Belgian Brasserie Henri — We walked quite a lot on our first day in Hungary and found ourselves on the Buda side near dinner-time, so we choose this Belgian pub as a place to grab a beer and and some moules frites. Surprisingly, this pub had some Belgian beers we hadn’t yet seen in Belgium! The food was good but the beer selection is definitely what makes this a popular spot.

Bouchon — Upon the recommendation of our first hotel, we decided on traditional Hungarian fare for our Friday night out. We started with a lovely bottle of white wine and because I had my cooking class earlier in the day, I opted for an appetizer of goose liver and fruit jams. Eric ordered the wonderful pork tenderloin ragout with bacon and fried potatoes, which he is still talking about a few weeks later. Good atmosphere, friendly service and delicious food. Highly recommended.

Chagall Cafe — Another hotel recommendation, Chagall Cafe is a hybrid of Italian and Hungarian with many pastas on the menu. Eric opted for the gnocchi that had a delicious sour cream-cheese sauce while I ordered the bacon-wrapped duck with incredibly soft potato balls. Dipped in Eric’s sauce, they were my favorite part of the meal! As you can see we sat outside, enjoying the cooler evening.

this lighting makes me look like I was on a movie set!

Pater Marcus — Our second Belgian pub of the trip, this one was disappointing. The food was just okay, my pork was slightly overcooked and sorely lacking in sauce. They also were missing several beers, so Eric was quite frustrated after his first two options were shot down. Brasserie Henri was definitley a better choice.

In between meals we ducked into a few cafes to sample some of the delicious looking desserts we had read about in advance…

Ruszwurm — Located near Buda Castle on the Bastion, this little shop boasts several types of chocolate layer cakes and sweets. We got there a little late in the day, so the selection was limited but we came away with a huge coconut fudge ball for me and a slice of the square chocolate layer cake for Eric. Easily the best sweets we had on our trip.

Central Kávéház — One of the oldest cafes in Budapest, the display of desserts was almost dizzying! After much deliberation in front of the dessert case, I selected a chocolate tart and Eric chose the poppy seed cake paired with a lemonade overflowing with fresh fruit.

Cafe Noe — One of the pastries on our ‘must-try’ list was the flódni, a multi-layered semi-savory cake with apple jam, walnuts and poppy seeds. Thankfully, this little place in the Jewish Quarter wasn’t closed for May Day and we were able to order a flódni and an apple strudel, then grab a shaded table in the peaceful back courtyard.

tasty pastries with peach juice

Overall we found the food in Budapest to be very good and really enjoyed exploring the different districts for snacks and meals.