EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Other destinations / Europe / Hungary
Burgers and Hungarian local street food - you must try it!
Traveling from place to place doesn’t always allow you to eat in a regular restaurant. Sometimes you are just forced to grab something quickly. Heading to the train or bus station, being pressed with the parking ticket time limit or just not wanting to loose time on checking local restaurants, we sometimes decide to get a street food. Well, I must admit, that quite often, we also select meals from stalls to try it. Let’s call it – our curiosity. Hungary did not disappoint us in that area. A lot of bars offering burgers (as it is not in Croatia: Are burgers popular in Croatia?), pizza slices, kebabs, Turkish cuisine and typical local plates. Mostly common are the first two – pizza and burger stalls or bars exist in almost every town. Doesn’t matter how big the city or village is, it is very probable, that you would find it there. So, how could we not try them?
Pizzerias are really popular. Not only between tourists, but also for local people. They gather together, discuss, have fun and enjoy sharing a pizza. But, that is more the case of a regular pizza restaurant. And the quality of the food is really good. I might say, that we didn’t have any pizza, that we disliked. Pizzas sold in slices are a really quick option. Just select your favorite one and get it. No need of waiting for preparing it or queueing in a long tail. However, pizza slices are a poorer substitute of a regular one and that is why it was not our top pick. So, what was our top choice? Yes, burgers! Especially this one with a pulled pork meat.
Dodge pulled pork Challenger
Our favorite pulled pork burger was in Tokaj - Dodge pulled pork Challenger. Perfect! The bun was home-mad, crispy and sprinkled with some sesame seeds. Cut in half, each part was slightly grilled in the inner side. Thanks to that, sauces did not soak in it, but stayed on top. Pulled pork, fried bacon, Gouda cheese, fried onion, tomatoes, pickled cucumber, ice salad, coleslaw and BBQ sauce, that is what was in this Dodge Challenger burger. At the bottom were laid some ice salad leaves cut into small pieces. Then came this delicious pulled pork. Juicy, soft and full of flavor. Pork was covered and bonded with melted Gouda cheese. Not too much, just perfectly as it should be. Thanks to that, cheese’s taste did not shade pork’s aroma. The next layer was created by pickled cucumbers in thin slices and a mustard sauce. Then were laying well-fried bacon stripes covered by fried onions. These two ingredients added an extra smoky taste in an appropriate quantity. The last part created slices of tomatoes topped with a classic BBQ sauce. A great composition of different flavors and textures. The BBQ sauce matched perfectly – not only as a typical American sauce that referred to the Dodge Challenger, but also as a great topping for fried onions and bacon stripes.
Dodge pulled pork Challenger was server on a wooden tray with an esthetic white paper, that exposed the beautifulness of the burger. Instead of a commonly met wooden stick skewering the burger, Dodge Challenger had a sharp steak knife.
Deep Classic
The second on our tops list is a beef burger from Budapest. Deep Classic had beef meat, cheese, bacon stripes, tomatoes, ice salad, mayonnaise and mustard. The bun was crispy and well grilled on both sides. The grilling process gave an additional smoky taste, what made it even more interesting. Sesame seeds, both on the upper and lower layer added extra flavor. Cut in half bun was firstly layered with some ice salad chops and covered with a red mayo sauce. On it was a beef burger meet. Well fried and prepared from a meat of a good quality. Covered with perfectly melted cheese the whole composition created a unified form. With some bacon stripes, pickled cucumbers and tomatoes on top of it, it was a real pleasure to indulge our teeth in it. And the mustard sauce that was giving a mild spiciness, was what was really needed. A good composition of flavors and notes of aromas. Not too hot, not too mild, just perfect to be able to distinguish tastes of each ingredient.
Deep Classic we had in Budapest. It was served on a tray covered with a brand paper. The burger was rich, crunchy and well prepared. The serving way, with a stick in the burger, was a nice addition to tasty meal.
Greekland burger
Another interesting burger we tried in Gyor. Greekland burger grabbed from a local small bar. Although the bar was small and worked only as a delivery point, it had a lot of fans. People were queueing in long tails and the kitchen staff had a lot of work and orders – both these to be delivered and these to be picked up from the bar, as we did. Greekland was a Greek-style burger, that included almost all what you might expect it, I mean in an abroad fast food bar. Inside you could find chicken chops, more like in a kebab or gyros, tomatoes, cucumber, ice salad, green olives and a mayo-tztziki sauce. Not only the chicken was served in a different way as in a regular burger. Cucumber was in small cubes like in a Greek salad and not in slices. The same applies to tomatoes. That was an interesting meal. Maybe not the best one, but still worth trying it. A lot of fresh vegetables, sauce and a standard pita bread, all that was a nice change in our daily menu. Of course if you would like to be more strict and analyze the name of the burger with what you got, you might be confused. This Greek-style burger was just as you might expect it to be, if you think about getting a Greek food from a fast food. Being more precise I would replace the chicken meat with a mutton or a lamb meat. Then add some feta or halloumi cheese. I believe it would be more as Greek people would expect it to be. And one more thing – spices. there was nothing you know from Greece. No herbal aroma that is so popular in Greek dishes and on Greek food streets. That is what was missing for me. To sum it up – it was OK, a nice break from all standard burgers. Nothing really interesting, nothing surprising. Neither in the negative, not in positive meaning.
We also tried some more local street food dishes. These fast food options were completely different from regular restaurant meals. Grilled lamb patty was dominating all dishes. Add to that an ajvar sauce and some onion and you will get a composition of ingredients that could be found on every local food stall.
Mics burger
Talking about burgers, let’s keep that track. Mics burger – lamb meat, ice lettuce, tomatoes, fried onion, red onion, mayo, mustard and ketchup. All that was in a regular, slightly grilled burger bun. Vegetables were fresh, cut in thicker slices so that biting them was giving you more taste, especially when you think about red onion. The bottom part of the bun was layered with fried onions, then came lettuce, cucumber slices, thick, crunchy onion rings, and tomato slices. All these ingredients were covered with a lamb meat burger. The burger was properly grilled, full of a meat juice, perfectly spiced with herbs and with distinguishable meat parts in it. On top of it were added sauces – ketchup, mustard and mayo. That was a very good choice. Lamb meat with fresh, crunchy vegetables was a good combination. Red onion rings were adding extra mild spiciness, that was well balanced with other ingredients. Nothing extremely dominating and not allowing you to fully taste all flavors. Definitively a good try.
Mics Tal
Then in the same area we tried a Mics Tal. This dish also based on a lamb meat. That was a Ćevapčići like dish (read more about Ćevapčići: Ćevapčići - a Croatian alternative to a regular burger? (Part 1)) that consisted of three grilled lamb patty meat, roasted potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, ice salad, ajvar sauce and ketchup. It was served on an imitation of a plate, nicely garnished and giving an impression of a freshness and cleanness. Actually, all that was true. The meal was being prepared in the meantime, the salad was freshly cut and potatoes were roasted just at the moment. This Mics Tal was the best one if we had to compare different local dishes. Not too spicy, but still with distinguishable herbal notes and not overloaded with fat. That was a good combination of fried and fresh ingredients. Potatoes, salad, sauces and lamb meat sticks created a good and a rich meal. Add to that the mild or semi-spicy ajvar sauce and you would surely enjoy it, of course, as long as you like trying something else and you are not a vegetarian.
Chicken with rice, broccoli and cheese
And the last one that we would like to share with you is a chicken meal with rice, broccoli and cheese. This one we had in Budapest in a small, but quit crowdy, restaurant. Nothing very sophisticated. Some small tables in the inner part and some outside the bar. Ready meals were stored in stainless steel containers, a kebab stand was in a corner, plastic and ceramic dishes were in the background and finally the cutlery was just in boxes close to the entrance. A small bar that reminded me of my childhood. It was clean inside, tables and chairs were big enough and comfortable. Maybe the standard was not the best, but everything was neither damaged nor very old. Coming back to the meal. Chicken was served with skin and bones. Happily it was with no breadcrumbs, that are so liked and popular in Hungary. The skin was nicely crispy and the meat was juicy. On it were some broccoli flowers covered with cheese. All that was baked, thanks to what the cheese melted and nicely covered vegs. It came with a rice that was a combination of an Arabic and Hungarian cuisine. It was spicy, with a lot peppers and oil. Red in color, soft in texture and well balanced regarding the meat it was served with. A quick eat, but tasty and full of flavors. A good choice for anyone who would like to try something else, but still local. For me, it was a different way of serving a meal with both Hungarian and Arabic influences.
So, as you can see, there is a lot of things you might try as an alternative to a regular Big Mac. Just be open and don’t be afraid!
