Restaurants

If you find a real quality ethnic restaurant in Western Hungary around the Balaton, let me know (I won't even hope for Thai). I normally have to "fill up my hump" on quality ethnic food when I am abroad to last the duration. Even trying to find decent cilantro to home make is difficult. Even more a problem with the more exotic Indian spices.

Yes, I know there is a "Mexican" restaurant in Keszthely.... but it is not really authentic.

klsallee wrote:

If you find a real quality ethnic restaurant in Western Hungary around the Balaton, let me know (I won't even hope for Thai). I normally have to "fill up my hump" on quality ethnic food when I am abroad to last the duration. Even trying to find decent cilantro to home make is difficult. Even more a problem with the more exotic Indian spices.....

The European name for cilantro is coriander.   We bought some of it the other day in Tesco.  It was just OK - from Spain if I remember correctly. 

We also started our own herb garden and grow our own chili as we like stuff spicy.  During the summer, most herbs grow very well here - just keep watering.

Oh, cilantro...
How I miss you...
Was growing it in our window boxes every summer but this season for some reason we didn't see a good crop.
Sad...
I too fill the heck up on ethnic  food when we visit Las Vegas.
Weirdest thing ever, My DIL is straight from Japan and she doesn't do my fave, sushi!! Just my rotten luck.
She makes a few killer dishes but not sushi.
So much for the stereo type of all Japanese people making sushi.
In fact she loves, really loves it when we cook Hungarian food for her.
Just shows you how good HU food is!

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Oh, cilantro...
How I miss you...
Was growing it in our window boxes every summer but this season for some reason we didn't see a good crop......
She makes a few killer dishes but not sushi.
So much for the stereo type of all Japanese people making sushi.
In fact she loves, really loves it when we cook Hungarian food for her.
Just shows you how good HU food is!

Our coriander (aka cilantro) didn't do that well but we did very well on Dill,  Chives and Chilis.  I've never been able to grow decent tomatoes here.  We'll have  another go next summer.

The reason your DIL likes HU food is because it's 10 x better than Japanese stuff.

Sushi?  Pfff....that's just tasteless sticky gooey rice with a bit of fish.  And tempura, what the hell is that? 

Give me a nice Goulash anytime.

(now I said that stuff, the cat is now amongst the pigeons....)

My son's ex Japanese GF was a sweetie pie.
She got a bit too bossy for him so they broke up, sad story, thought I was going to hear wedding bells with them.
Anyways, she tried hard to cook Japanese food for us once.
Some sweet sticky sort of red bean soup. My husband almost lost his lunch, not at all like a nice bowl of HU bab leves.
We used to just go out on special occasions to eat Japanese food in the US. Some nice places have great tasting food but it is not the sort of dishes I would like to eat everyday.
In Hawaii I would sometimes pick up some noodles for lunch but they were hit or miss, sometimes they were horrible tasting, was to thick and chewy.
My mom who had a Hungarian SIL and who's parents and SIL would often babysit my mom, always said Hungarian food is the best in the world.
Her bro was 19 years her senior and his wife about 16.
My mom used to love it when my husband and I would come to her house with a bag of ingredients and cook a full on HU dinner with soup and the works.
Even my niece begs me over the internet for HU cooking ideas and she lives N. Ca. where she can have her pick of any cuisine possible.
My current DIL from Japan also is really great at chopping I have her do the "dirty work" of chopping onions and things when we are together, I will say the Japanese are great at chopping perfect pieces.
My Puerto Rican friend from Vegas is going to Scotland in a day or two, wonder how she will find the food there?
Probably not anything she has ever had before.
I can eat HU everyday, hardly get too many cravings for anything else these days.

Hmmm I know the feeling. We moved here permanently in August and there are some things I really miss; decent authentic pizzas, restaurants and pub food, decent supermarkets and the wide choice of vegetables available. That said I knew what I was giving up/sacrificing and also what the benefits would be. (Cost of living, tax benefits and great location) As for shopping anything i can't find I can get hold of from online UK corner shop but at a price of course. I managed to find all I needed for the Christmas cake recipe but couldn't find glacé cherries anywhere until the British pantry came up trumps. At home in Kent we had an Italian pizza van which came to the village every Tuesday. Wood fired oven in the van! The pizzas were the best in town and we were regular customers each week. Every different pizza I've bought from Tesco for example has been horrid. Maybe I should make my own....... they couldn't be any worse! I thought I would crave red meat as in steaks and roasts but after three months here the idea of a steak actually doesn't appeal that much. I'd rather roast a whole chicken on the BBQ or make a curry/casserole. Cottage pie is always a good comfort food staple. Such a shame not to be able to pop into the shops for a leg of lamb and of course fresh seafood is out of reach. Next time we go to Croatia we will take a freezer box or two and load them up with seabass, seabream etc. and throw them in the freezer here. One thing I can't find easily is cumin. Managed to find cardamom pods in Tesco in Füred but not in local branches. What about fresh cranberries? I haven't seen them anywhere.
All that said, the basics are tasty and good and cheap in comparison to uk prices. I remember going to sainsburys and spending £35 on not a lot regularly. £35 can fill a Tesco supermarket trolley over here! Local Sunday market at  Kaptalantoti provides access to local producers as does the Tapolca market on a smaller scale. Maybe we should have a curry night gathering. Something for the summer months round a bogracs!
As for the restaurants nothing ethnic round here (Balaton Uplands) Great places to eat in Köveskál in the Káli Medence but pricey, as is Pura Vida in Tapolca and Hotel Oliva in Veszprém. Hmmm beginning to feel quite nostalgic for the local Langton Green Tandoori where I only went at Christmas for the cricket club lunch! Ok I've decided what I'm cooking for supper: curry!

fluffy2560 wrote:

The European name for cilantro is coriander.

Cilantro is the Spanish translation for coriander. Which is how it entered the American vernacular. And last time I checked, Spain was part of Europe.

fluffy2560 wrote:

We bought some of it the other day in Tesco.  It was just OK - from Spain if I remember correctly.

If it was from Spain, then it would be cilantro.....

By the way, not trying to give you a hard time, just being linguistically playful.

Or is it "by the by"? Darn these trans Atlantic language issues.....

fluffy2560 wrote:

We also started our own herb garden and grow our own

In Western Hungary the seed packages for cilantro (or is it coriander... now you have me confused.... oh well... ) are not always available in local shops. In other words, it isn't Budapest. Which has more options. Like restaurants. Yes, I know, I could order on line, but that gets a little ridiculous for a single 50 Forint seed package. And I am too lazy, I admit, to grow my own seeds.

jdbm1959 wrote:

Maybe we should have a curry night gathering. Something for the summer months round a bogracs!

I agree. A Balaton expat curry night would be a great idea.

There is a monthly Winter fondue event organized by a Swiss expat for anyone that is interested, when he has the time.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Sushi?  Pfff....that's just tasteless sticky gooey rice with a bit of fish.

All wonderfully wrapped in seaweed. And wasabi for a dip. Love wasabi.

fluffy2560 wrote:

And tempura, what the hell is that?

Yum. Love tempura.

But, I admit, not too fond of sea urchin gonads. But, each to their own on what they like in food. I won't criticize.

Tempura is basically just batter fried shrimp and veggies, very delicious. Dip it in soy sauce with wasabi mixed in. Excellent on hot days. All Asians like it these days. Sushi is basically raw fish and rice and 'seaweed paper'. Also good in the summer. The Korean variety is called kimbap and is not bad. Less fishy.

Any Vietnamese restaurants in Hungary?

Are kebab places pretty ubiquitous?

klsallee wrote:

...But, I admit, not too fond of sea urchin gonads. But, each to their own on what they like in food. I won't criticize.

Reminds me of the euphemistically named "sweetmeats" (aka Sweetbreads).

fluffy2560 wrote:

klsallee wrote:

...But, I admit, not too fond of sea urchin gonads. But, each to their own on what they like in food. I won't criticize.

Reminds me of the euphemistically named "sweetmeats" (aka Sweetbreads).

When I tell people, not aware of English cooking, what is in a faggot, they start to retch. Not me of course. I don't judge.

klsallee wrote:

....When I tell people, not aware of English cooking, what is in a faggot, they start to retch. Not me of course. I don't judge.

Don't get me started. 

I raise you a Haggis.  I'm all in with Tripe.

In Budapest i have found some good ethnic but non European places. I NOT judging or saying anything bad i just have not found them! So anyone feel free to let me know of some! he hee!

I have found a good Vietnamese place that i will admit is better than the ones in Florida. A was told that most of the ones in US or at least FL were from a certain area so i do not know. But the one or 2 here in Budapest are much classy and better.

Chinese food here is simply unclean from what i am used too. It would not even be legal to have food sitting there and then heated like they do it here. Chinese is only cooked after you order it. But the Chinese are very fast so honestly it was no slower to have it made fresh right in front of you than here with them dipping it up and nuking it.

There is many more Mexican places than i thought there would be but i would say they are equal to the run of the mill Mexican you see most places. I grew up in San Diego, CA so i like a bit more the authentic stuff. But i have not seen any Mexican places here that i would say are really bad or anything.  And both in CA or FL there are some really nasty places and they are border or very close to Mexico so Hungary is not letting anyone down. There is a really good Mexican place in downtown Oslo Norway!

Japanese food i honestly really really like. I do not think i know or like Japanese food that much or more than others. BUT i might just be not aware that i do! I dated several men from Japan, a few guys that were half Japanese and half white and then i lived in Sasebo Japan and dated Japanese men there also so i guess i like the food a bit more than i realize! One time back in FL me my dad his girlfriend and some of his friends went to a Japanese place that i liked. (My dad's friend was white and married to a Japanese woman they had just moved from Boston to St Petersburg, FL and wanted to go to a place, my dad told them i should help them in this regard). The waiter brought out the menus and they were all looking at it and picking out things. I was not seeing anything i wanted, so i asked some questions. The waiter then remarked "Oh girl you want the stuff from the mothership" It was embarrassing they were all laughing at me! His friend's wife said that just she is Japanese ethnic wise but her family does not really eat a lot of the food. All i ordered was appetizer of spicy fried eel in black pepper batter. Not tempura although i do like that greatly!  I do love sushi also but it is hard to find eel sometimes, or sea urchin both of which i do love! Then Beef Negimaki which is tender beef marinaded  cut in strips grilled and then wrapped around cream cheese and green onions, the hot beef with cold cream cheese is so good! Then i had some Australian Wagyu slices where they put it on your plate raw and bring a hot rock and you just drop the beef on the rock and cut it at your table! And i do know how to make Miso soup at home! Oh and i love deep fried whole soft shell crab! They all said i i really love Japanese food i do not know! he hee

I am not big on Thai food that is the one i am a bit careful when ordering as for me at least they have many things i am not aware of. I have gotten to know it a bit but i honestly would not know if a place is good or authentic or not.

I have found a few grilled places i think the guys working there said they were Serbian or Montenegro styled.

I really really really dislike Turkish food! I will NOT eat thees Doner. There was large middle eastern communities in FL and the Turkish food there was exactly like here which i did not like either. Lebanese food is more my style. And i love the way Middle Easterners cook lamb but here there is mostly Turks when it comes to middle east food and they will not cook lamb. Which once again this was true in FL also.

I love love Greek food but i have found no authentic places here. IF someone knows of one let me know. Once again real gyros, lamb and pork soulaki.

I have not found any Polish, German or Austrian places yet.

Found a good Scandinavian place but they have closed.

Have not found any Lithuanian or Latvian places either.

There is a Russian place dad and i are meaning to try the guy stuffed the menus in our mailbox 1 time back in 2016 we talked to him he seemed nice and was from Russia. But we have no gone there yet. I think they have a sit down and same company has a more casual place. We have not gone so i can not say.  I did go to this other Russian place that was really good but really really expensive! I looked at the menu online and it seemed way to pricey for any currency but my friend wanted to go i so i went.

I did eat at a place that they said was Transylvanian. They had wild boar and plums 2nd time i went i had deer with sour cream and leeks. That was very good!

I love English food! I also like Irish and Welsh food! I am not that fond of Haggis, but many Scottish food is good. There is one place that had good meat pies when i went there in 2016 but i went again this past August and most of the pies were on the menu but they said they were not cooking them, and then they were not cooking salmon and many of the other stuff was gone that was there in 2016. This other place dad and i found when we first moved here i think it was supposed to be English, but on top of the food was not good the help was really bad to where i almost got in a fight with the waitress cause i asked for Barclay Premier League to be put on instead of NFL!

I have no found any good Italian places but hell that is hard to find in US where there are many Italians!

I had to admit all the Hungarian food i have had was awful. Every place we have found or people that have cooked for us it was bland and just really some of the worst food i have ever had. I am NOT saying Hungarian food is bad! What i am saying is all the places that we have ate at that said it is Hungarian food were very bad and the couple of times people have cooked Hungarian food for us it was bad. It maybe that we just eat different type of things. Like i know Hungarians like pigs feet we do not eat that, many Hungarians eat tripe we do not eat that either, same with organs i do not eat that. So i am NOT judging i am just saying it just might not fit with me. Polish eat a tripe soup and i do not like that. And French food is some of the best in the world but i honestly really do not like most French food due to well they eat tripe and also just French cooking style i am not fond of.

I wish I could find a nice Polish restaurant here in Budapest.
Could always go for some nice potato perogies.
Smoked fish, some beet soup and perogies with a glass or two of wine or a dark beer...
In Poland we all drove over between HU and PO to SK to a old Rusyn town. The name escapes me at the moment.

We ordered what my PO cuz said was the best in the place,
some creamy garlic soup with dark bread and dark beer.
We then ordered a few sides of noodles with bacon and cheese....

I enjoy eastern European food the most although every country has a few tasty items.
My Japanese DIl makes something called,
" A birds nest" seems like a take on the old potato pancake but then again very different and very good.
If you haven't had good HUngarian food yet then either it isn't for you or you have been going to the wrong places to eat.
It is really good done right.

I do not eat tripe  either, just nasty.
I was a veggie eater for over 30 some years so I do have a few limits on what meats I will eat.
Eel sounds horrible but it is good at least in sushi dishes.
When we used to go out to eat Japanese food, it was always in a high end place.
Didn't bother with the fast food version which here sometimes in HU serves rice that is old and hard etc. Not at all like how it should taste or be served.

My DIL and other Japanese friends of ours might just not be the best cooks no matter what.
My son once had sushi in Hungary and was grossed out, he enjoyed it in Tokyo many times and said it is only good to eat in Japan. Take about being fussy!
When he went to Japan last time for his second wedding to his wife, they had his BIL come over just about every evening to cook, he was a sushi chief. Now I wish I had gone over for the wedding, just for the food alone!
My niece took me to eat inside the Bellagio in Las Vegas at some 5 star Japanese place, the "Yellowtail".
It was OK but I was not full at all and the bill was nearly $400.The view however was great, full view of the fountains.
I don't know much about Turkish food but I admit I am a sucker for a good Gyro.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
My niece took me to eat inside the Bellagio in Las Vegas at some 5 star Japanese place, the "Yellowtail".
It was OK but I was not full at all and the bill was nearly $400.The view however was great, full view of the fountains.

At that price I'd expect a share in the restaurant. 

I paid about $200 once but there were about 5 of us.

I get upset if it's more than about 10K HUF for 4 people.

Let me think, my niece ordered two different types of sushi plates with a sauce on top of each, hated both sauces.
We started out with a super tiny salad and my 10 year old great -niece had a miso soup.
Nothing fancy.
Then my great-niece had a glowing sushi bowl.Made a darling photo but that's it.
One soda, 2 bottles of sake and 3 small bowls of ice cream to finish.
One of those places where they have a lady in the WC handing out towels to dry your finger with for a price....
Not my thing, my niece and great-niece eat at very high end places all the time, spoiled side of the fam.
Another time we got together in Vegas for a quick bite at the Wynn, each of our bottles of sake cost $40. each... It was nice and smooth but dang, bottom shelf sake is fine with me too if it's served hot.
My niece loves to spoil me when we see each other, makes me feel loved but I wish she would just take me for a beer and burger somewhere and save her money.
My male cuz came for the second time in 2 years to Budapest this past summer with his Thai wife.
We tell them we are on a budget and we are.
They also want to treat us to a touristy place with high prices to eat dinner. My husband is stubborn,sticks to his guns and will not allow them to take us to overpriced places.
We pick the place which is always middle of the road Hungarian and not more then 3,000 F a person plus drinks.
Last visit we picked one cheaper local place in the 8th and the food was great at under 2,000 a head.
Next night we ate somewhere else in the 9th  which cost double and wasn't as good.
My cuz is a wine snob too. First night they were in town I had a meal at our place, he bought goose pate and wines which were nice at about 1,800 a bottle.
At dinner in the 9th he ordered a bottle for more then 5,000 and I thought it tasted horrible.
Everyone knows restaurants make their money on drinks not on the food.
After dinner he was dying for a coffee and  sambuka. I never tried that before.
Some Italian liquor. We took him over to Anna's on Vaci Utca, dang it, was 7,500F for 3 drinks and one water with tip.
I would rather of bought a bottle and made coffee at home for that price. Tesco sells a whole bottle of that for 6,000 and we could of really enjoyed the contents.
One day with beers, wine and water my cousin must of spent a good $100. or more just on drinking in Hungary! This was in his hotel lobby and out with us.
Guess we like our booze in the family.

There's a nice place in Vegas with a super sushi chief who has 2 shops in Vegas, "
Mikino's."
It is always packed with people but it is a large place.
About $20. a head for lunch and $30. for dinner.
All you can eat Japanese food with sushi to die for. They have the best  sashimi salad ever.Well worth the $20. just for the salad.
Another place we love is called the "M" resort and casino. About $20 a head for lunch with well over 250 items on the menu, all you can drink wines and beer and ciders.Every items is done very nicely, almost perfect, deserts are great with hard liquor added to espresso's. They Seafood Sunday is $35. a head and out of this world good.
Sunday night is Hawaiian dinning at the Silverton for $40 a person no alcohol though in that price. Fantastic food , just like in Hawaii.
Hmm... Having left overs tonight here, doesn't sound so good after thinking of all those buffets.
Sound like a food critic but we love trying good buffets in Vegas. Some places give you a all day buffet pass for under $60. Can eat all day long if you wanted to.
One buffet  once a week is more then enough for me though.

Hideg meggy leves = nagyon finom. Szerintem hogy magyar etel majdnem a legjobb europaban!

Japanese food is generally expensive! That seems to be a world wide thing, in Japan, USA, Hungary i have seen shows and talked to normal people and said it is true all over the world. Talked to some Australians and they said same thing and then South Africans same thing and then heard about Brazil where very large pop of Japanese live and same thing so for some reason that is just the price one has to pay for Japanese food.

I agree and most other people i have ever talked too it is good but as i said expensive!

I have heard there are many good Vegetarian places in Budapest and other parts of Hungary. I do not know as i am not a Vegetarian! But i have heard this for a few different people of different backgrounds.

I have ate at a very good Indian place here in Budapest. Once again USA and central FL has a very large Indian pop and never had i had a good Indian place! No there was one years ago that some Indian people from Australia opened i thought it was good and i went there with a guy i know that was Indian race wise but from the Netherlands, he said it was good also. But it closed mainly due to they were giving out free food to poor people and in Pinellas County FL you have to have a permit to give out any kind of free food. They moved to England and same thing happened with a different Indian place that he told me was good, they also moved to England. So once again Budapest get thumbs up in this regard as the Indian place i ate at here was much better than in usa.

There is a Pakistani place i discovered a few weeks ago that i want to try, it looks good although i have never had their food so i can not tell you if it is authentic or not! Then i know there is a Bangladeshi place but once again i have not been there and i know nothing of their food.

I love pastrami! There were many Jewish places in Florida and the US that i do miss. Although most "Jewish" food is food that Jews eat from where ever they are from i understand that. Which goes back to the lack of lamb or really spicy pastrami and matzo ball soup that i miss. That said they do have a cooking style of their own and that i do miss. And there were several Kosher food places i used to eat at. I was over in Pest a few months ago and i saw a Hasidiac Jewish guy walking around. I was looking at him not cause he was Jewish but i was trying to see if he was going somewhere to eat. He walked up to me, and asked why i was staring at him. I did not want to give impression i was prejudiced or something so i began to explain to him that i was curious as where there is Jewish places to eat it. Ugh that did not go well, as he replied to me in perfect English that he already knew of a good place he wanted to eat at! I will not go further as this is not the place for repeating vulgar things!

I did go to an Italian place here in Budapest up in the hills that was very expensive that many people thought was good. Not only was the food only ok, the service was really weak. I can almost excuse if people are biased, me being a person of color or being an usa person, or that me and my friend were a mixed race table, that would wrong but at least the bad service would be directed toward our table. But sitting there everyone was equally getting bad service! I would never go back there on top of the fact it is only by car or foot zero public transport there at all, but the food was only ok once again looking at everyone else's plates also and the staff was full of lead they were so slow and the prices were so high!  2 people 80k huf and all i had was one drink, and my friend one glass, NOT a bottle of wine!

With the Russian place i went too at least it was very very good and really nice staff but once again for 2 people the bill was like almost 100k huf. Way too expensive for  a meal, like that is most of our rent for the month. I like nice things but i am way too frugal for spending that kind of money for a meal, but it was one of my "Soviet" friends as my dad says. So whatever. I do need to try the low cost Russian place we got the menu for last year.

Sum total i will say Budapest does have many various ethnic food places. I will say that i am happy, and feel Budapest really does well and is making a good effort in this regard!

Like when i live in Colorado Springs, CO all the ethnic places were horrible! I mean they knew better and one place i asked them why does this taste so bad, the cook replied that he does not feel like making good food. Many other ethnic places there were like that! I lived in Kentucky for a little while and there was a Polish place that they admitted they just serve cheap slop cause it was easier to do that than make it well. And same thing in FL their pop is like twice that of all of Hungary and much more ethnic diverse but like i said much bad ethnic food cooked by who ever is the cheapest labor and ingredients wise.

As i said the hardest thing i have found at least is finding any or good European places.

(Like i said i am only stating my experiences! I have only been here not quite  2yrs yet, know very little of Budapest, and honestly do not get out much. Many times my dad is ill and does not feel like exploring, or i do not want to go out and get lost alone, or just we are beyond busy, things that should take a few days take months. I do not know if it is due to we are that stupid or just things go slow here. Like our door buzzer is finally fixed after 3mos of trying to get it done! And that took us calling the guy and paying ourselves! Every single thing takes about 3mos so in 2yrs we have barely figured living in Hungary out. In no way am i saying this is Budapest or Hungary just this is my experiences only with limited knowledge. This area of Europe i know the least of, my dad knows the least of and i know the least amount of people)

It sounds kind of sad and lonely for you. Why are you and your father in Hungary? Wouldn't Germany or another country be nicer for you?

FeliciaOni wrote:

(Like i said i am only stating my experiences! I have only been here not quite  2yrs yet, know very little of Budapest, and honestly do not get out much. Many times my dad is ill and does not feel like exploring, or i do not want to go out and get lost alone, or just we are beyond busy, things that should take a few days take months. I do not know if it is due to we are that stupid or just things go slow here. Like our door buzzer is finally fixed after 3mos of trying to get it done! And that took us calling the guy and paying ourselves! Every single thing takes about 3mos so in 2yrs we have barely figured living in Hungary out. In no way am i saying this is Budapest or Hungary just this is my experiences only with limited knowledge. This area of Europe i know the least of, my dad knows the least of and i know the least amount of people)

If you are living in an apartment complex, the "közös képviselő (joint representative?)" should handle such issues. If the problem is not solved in a few days, the problem lies with the representative. You should bring this up on the next house meeting. You should also nag that person often.

On the other hand, any kind of professional is booked up many months in advance. I know an electrician who's cancelling jobs, because he is booked up until next christmas (2018 christmas!). I could recommend my uncle, who services door buzzers and such, but that is against the rules.

If its your own house...start googling, and you will find an electrician sooner or later. Hitting up the company registry of the given settlement/district can also help.

I realize this issue has already been solved, but if you replace any profession in it, it is really the same case.

Chikagoan wrote:

Hideg meggy leves = nagyon finom. Szerintem hogy magyar etel majdnem a legjobb europaban!

To me that's an oxymoron.  It should be a dessert and better with a dollop of ice cream.

How about a Becsi fank?!? I ate that for lunch once with csirke leves. Gyumolcs leves is great for any meal.

Chikagoan wrote:

How about a Becsi fank?!? I ate that for lunch once with csirke leves. Gyumolcs leves is great for any meal.

It's all nice but donuts don't really go with soup. 

Donuts are nicer with coffee.

I agree, doughnuts are not lunch. This was in university cafeteria for lunch. The fanks were the main course strangely enough.

Chikagoan wrote:

I agree, doughnuts are not lunch. This was in university cafeteria for lunch. The fanks were the main course strangely enough.

Curiouser and Curiouser!

On the other hand in Asia, they have no concept of courses - order 3 dishes like soup, main and dessert and it all comes at once.  Only issue is that some parts will go cold (ok if you like cold "soup").

I suppose it is best to eat what the locals eat in any country, they usually do it right.
My Cuz was married for over 40 some years to a man from India.
Her 2 kids speak Indian got married in the US to Indian people and then got married again with them in India. So cute to see my tiny blonde cousin wearing traditional Indian clothing for her kids weddings in India.They also met their spouses in college one met her husband at the London school of economics in the UK.

She met her husband in college in Conn. They had a great life together, he passed away 2 years ago from liver failure while on a donor list.
Anyways ,she cooks all sorts of wonderful Indian foods.
My family is very diverse Hungarians, Mexicans, Japanese, Indians,  Thais,Blacks and Puerto Ricans to name a few of my cousins not to mention at least a dozen or more of my Rus cousins married people from Italy.
Wish we could just open up our own buffet with all these different cultures of food.
Felicia , thanks for the morning laugh about your experiences with "Jewish foods", Too funny although it probably did take you back as rude at the time.

I had a stupid experience with Jewish food when I was a native little 19 year old who moved to ethnic Flatbush, NYC in 1974.
I of course had eaten Kosher foods in Ca. at the old famous Canter's in Hollywood, a long standing place for a midnight snack after a night of dancing.
Had a few Jewish boyfriends at a teenager as well and used to enjoy meals that their mom's made at home once in awhile.
Thought i knew allot about being sensitive to other cultures.
I am/was but was just uninformed in NYC as to Kosher grocery shopping.
I wanted to cook some pork chops for my husband and went by myself to the local butchers shop to pick up a few.
He asked me if I wanted some help, I asked for two pork chops. His face just about hit the floor ,he gave me a good once over look and then was kind and just laughed at me . I had zero clue why.
He could hardy stop laughing and he told me," Sorry honey we don't have any of those today" ,"Why not try the place across the street".
I thanked him and still didn't understand what happened.
I walked to another Kosher butcher shop in Flatbush and lucky for me the butcher was busy , I just looked around , couldn't find any chops and left without asking.
Went home, told my husband who also just starred for a min. at me like I was crazy then he laughed his head off too.
That's what happens when you grow up in a white bread little Christian
town, you don't know what is going on in the real world.
I soon gave up eating meat for over 30 years, saved myself allot of embarrassment too!
When I think back on that, I was lucky the butcher could tell I was just a dumb silly girl from the west coast, all smiles but no brains.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
I walked to another Kosher butcher shop in Flatbush and lucky for me the butcher was busy , I just looked around , couldn't find any chops and left without asking.
....
I soon gave up eating meat for over 30 years, saved myself allot of embarrassment too!
When I think back on that, I was lucky the butcher could tell I was just a dumb silly girl from the west coast, all smiles but no brains.

I've got a stupid question.....

Can one buy Kosher vegetarian food or is it Kosher by definition?

Not true. There is no such thing as Asian cuisine, each country is quite different in its cuisine. I had had many meals in Asian countries where courses were served in a specific order. Particularly at more formal restaurants serving traditional foods.

I suppose there is Kosher veggies.
Meats and how foods are prepared as well has having different knives and cutting boards etc, for different foods. It is a strict thing which I don't really understand fully.
Some of my old Jewish friends wouldn't eat pork but they didn't follow a strict Kosher diet either.
My husband once hitched a ride from Ca. to Montreal,Canada both ways.
He was going to see the 1976 Olympics.
Stubborn man, he was going to fly there from Hawaii but money we had counted on didn't come through so he hitched across the entire US both ways!
Crazy.
He got a nice very long ride through several states all the way into NYC by a  trucker who was carrying a load of Kosher meats.
He must of trusted my husband because he showed him where he kept his gun in case they were hit by robbers on the road. He wanted my husband in the cab with him for safety so it worked out well for the two of them. Husband has a trusting face I suppose...
Anyways they had a strict time limit to get the meat to NY.
They were running late so they had to stop and find a Rabbi to look at the meat and sign off that it was still good.
They had to also give him a ton of free meat for his trouble.
I had a nice Jewish lady friend here in Budapest. We used to just have dinner parties at each others places.
She once invited us over to meet her family for a Easter dinner at her place. She served pork and rabbit, not exactly Kosher food. I was a tiny bit surprised they were having a big Easter dinner with fam being Jewish I thought that wasn't a celebration. I don't know much I guess.
Oh yes, just remembered something about the meat and the Rabbi.
He was a elderly man but insisted on going inside the icy truck.
He slipped and almost fell out of the truck onto the hard ground, my husband and the trucker caught him before he hit the ground. Maybe that was worth a special blessing? Just kidding, he was lucky they both acted fast and were strong enough to support him. Husband said he could of died right then and there if he had hit his head.

No one should eat rabbits. According to the East Asian zodiac, I am a rabbit and wife is a goat. I've had rabbit pets too. Don't eat us !

Anyways a becsi fank is not really a doughnut per se. I would rather have a  Linzer with a dupla fekete.

Yes, I couldn't get past having a rabbit as a childhood pet.
My son is also a rabbit, I am a horse and my husband is a PIG!!
Tease him allot about that.

Chikagoan wrote:

Not true. There is no such thing as Asian cuisine, each country is quite different in its cuisine. I had had many meals in Asian countries where courses were served in a specific order. Particularly at more formal restaurants serving traditional foods.

Hmmm....I obviously go to the wrong Asian places.  I'm speaking of South East Asia.  Might be different there.   It's always happened to me in Laos and Vietnam.

BTW, best to use the quote feature to help know who is answering whom.

Chikagoan wrote:

No one should eat rabbits. According to the East Asian zodiac, I am a rabbit and wife is a goat. I've had rabbit pets too. Don't eat us !

Spare a thought for us Rats.

At least Wabbits are cuddly.

Chikagoan wrote:

Anyways a becsi fank is not really a doughnut per se. I would rather have a  Linzer with a dupla fekete.

UK donuts are very similar to a fank - without a hole in the middle.  Usually injected with jam of some type - can be anything really, even marmalade.  They have granulated sugar on them. 

Personally I like the francia krémes but I'm not allowed to eat them any more

Personally I like the francia krémes but I'm not allowed to eat them any more

That is truly sad . You know in the USA there are some decent doughnuts, for example Krispy Kreme. Interestingly some doughnut companies that in the US  are sort of mediocre such as Dunkin Doughnuts, are excellent in South Korea. The whole ambiance in the Korean versions is much more classy and the doughnuts themselves are excellent. (but pricy) They also have their own bakeries in East Asia which combine European and American influence with Korean and Japanese style. Really outstanding.

I have got used to eating fairly plain foods in Hungary and I have found a few Indian restaurants fairly local to me too. I do mainly home cook vegetarian foods from scratch  though. On a recent visit to the uk I realised I would be really fat if I lived there again.
There is just so much choice in the supermarkets and millions of different deserts and cheap donuts. Most of the food I ate was totally delicious. But heavy on fat, sugar and carbs