Write up coming… eventually.
Kicsi Ir.
Tapagria.
2 Likes
Did I tell you that we loved the foie so much that we switched our dessert to more foie?!/!? And I guess that tickled the chef cause he squirted little purees of fruit around it. He spoke no English and I no Hungarian but I went back in the kitchen and he figured out how happy I was 
2 Likes
Looks like a great trip!
1 Like
Some more details about the eating in this post…
We had tour tickets that day at 9AM for the Hungarian parliament building and decided to eat in the area (since we had woken up late and wouldn’t have time to eat breakfast at the hotel restaurant). Wery little is open in Budapest that early on a Sunday (I gathered), and so we wandered into a cafe (although it looked more like a bar) that previously been “Little Irish Cafe” but was now called “Kisci Ir” (literal translation, “change and”).
A few older men were relaxing outside and smoking (so it had a “legit” feel to me… 
), and the woman in charge spoke very little English but was clearly trying very hard. When we asked if she had any food to service, she pulled out a huge plastic food bin and pointed toward her “sandwiches” (essentially toast w/ cheese and something other smeared topping). We chose two, and she popped them in a huge toaster oven to re-heat.
It was so lovely to eat this tasty, piping hot bread on such a quiet morning near the gorgeous square of the parliament building w/ so few other people around. This is not a destination eatery by any stretch of the imagination, but it will be a fantastic trip memory for me.
We had some snack at Tapagria later. LA doesn’t really have a lot of good Spanish restaurants, and I assumed that there must be better ones in Budapest. Pata Negra (the restaurant) very mixed reviews, and one of the reviews mentioned that Tapagria was a better example of Spanish tapas.
It was… fine? The pan amb tomaquet tasted a lot like toast w/ Mexican salsa on it… And, from what I’ve looked up on-line, that’s actually what it’s supposed to taste like? The pulpo a la Gallega was a disappointment for 2 reasons mainly b/c there was so little octopus (probably should’ve known from the price, which seemed quite low). What little there was was very tasty. But I wouldn’t ordered patatas bravas (which were fine), had I known that the pulpo had so much potato.
I was wowed by Barrafina in London. I’m loooking to be wowed again by Spanish food elsewhere. ::sigh::
3 Likes
It’s just bread, tomato, olive oil, and salt, so it shouldn’t taste like salsa.
LOL. There’s no JUST about it! Of all the great food we ate in Barcelona, Catalan, that bread was just insanely great! Just bought some great tomatoes at our Saturday market and will be making some. Soon.
It’s as good as the ingredients, so it can be great or awful or anywhere in between. June in Budapest might not be the best place or time for tomatoes.
I think it might’ve been more like a thick marinara? But it seems that, from your description, it should taste like that, either…
It’s almost the same dish as Italian bruschetta al pomosoro only minus the garlic and basil and usually less tomato.
I was recently reading a piece about it and the recommendation was to grate the tomato on the large holes of a box grater. Makes sense and I’ll certainly do that.
PS @paranoidgarliclover OT but did you see/ride the long/steep/fast escalators???