Vegetarian places in Budapest

not always easy to be a vegetarian, especially when you travel in some eastern european countries. actually you are really lucky with budapest, it's not that eastern in the vegetarian line (:

my favourite place is the "Lébár" (juicebar), they offer very cheap and good vegan food and fresh juices here (Múzeum körút). good option for those who can't eat sugar or flour, too, they have very clever cakes and pastries. often you can find the vegetarian version of some hungarian dish like paprikás krumpli (paprika potatoes), gulyásleves (goulash soup) or jókai bableves (bean soup).
they are open every weekday between 10 and 18. it's very small place. next to it you can find the best organic shop in the country (in my opinion), with fresh fruits and vegetables also.

my second favourite place is the hummus bar, they serve delicious israelian veggie food like hummus and falafel. you can buy falafel everywhere in the city, but this is the only place where it's actually good. they have more restaurants. the nicest one is at the Kertész utca 39, here.
the other location serves the same food, but the place is not that lovely (Alkotmány u. 20.).



a nice option can be the belgian fries: the place is called Pár Perc Krumpli (some minutes of potato), they offer nice fries, many kinds of sauces and some vegetarian burgers. they also have more shops:
Ráday u. 1-3
Móricz Zs. körút 2.

at these places you can get filled by 2-3 euros, i don't really go to more expensive restaurants. you can always find something vegetarian at the turkish buffets (we have many). a good one is near the Nyugati train station, called Szeráj. their aubergine and spinach in joghurt is great.

I never tried, but looks nice the biodarshan vegetarian shop and restaurant.


there are some other options as well, but i should test them first. if you want to try something hungarian but veggie, there's the főzelék (made of any kind of vegetable, can't really explain, so check out the pictures). if you want to try the higher class version, the stand bistro is told to be good and cheap (4 eur) at lucnhtime. then there's lecsó (it can contain meat, ask about it before ordering), it's similar to the ratatouille, perfect summer food. and you can try some typical hungarian pastas, like túrós csusza (with cottage cheese, ask without bacon), mákos tészta (with poppy seed, it's sweet), káposztás tészta (with cabbage - it can be sweet and salty as well), etc. you will love túrógombóc, if it's made in a good way. in the restaurants they usually serve it as dessert, but at home you would eat it as a main dish. i prefer with sugar and tejföl (sour creme). and you can't miss lángos of course, but be prepared to something very heavy and oily (or greasy). best with tejföl and cheese, or just simply with some garlic. you can find it quite cheap at the central market. ok, i'll come up with more ideas later. ask anything in the comments.

rent a bike

because it's the most trendy way to go from A to B in these day in budapest. although, there aren't many bicycle path and also the cars drivers not very ... hm, like the germans, you know. let's say they are like the italians without a smile. BUT! dare to hop one a bike, the layout of the city is perfectly designed for two wheels. ok, expect the castle hill.


so, i collected, what i found about the rental companies.

budapestbike (budapestbike.hu)
address: VII. Wesselényi u. 18.
prices:

• six hours: 2000 huf,
• one day: 3000 huf
• two days: 5000 huf

they have tandems, and the prices include the helmet, chain and lock.

bikebase (bikebase.hu)
address: VI. Podmaniczky utca 19.
prices:

• 24 hours: 2000 huf
• 48 hours: 3500 huf

need to present (not as deposit) an ID or passport. provide panniers and tool kit.

Lowe Alpine (lowealpine.hu)
address: VI. Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út 17.
prices:

• 5 hours: 1500 huf
• 24 hours: 3500 huf
• 36 hours: 4500 huf
  
• 48 hours: 5500 huf

it includes padlock, carrier and helmet. 15000 huf or 50 eur deposit needed.

bajnok (champion) (hercehurca.hu/node/382)
address: VI. Bajnok utca 29.
prices:

• 24 hours: 2500 huf
  
• 48 hours: 4000 huf
  
• a week: 10000 huf

actually, they are a messenger company and a service, so probably they have the best bikes.

yellow zebra (yellowzebrabikes.com)
address: V. Sütõ utca 2. and VI. Lázár utca 16.
prices:

• a day: 2000 huf
  
• 24 hours: 3000 huf
  
• 36 hours: 4000 huf
  
• 48 hours: 5000 huf

basket, lock and helmet included. you can rent lots of other equipments. deposit needed (50 or 100 eur).

festivals in hungary: cozy ones

just after the bigger ones, there are three quite similar happening in the three corners of the country. if you are around hop in. they are more familiar, people are more opened for new connections, beer is much cheeper, ticket prices are lower (a daily is around 20 euros). in the north-east corner, the capital of the famous wine region, Tokaj has the hegyalja festival. the main attractions are Katatonia, Juliette & The Licks, Adam Freeland and N.O.H.A.. four days, 9th-13th of July.
on the west side has another on the coast of the big lake Balaton, but it's on the north side in the youth camp of Zánka. the balatone advertises itself with RZA from the wu tang clan, beatsteaks and the real mckenzies. 24th-27th of July.
the third is in Szeged, next to the serbian-romanian border. szin - youth days of szeged - is the oldest music festival in hungary held since the '60s. this year, you can have joy with Morcheeba and several hungarians. at the end of the summer, 27th-30th of August.

and one more, a unique one. it's more an open air goa party, but for four days, 6th-10th of August. the ozora located in the middle of the country, in a hilly region, just in the nature.

not too late for festivals

although, there's one within a week. yeek, that means it's really summertime. you don't need to stuck in 36 celsius in the city. i mean, you have to come here to see the pool above the Gödör club and drink some bottles of beer in the park or just to see the panorama from the fishermen's bastion. but, maybe, in the summertime you would prefer the festivals. let me introduce some.
the big ones.
first of all, the sziget at the beginning of august (12-18). the biggest name from hungary in this scene. it's really a huge happening on an island, not very far from the downtown of budapest. so you can even stay in a tent or in a hostel in the city. on last.fm, you can see a quite long list with the performing artists. but the festival last for six (plus two pre) days.


if you buy the tickets (online) a daily one is 32 euros, the weekly ones are for 120 (without camping) and 150 euros. cheaper than roskilde, hm?


second is volt (2-5 july !). right next to austria, and not very far from bratislava. so you can use those airports and probably it's way easier to get an international ticket to those capitals. and the lineup: manu chao, the offspring, cypress hill, exploited. four days for 60 euros if you buy it in advance (70 at place). daily ticket is 24 (28) euros.

the electronic one is the balaton sound (10-13 july) with massive attack, fatboy slim, goldfrapp and many hungarians, of course. the place is just next to the lake balaton, you can swim in it. best for the hot summertime with bit of hangover. tickets for 28 (36) euros and passes for 70 (85) euros.

there'll be a next post with the cozy, smaller fests. i just need some sleep now. cheers.

special events on 21st of June

as it was like last year this day also celebrates the night of museums. there still isn't an english official page. as i know, the ticket is 1200 huf (5 euros) and it's valid to all the museums. the shows start during the afternoon and end late night after midnight, but it depends on the institutions. you can grab a free program list from cinemas or cafes, there's a big EXIT sign on the front page. whatever.

there are two more events, more self-organized. the bicycle messengers do the traditional yearly war in the downtown. you know, that game where everybody has a number on his/her forehead and has to hide it from the opposite team. protect your flag, read as much enemy number as you can and run. or ride, because you have the bike. according to their weblog, the meeting is at 3 pm on the birthplace of the hungarian cycling sport.
probably you don't have a bike. you can find some rent a bike on the bottom of this page, under the kerékpárkölcsönzés title.

and the other is also a battle. like in the medieval times, one team has the castle and the other's attacking. a bit like hide and seek and the other catch game we all played in elementary. the attackers have to take their flags to some determinated places without catching them by the others. you have red or blue ribbon and have to give it to the other, if you get catched - and they've got a point. the meeting is at 7 pm, here (Vérmező park, Moszkva tér side). and a link.

Wanna see a true Hungarian demonstration?

Then go to the Astoria this Sunday at 2 pm. Preferably on your feet. Cause it will be a demonstration for the fresh air, against the pollution of the air. We want the politicians to make some changes. We have the examples from abroad that it's possible.
And you can see all the underground faces of the city there, maybe getting some party-tips as well, or just be there for our beautiful city. Help us to change! Please. It's in the touristic area, anyway.

When? 17th of February, Sunday, 14:00
Where? Astoria

The gluttony thursday

tomorrow, (06. february) is the day for going to restaurant. before the easter fast you can fill your stomach with delicious dishes for half price. there are 1068 restaurant giving 50% discount from the meals all over hungary. this promotion is valid for the 'a la carte' meals or the special menus composed for this occasion.
here's the list with the places participating. there's also a hompage, but it's only in hungarian.
egészségedre!

central market strikes back

once, there was a post about the central market on the fővám tér. don't want to replicate myself or something like that, just to add some fresh photos. i won't describe them, come and discover it (sure, i'll tell you more about it, just ask me in e-mail).
it's lovely, believe your eyes.

skating in the city park

january is the coldest month in hungary. but in the past few years the weather doesn't know anything about this, so it was 17 celsius yesterday in Szentgotthárd. in my opinion it's the best time for skating: you can do it in a sweater without a jacket and any risk of colds. so let's skate on central europe's biggest outdoor skate-rink in the city park of budapest. just behind the heroes square, next to the castle of vajdahunyad facing with the attendant hall built in 1894. yeah, it's really budapestic, should try it. but be careful, the ice can be wet in these hot days, so don't fall.

there's a shop right next to the entrance, where you can buy or rent skates. the rental fee is 600 huf (2,4 euros) per hour. if you rent, during your fun times you have to leave your id card or 15 000 huf at the shop as a deposit.

it's open two times a day: 9 am-1 pm and 4 pm-8 pm.
the entrance fee depends on when you go, but it's either 700 huf (2,7 euros) or 970 huf (3,8 euros)
there's a website (www.mujegpalya.hu), with more information.
address: 1046, Olof Palme sétány 5. you can get there buy the #1 metro line, bus #30, #4 and some of the trolley bus lines. heroes square is a big junction, you can't miss it. (but of course, here's the map)

the picture is from anundrum.

A La Galette crèperie

If you are fed up with all these yammy but greasy Hungarian specialities, you might have some French ones. All right, at A La Galette you can't get anything for 130 huf like at the Fakanál, but it's still affordable. Close to the Nyugati trainstation you can find a sweet Breton restaurant mostly with fabulous galettes and crèpes. A very nice French couple runs the place, the husband cooks, the wife serves the food. The most simple courses start at around 600 huf (2,4 eur) and the most complicated ones end up at around 2.500 huf (10 eur). And you can drink cidre, what you rarely find in Hungary.

The colours are blue and white, some kind of marine-style, all this and the perfect lights make a very pleasant atmosphere. We as university students are so used to the fast food restaurants, that for the first moment it was a surprising gesture to get water in nice glasses without asking. You know, everything is different at the Chinese (:

The address: Szondi utca 11, 6th district (map)
Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 11pm; Sunday 11am to 3pm
You can get here by: tram #4,6 (stop: Oktogon or Nyugati tér), metro 1 (Oktogon) or metro 3 (Nyugati tér)

For the photo thanks to roboppy on flickr.