen in the Hungarian capital, is very small, as it is located in a small mobile stand inside the shopping center. Nevertheless, reviews are somewhat mixed.

Amber's French Bakery & Café is a nice place to have a coffee or a hot drink throughout the day and take a break between two visits of the city. It's also a nice place to come and work with your computer, for people who like to be surrounded by the ambient sounds of a café when they work. The establishment also serves small dishes and pastries, to enjoy on the spot or to take away.

Several addresses in Budapest (fifteen at present). à table ! (no, there's no capital letter) is a good-quality bakery-pastry chain. It's the ideal place to stop and pick up a few pastries or sandwiches before continuing your tour of the Hungarian capital. A few tables are available for on-site dining, with coffee or tea on the side. Good breakfasts are available. The menu is varied, with quality products, a friendly atmosphere and smiling service. A fine address.

This café-tea house serves good drinks, pastries and breads all day long. You will first be attracted by the green front blending both new and old, and then enjoy spending some time inside or on the small terrace set up on nice days. The window display of pastries, breads and hot dishes (like a vegetarian quiche) is tempting. Cosy atmosphere. For those who wish to work quietly, head to the floor perfectly adapted for that.