Non-meat and fish meals in Hungary

Being a Vegetarian in Hungary is not easy. I would even not mention all Vegans that would like to visit this beautiful country. Surely, their life would not be easy. Of course, I mean hear going out to restaurants and enjoying food tasting. Traditional Hungarian dishes usually include some kind of meat. Either pork or chicken. More rarely you find beef and lamb. Minced meat, in slices, skewers etc. If you randomly select any position from the menu, it is highly probable, it will contain meat. Hungarians love it and serve it in any form you might think about. Grilled, fried, roasted, backed. You will find it served in breadcrumbs, in a sauce, in a goulash, in soups, in burgers, on pizzas and in minced meat sticks. Given that, it is hard to get any meal that bases only on vegetarian ingredients. You could always select a salad that is a side dish, but still, I guess, it is not what you would like to get. Nor is it anything special, you might like to eat as a dinner in a restaurant. Sliced tomatoes, cucumbers or cabbage are good, but not as a proper meal. I might say, that a traditional Hungarian cuisine is deprived of non-meat dishes. But don’t worry, a lot of Italian restaurants serving pastas will help you.

Dumplings, sour Russian pancakes, gnocchi, potato pancakes etc. do not exist in the Hungarian cuisine. Fish and seafood dishes are also very rare. While lack of seafood meals is understandable from the logical point of view, then a minimal number of fish dishes in menus is surprising. Hungary has rivers and lakes, so there should be fish too. And if so, why are they not so popular and liked? Also imported spices are rare. Salmon or tuna did appear only in a few restaurants.

If eventually you found a fish, then usually it was served in breadcrumbs. As almost all kind of a meat, fish was not excluded from it. Deep-fried, sometimes grilled, but usually fried in egg and breadcrumbs. Actually, that kind of serving it – in breadcrumbs and egg, was completely dominating the natural taste of the fish. Even if you select a grilled fish, you might get a fish filet in egg. Yes, surprising.

Grilled fish

Grilled fish in Hungary.

What would you expect, when selecting this meal from the menu? A fish filet grilled on a charcoal grill? A whole fish stuffed with herbs and grilled on both sides? Or maybe small fish pieces grilled like chicken stripes?

OK, that is what you might expect, but what would you get? Let’s see.

We ordered a grilled fish in Tata. A nice restaurant, a nice place, quite a lot of space and a lot of local people. Meals, that we saw being served to other customers, looked very well. Nicely served, not minimalistic and colorful. Unfortunately, we had to wait for the ordered meal a long time. But, if it was rewarded by a tasty meal, we can accept it – of course to a certain degree. However, that was not that case. Two fish fillets were served on rice. But this fish was not grilled in our meaning. Filets were fried in a thick egg and flour layer. That is a pity, as it could really be a good dish. Rice was well boiled. Neither too sticky nor to loose. Tasty and with a proper texture. What could not be said about the fish. Especially, that the expectations did not meat the reality. Egg with flour in which the fish was enrolled, was salty, puffed and moist. It was easy to be separated form the filet, but too moist to remove it completely from the dish. The whole meal was topped with a small lemon part and some fried tomatoes. All was sprinkled with herbs.

The serving form was not impressing neither. Nothing to complain about, but still not in the way that you would look at it and be delighted. The plate was full of rice on which two fish filets were laid. Served in an automatic way. No love it, no passion. It could be served in the same way in any bar or fats-food stall. But in the restaurant, you would expect it to look differently. Or maybe that is only my dream.

Grilled fish.

On our way back, we made another try. Actually, not in Hungary, but in a neighbor country, but that grilled fish, was what we expected to get. Well grilled, aromatic, stuffed with fresh herbs. Neither over-grilled not too raw. Perfect. Perfectly spiced. Herbs were tuning fish’s flavor and not dominating it. A proper amount of lemon let you have it on every bite. The skin was crispy and deprived of husks.

It came with a tomato and onion salsa and lettuce. What is more, it was nicely served and tempting to try. So good! So tasty!

Fried Trappista cheese

Fried Trappista cheese.

And what if not a fish or seafood? Maybe some kind of a cheese? Grilled? Fried? Something like a French Camembert with cranberries? Or maybe as it is in Slovakia or in Czechia – fried in an egg, flour and breadcrumbs? Let’s try!

We selected fired Trappista cheese, as it is something local. Trappista cheese is originally a kind of a cheese that comes from Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, it is very popular in other neighbor countries. We wrote about it in the article ‘TOP 10 Most popular Hungarian dishes’. Trappista cheese has a mild taste. It was served in well-fried breadcrumbs, that were creating a crispy crust on the half-melted cheese. Our Trappista cheese meal was served in three pieces. It came with rice and French fries. As a sauce, a Greek-style Tzatziki dressing was added. Everything had a plain taste. Nothing dominating, but eaten altogether, all components were creating a good composition of flavors. Surely, that is a good alternative to a traditional Wiener schnitzel.

Grilled vegetables

Grilled vegetables.

Finally, if you are desperately looking for something with no meat and or something light but warm, you could choose grilled vegetables. A composition of different vegetables such as tomatoes, chopped bell peppers, hot peppers, zucchini, eggplant, onion and cucumber is usually served in most restaurants. Usually it is served as a side dish, but sometimes, you might find it in main courses. Spiced with garlic, rosemary, herbs de Provence or other local herbs, grilled vegetables are always aromatic and full of flavor. However, they are grilled with a lot of oil, in which they are served too, so be prepared for oversoaked eggplants’ cubes.

Finally, what to be said more. Not a lot of options for Vegans and Vegetarians. In some bigger cities you might find some restaurants specialized in serving that kind of dishes, but it is still very rare and you might spend a lot of time of searching it with no result.

Author: Beti – A passionate traveler and lover of Asian cuisine, especially Thai and Japanese dishes, Bernadeta brings her culinary and cultural experiences to life in her writing. Beyond her travels, she’s an avid technology enthusiast with a deep interest in data processing, merging her love for exploration with analytical insights.

Photographer: Adalbert – An aficionado of computers and photography, Adalbert captures the essence of diverse cuisines with a discerning eye. A connoisseur of rich flavors and particularly fond of meat-based dishes, he combines his technical skills with his passion for the culinary arts in every shot.

EAT IN ASIA / Food destinations / Other food destinations / Europe - european food / Hungary - hungarian food