Travel Russia Today

If you were to ask any Hungarian what not to miss in Budapest, I am quite sure that Budapest Market Hall would be pretty high on their list. I am not Hungarian, but it was definitely one of my priorities during my recent trip to Hungary. Other priorities: a visit to one of Budapest’s baths – done! Coffee and cake at an old time café – done! Castle District, Parliament, Jewish Quarter – all done! So it was time to enjoy some shopping at the Central Market Hall, one of the largest and oldest indoor markets in Central Europe.

My main interest was the food which is sold on the ground floor. The second floor is where you will find souvenirs and kiosks with prepared food. We first browsed through the seemingly never-ending stalls of paprika, garlic, fresh produce and overwhelming variety of meats and sausages. My guide Agi was wonderful and helped me find the best stalls, it was good to see that she actually knew the sellers and was a regular here. In fact, most of the people I saw shopping were locals. On the second floor, I skipped the leather goods and other souvenirs in favor of the Lángos I had been craving ever since landing in Budapest. Lángos [pronounced Langosh] is a deep fried (I know, I know – not good for me!) flat bread that has the most wonderful chewy consistency that works perfectly with the melted cheese you put on top of it. The long line was a good sign and proved to be quite entertaining as I observed my guide cringe with every order of toppings the foreign customers were placing – olives, onions, ham. No, no, no, Agi was truly tortured by the sacrilege committed on her beloved delicacy. You are supposed to eat it with a bit of sour cream, garlic and shredded cheese! I knew better to let her order exactly that for me. And it was delicious!

And the moral of the story is to get a great guide, if not for the enlightening lectures about history and art, then definitely to get the best out of your food experience without making a fool out of yourself.

Budapest Market Hall is open Mon – 6:00AM-5:00PM, Tue-Fri – 6:00AM-6:00PM, Sat -6:00AM-3:00PM, closed on Sunday.