Eat local!

Bécsi Söröző
1053 Budapest
Papnövelde u. 8
Tel: 268 0225

Hours
M-F 11-22
Sat/Sun 11-16

If you're a visitor Budapest, do you honestly want to grab a bite in some sterile, faceless tourist restaurant on Váci utca, or do you want to eat some real Hungarian kaja in a genuine, downhome atmosphere? Yeah, you can eat mushy pasta or go to McDonald's, but then why the hell are you here?

Fear not! There's great food to be had in Budapest, but you just need to wander down this beautiful city's side streets.

It was a Sunday afternoon and my ladyfriend and I were in search of a relaxing afternoon meal. We strolled around between the Kálvin tér and Ferenciek tere metro stations, an area I used to work in, when it struck me where we'd go.

We entered the Bécsi Söröző, a Budapest restaurant throwback. Actually named after Vienna (Bécs in Hungarian), the Bécsi is a dark affair with nice old wicker lamps and wooden slat booths; a table for two sits diners side by side. Cozy for you and your companion, and good for sharing the food(!).

There were no tourists here, only a group of pensioners who murmured in a corner booth to add to the Sunday afternoon meal mood.

My first question was whether or not they accepted credit cards. Nope, said the walrus mustachioed Magyar waiter. But my mermaid was swishing her tail for some halászlé (fish soup), so we hit the cash machine and came back.

After scooting our behinds into the cozy booth, we jumped in the deep end and ordered two shots of Kosér Szilvapálinka to go with our mineral waters and began to peruse the menu. Mermaid would go for her fish soup, while I decided to take a stab at one of my Sunday afternoon favorites: leg of goose with sautéed red cabbage and potatoes.

Having eaten there years before, I remembered a nice mixed salad plate at the Bécsi which is worth ordering. Along with some fresh salad, it contains an assortment of fresh and pickled salads, among them fresh lentil and beans. It's a ton of food and could prove useful for those irritating vegetarians visiting our beloved meat-lovers' paradise, Hungary.

The waiter recited our order out loud to the kitchen staff in the back room.

The food looked just as good as what we were hoping for. Mermaid swimmingly enjoyed her halászlé. I tasted it and was also impressed. I liked that it was served with real, coarsely crushed red paprika as opposed to 'erős Pista', the overly salty paprika chutney served at most Hungarian restaurants.

My goose was cooked - quite well actually, and it was juicy and flavorful. It was adorned with the promised potatoes and red cabbage, but also with some breaded and fried apple slices, which were not too bad. The mixed salad plate was great - just as I'd remembered it. We were full and satisfied. And we just felt good there, and so will you - so check out the Bécsi!

Our check totaled HUF 6,200 including tip; that's about 25 euros.