Ancient Chinese Secret

In the first of our series 'Eats and Drinks' we present to you Giuliano Gasparini who has lived in Budapest for about a year now. As an Italian, Giuliano brings his expert taste buds to the task of finding the best things to eat and drink in Budapest.

Momotaro Ramen
Széchenyi utca 16.

This week Giuliano was in search of great Asian eats and found in the Momotaro restaurant which is situated just behind Hungarian state TV.

If you happen to be walking in the city center along the Danube or in the bank area and feel hungry, a perfect idea is to eat in Momotaro Ramen, a real traditional Japanese restaurant that also serves Chinese food. At the corner of Nádor utca and Széchenyi utca, behind the Hungarian state TV headquarters, you will see two red Japanese lamps hanging on both sides of a door. That's a magic door.

So walk in, and, on your right side, you will find a very nice restaurant decorated with traditional Hungarian scenes on the ceiling, furnished with traditional wooden furniture, white tablecloths and waiters - well, that is another place, namely the former Nimrod restaurant, which used to serve game and Hungarian specialties. But, on your left, there is a small, kitchen style, cozy room, with the smell of Japanese food coming through the kitchen door. If the latter room is full, you can ask somebody to share the table with you or you can also move to the nice adjacent restaurant (the right door) and eat at the same prices - which are very cheap!

Although you cannot find any sushi, I would recommend one of the delicious ramen soups. Each soup could be considered a complete meal itself. You will hardly manage to finish it or to ask for more. The chicken and mushroom dish is also lovely and features hearty Asian-style mushrooms. Momotaro also has some daily vegetable sides which are freshly cooked to perfection in a wok. Finally, they have a number of steamed dumplings, sometimes for vegetarians too - don't be afraid to ask!

The service is fast and, for being a "fast-food" place, the staff is nice and polite.