We are people of the side streets.
As walkers and walkers, we have learned that in order to get to know a place fully, we will always go for the plates that tell its story, not necessarily the ones that grabbed real estate on the central axis or equipped themselves with a gimmick backed by a well-oiled PR battery.
Food that comes with a story, a vision and the work of good hands, one that is refined, always excites me.
Behind him will often stand a soul with passion who does what is right for her.
How pleasant and good to meet fulfilled people in the middle of the road.
You will read about the food that moved me in the following lines', but first of all - "location, location, location".
The familiar sentence once again proves its importance, when the location from which we left and to which we returned was excellent.
Therefore, let me warmly recommend it - at the charming boutique hotel "Hotel Collect" you will find rooms that felt like the home of someone really cool, and a service that made us feel like respected and welcome guests (of someone really cool).
For the previous articles of Dafi Kramer:
Avoiding "Israeli food" abroad? It's time for a rethink
The King of the Market: the Parisian restaurant that pays homage to Israeli food
Within walking distance of the hotel we found public transportation to all parts of the city, and perhaps more importantly, to restaurants, bars, delicatessens and wine houses that make me want to go back to them quickly.
While we were waiting for our room to be ready, we turned to the nice girl at the reception to get a culinary recommendation for a nearby place.
She recommended a nearby workers' restaurant, which can definitely be said to have opened our Hungarian chakra - and also our appetite.
The place opens at 12 noon and closes at 4:30 p.m., there is no flexibility.
We realized that we had come to the right place thanks to a restrained queue of hungry Hungarians.
His name is "Disznotoros", and translated into Hebrew - "piglets of the lower city".
There you will find a wide and fresh selection of homemade dishes, which you eat while standing on high counters.
I chose a typical Hungarian dish: chicken breast marinated in cilantro and garlic, with mustard potatoes and a classic Hungarian cucumber salad.
The man I was with chose a rich and flavorful goulash stew alongside nokadli, aka the well-known Hungarian dumplings.
The naked truth is that the pleasure made me want to order the entire menu, or just spend the next few days there and listen to the conversations in the rolling Hungarian language, but I had to conquer my desire and settle for something sweet to conclude the visit - sweet and sticky rice, topped with a wonderful cherry sauce.
If you are into local and authentic food, don't let yourself miss this place.
After a short rest at the hotel, we went for a stroll through the beautiful streets of "Pesht", which welcomed us generously and were a special setting for such a trip.
After a round long enough for us to feel that it would not be a sin to eat again, we entered the "Gettó Gulyás".
The person who strongly recommended me to visit there, hinted that I should have a word with the owner.
One thing led to another, and the owner of the place, David Kautsky, made himself available and exchanged kind words with us for almost an hour.
He was born and raised in the streets near the restaurant in the 70s, immigrated to Israel with his mother, and lived for years around Haifa.
After he was released from his military service, he returned to his girlfriend, where his father was waiting for him.
With a lot of ambition and a sharp Jewish sense, Kautsky became the "night life king" of the city, but the longing for the kitchens of his childhood did not let up, and he finally turned one of his successful bars into this wonderful restaurant, which packs tradition in a desirable trendy wrapper.
Obligatory stops
Only later did we realize that it was an obvious miracle that we were able to find a place there without a reservation in advance.
As is the best Hungarian summer tradition, the meal started with raspberry soup and roasted apples with a generous spoonful of sour cream.
From there we continued to eat chicken in a thick paprika sauce and cloudy dough balls for the master and a juicy meat emcet and on the side boiled and burnt potatoes with chives parsley garlic and dill for me.
We had dessert with gombotz dumplings that stood in the center of a "pool" of heavy cream and cinnamon, which brought me back to my grandmother's kitchen on the eve of Shavuot.
I was excited.
In order to get off the two lunches that were eaten before 4:00 p.m., we decided to give up jumping to the hotel and just go to see for ourselves, to enjoy the beauty and power of the city.
We crossed the bridge towards "Buda", and saw from the top of the citadel how the evening falls on this beautiful European city.
"Viennese" veal schnitzel at the Óriási Bécsi Szelet restaurant in Budapest, photo: Ronit Yudikovich
My personal guide for wandering around Budapest is Ofer Vardi.
When I asked him where he brings surprises home, he directed us to Fromage, an innocent-looking neighborhood deli run by a gracious food researcher and curator, Raymond Hopper.
The deli space is packed with piles of carefully selected delicacies from all over the country with boosts of surprises from around the world, sausages and kabanos from Mangalitsa meat and country cheeses from small producers, jars of honey in many shades, jams, wine jams and wonderful liqueurs.
This place, without a doubt, is a must-stop for anyone interested in tasting, literally, the stories behind the producers, farmers and growers who are responsible for this abundance.
Across the road, a table with a tablecloth winked at us, which was part of a charming little neighborhood restaurant called "Óriási Bécsi Szelet".
We sat down, ordered a Hungarian beer and gave the waitress a free hand in choosing our "grandmother's meal".
Along with the beer, a cucumber salad arrived at the table with a generous spoonful of cream, along with pickled cucumbers that disappeared from the plate in no time.
After the warm-up, a "Viennese" veal, the size of a family pizza tray, came out for honor.
It was one of the best we have eaten recently, but at this point we had to inform the sympathetic waitress that we had reached the limit of capacity which does not allow us to eat more.
Fortunately, she didn't listen to us, and within minutes we found ourselves faced with pureed chestnuts in rum and whipped cream on top, alongside a pile of blintzes filled with cheese and apricot jam.
Homemade, simple and highly recommended.
After a good night's sleep, we started the next morning with a nice meal in the "living room" of our hotel.
We spent the first part of the day in the streets of the centers and in the Jewish quarter of the city, which, apart from its beauty, also contains exciting pieces of history.
Towards noon we met, and not for the first time, Verdi, who in my opinion is the culinary master of the city.
For years he has been dealing with the Hungarian cuisine he grew up on, and on which he even wrote the bestseller "Goulash for the Surfer".
His culinary tours on both sides of the city go through more than 15 tasting stations, and very much summarize the story of the wonderful Hungarian cuisine and, in general, the story of the city, from the traditional food to the latest trends.
After another much-needed rest, we ended the evening at a restaurant with a Michelin star, "Spago", which is located in a beautiful and preserved hotel on the banks of the Danube.
"Spago" has taken on the integration of cooking traditions from all over the world that characterize the kitchens of its head chef, Wolfing Puck.
She combines this tradition with local ingredients and modern interpretations of traditional Hungarian food.
The environment is intimate and romantic and many, smart and elegant dishes began to arrive at our table.
They made us feel that through them the chef was telling a fascinating seasonal story.
The following figure will probably annoy you a little: we are a couple of gluttons, we can say that we ordered quite a few dishes, and all this pleasure together cost us about NIS 400.
If you want to continue the evening in the same place, on the roof of the impressive building there is a sort of impressive rooftop, with the view of the Danube River, with a modern and lively cocktail bar.
Budapest - there is no doubt that we will return.
And us?
We will meet at the next destination.
Were we wrong?
We will fix it!
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