The main reason we chose Budapest for our last full month-long home in Europe was the huge selection of awesome Airbnb apartments for dirt cheap prices. But a very, very, very close second was all the decadent desserts in Budapest. Hungary is a country with an incredible cake scene – it was like a dream come true for a self-proclaimed cake lover like me. After all, this is the country where the Dobos Torte was invented.

This blog post will be a quick photo tour through the desserts we tried in Budapest. If this blog post makes you Hungary (har har), I highly recommend you walk straight to your kitchen and make your own Dobos Torte using this recipe, which is easy to make and guaranteed to impress family and friends. I made it once and love it.

Without further ado, let’s eat!

Kürtőskalács (Chimney Cake)

Oh. My. Goodness. This dessert was a revelation, and was hands down the best sweet we ate in Budapest. Chimney Cakes are made from a sweet dough that is rolled out onto a wooden roller, then rolled in sugar, then either grilled over hot coals or baked in an oven. After it’s cooked, they’ll roll it in your choice of topping: chocolate, walnut, almond, poppy-seed, vanilla, cinnamon (our fave!), or coconut.

The best Chimney Cakes we had during our time in Budapest were from Molnar’s Kürtőskalács. Their chimney cakes cost 990 Forint (about $3.68), and were by far the best we found in all of our time in Budapest.

Molnar’s Kürtőskalács. This place is my idea of heaven.

One of the bakers, working hard on making those Chimney Cakes.

They’re located in the heart of the downtown tourist area, so it is inexcusable not to stop by, in my opinion.

Ahhhhh Molnar’s is so good. My mouth is watering looking at this photo…

A very close runner-up to Molnar’s is any charcoal-cooked Kürtőskalács stand at outdoor festivals in Budapest. Here’s the caveat, though, make sure it’s a food stand where lots of locals eat! We picked the one below, which had a CRAZY line, and it was fantastic.

A Kurtoskalacs stand at an Easter Festival in City Park.

The key to Chimney cakes is getting them fresh and hot! Never, ever, ever buy a cold Chimney cake. Here’s a peek at how they’re made:

The dough is rolled onto these wooden rollers.

At festivals, they’re usually cooked over hot coals!

Here’s Kevin with our Chimney Cake. At festivals, they usually run about 1000 Forint (about $3.72), but are quite a bit bigger than the ones you’ll get at Molnar’s.

Best Bakery in Budapest: Pasha Turkish Bakery

In a surprise move, we decided to name Pasha as our favorite bakery in Budapest. But it’s Turkish, you say, and this is Hungary, you say. Tough cookies (har har). Make one visit to Pasha and you’ll be singing a different tune, I promise.

Pasha Bakery, the best in Budapest.

The downside to Pasha is that it is pretty far out in the Northern Suburbs. In fact, you have to take the H5 commuter rail to the Békásmegyer stop to get there, then walk a couple blocks. We think it’s totally worth the trip if you’re in Budapest for five days or more. Their amazingly tasty sweets and rock bottom prices make the trip totally worth it! We got four baklavas, two bureks, four cookies, and a big sesame pastry for just 2265 Forint, or about $8.45.

Pasha serves Burek! We fell in love with Burek in Croatia. At Pasha, we loved the apple and spinach varieties.

The single best pastry we tried there was this tahini and sesame pastry. It had just a hint of sweetness, which Kevin and I both LOVED. It balanced out the honey-doused baklava.

Delicious baked goods at Pasha!

Cookies, cakes, and Turkish Pizza, oh my!

Two words: Chocolate Baklava. Or as I called it, Choclova.

Clearly, we bought the chocolate baklava, which completely blew my mind. It is so good. They also have a superb traditional Baklava, which would’ve knocked my socks off if I had eaten it before its chocolate sibling.

Rumor has it that Pasha bakery may open up a chain in downtown Budapest sometime in the future. Check their website often to see if it happens before your visit!

The Dobos Torte: Hungary’s Gift to the World

The Dobos Torte is a Hungarian sponge cake layered with chocolate icing, topped with a crunchy layer of caramel. It was invented way back in the 1800s by a guy named Jozsef C. Dobos. If I could time travel, I would love to go to the 1800s and give this man a well-deserved pat on the back.

Check out this Dobos Torte. I can definitely get onboard with this ratio of icing to cake.

Nearly every Cukrászda (the Hungarian word for Bakery) in Budapest sells this tasty creation. We only tried it at one bakery, but I’d challenge you to try to find the BEST Dobos Torte in town and leave me a comment once you do!

Ruszwurm Bakery in Castle Hill

We got our Dobos fix at Ruszwurm Cukrászda, which claims to be Budapest’s oldest cafe! It’s a family business started back in 1827, and is located a block from the Matthias Church at the top of Castle Hill. The bakery has been through a lot – the building was damaged in bombings in 1849 and 1944, but they are still dishing up tasty cakes today!

Ruszwurm’s Dobos Torte

There is no shortage of cakes to choose from at Ruszwurm.

The Dobos Torte was good, but the cake Ruszwurm Cukrászda is most famous for is their Ruszwurm Kreme cake. It’s a heavenly vanilla custard sandwiched between two pieces of puff pastry, then topped with a hefty amount powdered sugar. This slice of cake was absolutely the winner at Ruszwurm – if you visit, you MUST try this one!

Ruszwurm’s famous Kreme Cake. You have to try it!!

Fair warning, Ruszwurm is definitely on the tourist radar and full of people wildly waving around selfie sticks and taking photos. Excessive photo taking is always slightly annoying, but this is one case where I think the Kreme Cake is worth the hassle of feeling touristy.

Auguszt Cukrászda

Speaking of Kreme Cake, we also gave it a shot at Auguszt Cukrászda. They’re also known for their Kreme Cakes, but the only reason I’m putting this section in here is to encourage you to get it at Ruszwurm instead.

Kreme Cakes at Auguszt Cukrászda. Regular ol’ Kreme Cake on the left, and their Chocolate and Orange variety on the right.

Ruszwurm’s Kreme Cake was far superior to the one we got at Auguszt, and Ruszwurm’s service was more friendly.

Fröhlich Cukrászda

For something different, be sure you stop by Fröhlich Cukrászda, a bakery in the Jewish Quarter that specializes in a few traditional Jewish Cakes.

Check out this unassuming storefront! Fröhlich is located smack dab in the middle of the Jewish Quarter of Budapest.

This bakery is family run, and the woman behind the counter was one of the nicest people we met in town. They had a dizzying array of cakes, and I’m certain they are all delicious.

The cake selection at Fröhlich Cukrászda

They even have a Dobos Torte. We didn’t try it, but I bet it’s awesome.

First, we went for the most chocolatey thing we could find:

Fröhlich’s Chocolate Torte Cake.

And obviously, we got the cake they are famous for, Flodni. Flodni is an apple, poppy-seed, and walnut dessert cake. It’s a traditional dessert commonly made in Jewish households in Budapest, Fröhlich is just about the only bakery where you can find it in Budapest.

Flodni cake from Fröhlich Cukrászda.

Hungarian people are absolutely bonkers for poppy seeds for some reason – the entire middle layer of this cake was just a bunch of poppy seeds held together by a sweet syrup. It’s not really for me, and I didn’t 100% enjoy this cake because the poppy made it pretty earthy, but it was definitely fun to try. Plus, Fröhlich has some of the most reasonable cake prices in the city, so it’s impossible to steer yourself wrong here.

Cookies for the Cookie Monsters

If you love cookies as much as we do, Budapest has you covered. I’m sure that the Great Market Hall is already on your radar if you’re planning to visit the city. It was built in the late 1800s and is known for its awesome colorful Zsolnay roof tiles.

Budapest’s Great Market Hall (Nagyvásárcsarnok). Look at that roof!

After you enter the main doors of the Great Market Hall, turn left, and there will be a bakery immediately on your right. This gal sells some of the best cookies in town, for rock bottom prices! The minimum purchase is 100 grams of cookies, which will run you 100 Forint, which just south of 40 cents. Go ahead, buy a whole Kilo of cookies, you know you want to.

Cookies at the Great Market Hall. We loved the round Chocolate and Vanilla ones at the front here – they are great dipped in coffee or tea!

Stand back from the cookie booth and watch what locals order. There were older men literally buying several Kilograms of cookies from this gal. It’s gotta be the best bargain in the Market Hall!

If you’re looking for a cookie experience that is a little more… interesting… head to Castle Hill and seek out Pethes János Cukrász. They’re located in Castle Hill at Donáti Utca 42 (map), way off the Tourist track, in a basement.

The unassuming Pethes János Cukrász, a basement bakery in Castle Hill.

This place is more of an industrial bakery than a storefront, but don’t let that deter you! They bake and sell cookies to other stores in the city, so they know what they’re doing. No one there spoke a bit of English, but I got by with some hand waving and gesturing. Be sure you take small bills, I doubt they have a lot of change lying around.

I managed to buy a bag mixed with the cookies we love to dip in coffee, and these delicious peanut cookies that I think are called földimogyoró. They’re in the top-right in this photo.

Because of the language barrier, I bought more cookies than I intended to. I’m not complaining, it was still just $3! Look at all these cookies!

Rêtes (Strudel) in Budapest

I’ll leave you today with some sweets that are completely acceptable to eat at breakfast. I’m from a family where a slice of Pie is a perfectly normal way to start your day – in fact, that is one of my favorite things about the holiday season. So when I got wind of the strudel situation in Budapest, I was super excited.

I did a little digging on the internet and found Rózi Néni Rétesei, a little food stand that is allegedly the reigning Strudel Specialist in Budapest. This place has been family owned for over twenty years, and deserves its reputation for being delicious.

The Rózi Néni Rétesei Strudel Stand

They have an all-Hungarian website and a Facebook Page, and are located in a food stand that sits here.

So many strudels yum!

We tried Cherry Cheese, Sesame, Sour Cherry, Imperial Cheese, Peach Cheese, and Apple. All these for about $5.

They were all delicious except for the sesame, which was earthy and not for me. The Peach strudel is one of their most popular, and was delicious! I actually liked the Imperial Cheese the best, which is the fanciest of the strudels in the photo above (top left).

PRO TIPs: Go in the morning, or they may run out of the good stuff! Also, take cash. Also, you should absolutely get the powdered sugar topping!

We Want to Hear From You!

Which country in Europe has the best sweets? Paris? Italy? Belgium? Hungary? Leave us a comment and let us know!

If you do a little research about Hungarian food, you’ll start to see some common themes. Words like starchy, heavy, and fattening will come up regularly. It’s heavy on the meat and bread, and light on the vegetables. In fact, it wasn’t too long ago that ordering a “salad” in Hungary meant getting a plate full of pickled vegetables! Even in recent years, with imported foods showing up in more stores, you’re still hard pressed to find leafy greens anywhere.

Word on the street is that much of the food here is made with lard, making it extra filling and heavy, and some would say extra yummy. The occasional meal where my plate is loaded up solely with meat and starches definitely hits the spot every once in awhile, but I also like to fit into my clothes and feel good about life.

So we adopted a go-out-twice-a-week rule for Eating in Budapest, and I’m happy to report that we’re more or less the same size as when we arrived in this city. I think it was a smart move, because I’m here to tell you that I saw with my own two eyes a pork dish that came with rice AND potatoes, and they also brought out a bread basket. SO MANY STARCHES! What is this madness?

As unhealthy as it sounds, Hungarian food can actually be extremely delicious. If you look in the right places and visit the right restaurants (and cook some healthier meals for yourself in between trips to restaurants!), you’ll fall in love with the local cuisine. The paprika dishes are out of this world, the duck dishes STILL make special appearances my occasional food dreams, and the local lunch institution known as the “Napi Menü” is every budget traveler’s fantasy.

In this blog post, I’ll show you a few of our best experiences of eating in Budapest. I should note here that there will be a conspicuous absence of sweets. Don’t worry, we’re not off sugar. Not even close. The cookies and cakes in Budapest are just so damn delicious that they deserve their own blog post. Stay tuned for a post on desserts next week. Without further ado… let’s eat!

Hungarikum: Best Restaurant in Budapest

Every once in awhile, you visit a restaurant that knocks your socks off. For Kevin’s birthday, we decided to try out Hungarikum Bistro, one of the top-rated restaurants on Trip Advisor in Budapest. Normally, I’m more impressed with small eateries that are off the beaten path, outside the major tourist areas. The kind where you have to order your food using hand signals and broken attempts at using the local language.

Once in a blue moon, though, a touristy popular restaurant far exceeds my expectations. Hungarikum has everything: incredibly friendly service, wonderfully delicious food, live music, and a few extra freebies that they throw in to make your meal extra special. PRO TIP: Hungarikum is extremely popular, even on random weekdays at lunchtime, so reservations are absolutely a must-do.

Without further ado, here’s a photo tour of our meal at Hungarikum:

First, they bring out complimentary bacon and onion bread topped with sour cream and paprika. And Freebie #1 steals my heart. Nice work, Hungarikum.

Everyone gets a plate of peppers to spice up their meals. PRO TIP: The paste on the bottom is fantastic in Goulash.

Kevin and I shared a bowl of Goulash as a starter, and they split it out into two bowls without us even asking!

Then the live music started! Check this guy out – such a badass.

Our waitress offered to take our picture when she brought out our food. She was super sweet and helpful.

We ordered the Pork Tenderloin (with BACON) on noodles with Paprika Sauce…

…and the Crispy Duck Leg with braised red cabbage and onion mashed potatoes. This was our single best plate of food we had in Budapest. It was SO delicious.

When they bring out your check, they give you a free shot of Plum Palinka liquor! And freebie #2 seals Hungarikum’s place as my favorite restaurant in Budapest.

If you’re in town, you definitely should make a reservation well ahead of time and arrive hungry. Visit their website to reserve a spot. The total damage for this entire dinner was just 7810 Forint, which is about $29.

Kisharang: Second Best Restaurant in Budapest

If you’re in the mood for something a little more casual or didn’t manage to snag a reservation at Hungarikum, Kisharang is a great alternative. It doesn’t have a huge presence on Trip Advisor like Hungarikum, but they have friendly service and serve up delicious Hungarian food at reasonable prices.

Enjoying the outdoor seating at Kisharang in Downtown Budapest.

Probably the tastiest dish we ate there, this is Lecso with sausage. It’s a traditional Hungarian dish that is sort of their answer to ratatouille. I highly recommend it.

When you’re in Budapest, you MUST try some Hortobágyi Palacsinta, which is savory pancakes with a meat filling topped with a heavenly paprika sauce. These will set you back about $3.90.

They also serve a less soupy take on Pork Goulash, which comes with noodles. This one was $4.97.

We also tried their stuffed pepper and meatball dish. The sauce was a bit on the sweet side for me, but still tasty.

PRO TIP: Kisharang is cash only.

The Napi Menü: A Hungarian Institution

When you’re in Budapest, you have to try at least one Napi Menü, if only for the thrill of getting lunch at the most incredible bargain EVER. The Napi Menü is something restaurants cooked up to try to entice office workers to eat lunch at restaurants during the workweek. It’s served only during lunch hours on weekdays, and consists of 2 or 3 courses. Most times, a restaurant offers just a single Napi Menü option per day – there are no choices, and no substitutions. You eat what they’re serving.

It’s a little bit of a bummer to be robbed of your choices, but sometimes I like to just eat whatever’s being served. Plus at just $3-5, a 2 or 3-course meal is an absolute steal!

Here are a few of the Napi Menü lunches we had while we were in Budapest:

First Napi Menü experience, Nador Restaurant, which serves up 2 courses for 990 Forint (about $3.70) or 3 courses for 1350 Forint (about $5).

The first course was better than it looks. Soup with chicken and gnocchi.

Second course at Nador, Chicken Schnitzel with potatoes.

Course #3 was a tasty dessert crepe with jam.

Nador restaurant is down the steps in this huge cellar-like room! Such a fun stop for lunch. The big white thing in the foreground is a CANDLE, if you would believe that. The wax drippings have accumulated over years and years, making the huge white blob you see here.

Look for a sign like this: the magic words are Napi Menü.

Our second, and definitely weirdest, Napi Menü was at Ruben’s Eatery. They serve up 3 courses for 890 Forint (about $3.30).

The day we visited, the first course was a chicken and dumpling soup.

I’m still not sure what the second course was. Noodles with saurkraut and maaaaaybe some meat? It was tasty, but unidentifiable.

The weirdest course of them all – dessert was an apple! I like apples as much as the next lady, but it just made me chuckle when they brought this out. How do I eat it? Do I take it with me when I leave or eat it here? Should I slice it or just go for it with my hands?

Our last, and maybe tastiest, Napi Menü stop was at Vendiak. They’re situated on a sunny little square that is perfect for people watching. For just 980 Forint (about $3.60), we got a glass of honey-lemon tea, soup, and a bowl of cheese ravioli. It was really tasty, definitely a good stop!

Enjoying Vendiak’s honey-lemon tea.

Course #1: Vegetable Soup.

Course #2: Ravioli with plenty of parmesan.

The cute outdoor eating area at Vendiak.

While Napi Menü lunches can be a great money-saving option on weekdays (you HAVE to do it at least once!), we think it’s definitely worth it to visit Hungarikum or Kisharang so you can pick out some of Hungary’s best dishes.

Langos: Hungary’s Most Unhealthy (and Delicious) Snack

It’s possible that I’ve insinuated that Hungarian food is not the most healthy in the world. Brace yourself – here’s the most unhealthy thing we ate while we were in town.

Langos are something of a local delicacy, and you’ll never find a festival in Budapest without at least two booths serving them. Sort of the savory cousin of the funnel cake, langos are just fried dough that is usually topped with sour cream and cheese. Ours also came with pork knuckle, jalepenos, caramelized onions, and paprika. It. Was. Delicious.

If you’re in town, you have to try Langos. But only once, if you know what’s good for you. I know the photo makes it hard to tell how big this is – it’s larger than my face, if that helps.

My Little Melbourne: Best Coffee We Had in Europe

I know sound like a broken record when I complain about the coffee in Europe. I’m happy to report that we finally stumbled upon a cafe where the coffee was delicious! My Little Melbourne is a cute little cafe located in Budapest’s Jewish Quarter that scores well on our coffee meter.

My Little Melbourne, such a cute little coffee shop.

Enjoying some coffees in Budapest!

We Want to Hear From You!

Have you been to Budapest? What did you think of the food? Good? Bad? Heavy? Leave us a comment and let us know!