eat out: cheap, dirty but typical

i work in a hostel as a recepcionist, and lots of guests ask me about the typical local meals. usually they want to get it from a restaurant and usually (because it's a hostel not a boscolo hotel) they want it for a reasonable price. the answer is fakanál ételbár (the wooden spoon foodbar). i don't want to make false dreams to you, it's a real chop-house. i never saw anybody, who's not a student or a phisical labor as a customer. or sometimes some brave turists with cameras in the corner. plastik chocked covers on the metal tables, almost rusty plates for the soups and a collection of more than a hundred differtent plates for the meals. it's in a cellar and there's semidarkness, steam and hot.
there's a menu on the wall, i hasn't changed i guess since it was opened. also the mom of the canteen is the same with that rusty voice on which she shouts the order to the kitchen.
i'm not a gastroblogger typed, so don't ask me about it. i just can tell, it's one of the only places, where you can eat a meal like they do it at home.
found some prices:
clear soup (130HUF ~ 0,50 euro)
gulyás soup with beans (300HUF ~ 1,20 euro) - yee, the GOULASH!
macaroni (320HUF ~ 1,25 euro )

address: Fakanál ételbár, 1081, Baross utca 15. (map)
opening hours (i think): from 11:00 or 12:00 to 15:00 on every weekday.

i'll try to get some photos, promise.

Esclin Syndo in Kultiplex

yeeey, we are back. for a bit. i hope.

i'm here to recommend you a concert and of course, the place where it'll be.
the band is Esclin Syndo. not the most famous one, not in the whole world, and also not in hungary. so they are quite friendly, maybe you can play csocsó (table soccer) with them after the gig. the style according to their hompage is quality music, '80s electronics, metal riffs, hip-hop drums, a charing voice, experiment. probably they won't get a bigger audience than hundred people, but it's going to be one and a half hour stomp. i choosed them, because they are a kind of unique thing from hungary: great music.
yep, and a place is also great, alternative snug. like the well known szimpla. also the base of an art cinema and the headquarter of the first and most known (ex-)pirate radiostation, the tilos. and it's a sad story, because it has to be closed in february due to immovable estate things about the local government. but till that it's the time for loads of free concerts. like the one i told you. remember: kultiplex.

and the date is: 15th of february.
adress: kultiplex, 1092, Kinizsi utca 28. (map)
esclin syndo: web, myspace
kultiplex: myspace

2nd BalkanFest

in the west balkan. that's a pub/concert place which has also a garden area. quite nice, and underground with lots of different colours, trust me.
and about the festival. on the next weekend for two days this place becomes literatully part of the balkans. there'll be cookings for the afternoon, tables with traditional serbian and turkish dishes (lamb, pjeskavitza, chevapchicha - mmm, yumm). the event starts with a film from slovenia (Cheese and Jam/Kajmak in marmelada) followed by concerts by Kobra brass-band, Ajde Braco, Tűzkő Csaba (saxophone) and DJ 300 Karú Cigányzenekar (DJ 300 handed gipsy band).

Cinema:

September 29., (Saturday) 20:00 Cheese and Jam

Concerts:

September 29., (Saturday) 22:00 Kobra Rezes Fúvós Zenekar 0:30 DJ Macsity September 30., (Sunday) 21:00 Ajde Braco concert with Tűzkő Csaba 22:30 DJ 300 Karú Cigányzenekar

the ticket for Saturday costs 1500 HUF (6 eur), for Sunday 800 HUF (3,2 eur) and for both days 2000 HUF (8 eur). the adress is VIII. district, Futó utca 46. (map). you can get there with the 4-6 tram (Üllői út stop) or by blue metro (Ferenc körút or Klinikák station).

rain is still on - so chocolate

as i promised, i will continue the tips for this bad weather. if you are already bored of the tea of the sirius, you should try noir choco bar. yes, it is what it seems to be, a place full of (belgian) chocolate. you can choose maybe from 50 different hot chocolate, i already tried some of them, and they are hell good. i can't say exact prices, but as i remember a cup of chocolate is around 400-500 forints, so around 2 euros. but totally worth it. of course you can find also tea, coffee, milk shakes, hot cocoa and even alcoholic drinks. and chocolate fondue (!) for 1800 forints.
you can also buy many tipes of special chocolate products.
the place has beautiful warm colours, funny paintings on the wall, cozy pillows.
you can find it on the corner of the hegedű street and the paulay ede street. it's close to the liszt square (map). and it's also on the basement level (:

autumn tea

well, this weather is awful. you are not so lucky making holidays now in budapest... i help you how to survive. first i recommend you my favourite tea-place. it is called sirius teaház, its website is just in hungarian, as always. also not very easy to find it, it's located in a small street, in the basement level, without any well-marked sign. so you have to know the exact adress: 13 Bródy Sándor street, near the national museum (map). it's open every day between 12 and 22.

the teas are between 420-450 forints (less than 2 euros) for 400 ml, and you can choose from many-many tipes. the best thing of the place is that you can drink your tea in secret corners, in the so-called wardrobe, in the top of everyone, you have to climb, you have to sit on the floor, take off your shoes. the whole place is really cozy, just take a look on every part. you will love it!

a cheap movie?

yes, it's possible this weekend. i know i tell you a bit late, but until sunday you can go to cinema for 360 forints, which is about 1,40 euros. it is true for almost all of the cinemas in budapest, but hurry up, because sometimes they sell out all the tickets. the event is called celebration of the cinema (moziünnep), and it has an official site just in hungarian.

hc camp

ok, we are back. to hungary, but not to the busy workdays. eg. there's a hospitalityclub/couchsurfing camp happening just right now (16th-20th of August). i've been there on the fist day, so i can tell you some words about the mood. saw friendly people from the czech rep., poland, germany, belgium, but that's not the full list (GO and find the others (; ). about the program: on monday, it's the national holiday in hungary, so there'll be a kind of festival in the village so let's rave! for those, who aren't so culturistics, there is the football match against the neighbouring guys.
ok, that's not budapest, that is Súr. the perfect place if you've been always interested in the small villages that are almost unreachables.
here's a homepage, you can find some very useful directions. see you there! (GO!)

sorry,

we are on holidays for a month in portugal, that's why we don't write news. have fun, anyway!

music for every night

i would like to teach you a very important word: ingyen. it means for free. the second word would be olcsó. it means cheap. now i will recommend you concerts ingyen or olcsó.

today, tuesday:

if you like folk music, but you prefer it for free and in a non-touristical way, you have to go to the pótkulcs (map), a small, but cozy and warm place, today berkó ensemble is playing, and you can count with dancing! listen to their music on their webpage.


ian siegal (A) will play also for free at gödör klub (map) from 9 pm. he seems to play blues and stuff.

i would recommend also budapest klezmer band at hilton dominican garden, but it costs 4900 huf (20 euro).


tomorrow, wednesday:

our favourite 30y will play from 8pm at zöld pardon (map). the entrance is 100 huf as usually, it really means 0,40 euro. if you wanna know something about hungarian alternative rock, you have to see them. and they are from pécs, the european cultural capital in 2010. that city is better in music than budapest.

grab the deck party at tűztate (map). i don't know anything about the music, but you have to see the place, it's in a dirty, old factory building and it's very cool. and it's also for free. if you prefer reggea, come here today, monday. love alliance special.

bryan adams for free

every year, on the 30th of june, there is a big concert with an international star on the stage - for free, organised by t-mobile. the date is because their phone numbers begin with 06-30. (and hungarians write the dates like this: 2007. 06. 30. we mix up everything, like the names: surname first!)
this year that star will be bryan adams, the canadian singer, but i think that who will be the main reason of the crowd is rúzsa magdolna, last year's 'megastar' singer contest's winner. she participated this year in eurovision with this song. i like the most her performance with lajkó félix, a genious musician from last summer. this one was also amazing, a song from the serbian movie 'time of the gypsies'. she sings in hungarian and in serbian in this song, too, because she's from serbia's hungarian part.

the technical parts now:
the concert begins at 6 pm, and bryan adams probably will be on stage at 8.30.
the place is '56-osok tere (square of the 56-ers; map), you can get here by the yellow (#1) metro. just follow everybody. there will be some changes in the public transport, for example the yellow metro and the trams #1 and #6 will circulate until 00.30. and the crowd will be huge!