Looking for great Vegetarian/Vegan food in Hungary? Taste Hungary offer the BEST food tours in Hungary. We went on the Hungarian-Vegetarian walk with Taste Hungary and this is what we thought:
1. Central Market Hall
The Hungarian-Vegetarian Walk with Taste Hungary started in the best place - the Central Market Hall. This was such an appropriate place for a Hungarian food tour to start because it's full of local, tasty products:
Like these fresh raspberries, which were there to meet us with our wonderful guide, Zsofia. She told us what the schedule was for the day and a bit about the Central Market Hall: It was built in 1896 to celebrate Hungary's millennium, and was the first market hall in Budapest. Nowadays it's not the only market hall in Budapest, but it's still the biggest. It's used by locals and tourists alike and is commonly known just as 'The Hall'.
2. Unicum
After the raspberries, we headed over to a small bar in the Central Market Hall to try a traditional Hungarian liqueur, Unicum. Unicum was invented in 1790 by a Jewish-Hungarian Dr called Dr Zwack. He invented it as a medicine for Joseph the Second. Unicum has been popular and easy to buy in Hungary ever since, EXCEPT for the 40 years when the USSR occupied Hungary. The Unicum family took themselves and the secret recipe to the US and the Soviets didn't know how to make it! The Unicum recipe is still a secret to this day, although we do know that it's 40% alcohol and has over 42 digestive herbs. We both really enjoyed our shot of Unicum, it has a similar taste to Jagermeister, but is more delicious in our opinion.
3. Retesek
Next we went to a strudel stand in the Central Market Hall. We tried three different traditional strudels: a poppy seed, a squash & poppy and a cottage cheese & dill. They were all filling and tasty.
We also tried scones here: cheese, cabbage and potato. The potato was our favourite. The strudel was actually brought over by the Turks during the Ottoman occupation.
4. Paprika
Paprika was also introduced by the Turks in the 16th Century. As Hungary wasn't on the Silk Road, paprika was used as a cheap version of black pepper. Paprika is actually a Hungarian word and is now a national symbol - it's a very popular with the tourists.
It's only usually sweet paprika that's used in Hungarian cooking, with spicy paprika used to flavour salami and similar things.
5. Mantra
Although coffee isn't exactly Hungarian, coffee shops are very popular in Budapest - especially fair trade, organic ones. Our next stop was Mantra for fair trade, organic drinks. I had an excellent bitter coffee from the Congo and Tanbay had a 100% dark chocolate drink. Both were delectable.
6. Leves
Then we walked a short distance to Leves for some delicious, vegan, tomato soup. Leves is very popular with students and we can see why because the soup was fantastic.
6. Rozsavolgyi
Next we went to Rozsavolgyi which not only had some of the best chocolate we'd ever tasted, it was also the best dressed:
We tried six chocolates: Tarkony (tarragon), Kave and Balzsamecet (coffee and balsamic vinegar), Fust (smoked wood), Levendula (lavender), Malna Gomt (raspberry ball) and Giandotto (milk chocolate and hazelnut):
They were all INCREDIBLE. My absolute favourite was the Levendula and Tanbay loved the Kave.
7. Napfenyes
Then it was lunchtime! Napfenyes restaurant is known as one of the best vegan restaurants in Europe. We started off with cabbages stuffed with rice in a paprika sauce, and I swear it was one of the best dishes I've ever tasted. It was delicious!
It was followed by a traditional Hungarian dish: a Cottage cheese dumpling sweetened with cinnamon. It had a twist though: it was vegan: The sour cream sauce was made of soy and the cottage cheese was made from grains. Delicious!
8. Madal
We made a quick stop at Madal, for yummy raw vegan cakes, before we headed to our final stop:
9. Tasting Table
The Tasting Table was our last stop and it was super tasty!
Set in a cute kitchen/cellar/shop hybrid, there was a great selection of wines, including the best collection of Tokaj wines in Budapest. We were very impressed by the Unicum selection which came in all shapes and sizes:
After we'd admired the space, it was time to sit down and try some wine and cheeses:
As someone who loves maps, I was extremely impressed by our map/place setting, it was beautiful! But so were the wines:
We started off with a white wine: Abbey Winery Pannonhalma Tramini 2015 from the Pannonhalma region (West of Hungary). This wine was really delicious, it was light and dry. It was paired with a 'Mountain Cheese', which was also really delicious. It was soft and strong.
Next up was the red wine: Bolyki Winery, Bull's Blood 2013 from the Eger region (North East). This was a light house wine and it was paired with a smoked cheese (of Slovakian origin): Paranyica. Then was the dessert wine: Royal Tokaj Winery, 5 Puttonyos Aszu 2009 from the Tokaj region (North East). Also known as the 'Kin of Wines'. This went with a Blue Cheese that was absolutely divine. All in all, my favourite wine and cheese course was the last one. It was the perfect way to end a perfect afternoon.
Wrap Up: Taste Hungary, Hungarian-Vegetarian Food Tour
We absolutely loved our Hungarian-Vegetarian Food Tour with Taste Hungary. It was informative, it was super tasty, and our guide Zsofia was so nice and so much fun that we felt like we were being shown round by a friend. Our favourite foods of the day were the potato scones, the coffee, the lavender chocolate, the stuffed cabbage and the blue cheese. Everything was delicious and we highly recommend this tour. To book a Hungarian-Vegetarian tour and/or check out Taste Hungary's other awesome tours head here: tastehungary.com You can also find them on Viator (where they are rated as the NUMBER ONE workshop in Budapest)! They are also on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. To find out more, check out our daily vlog about it :)
And to keep up with our own adventures, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Like what you've seen here? Make sure you pin it to your bucket-list!
Disclaimer: Travelling Weasels were invited as guests of Taste Hungary, but as always all opinions are our own.
ABOUTME
We overland. We eat plants and fungi. We live outside as much as possible. We are all connected. A female travel blogger overlanding and writing about ecotourism, ethical and sustainable travel, socially conscious travel and housesitting. An online travel magazine since 2015.
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