Most Magyars can never have too much meat, and while traditional Hungarian cuisine certainly has an abundance of animal-based meals, international meaty treats are constantly growing in popularity here, much to our delight. We recently visited a pair of freshly launched downtown-Budapest locales for carnivores: the Butifarring Spanish-sausage sandwich shop, and the American-style Budapest Barbecue Company.
Butifarring
Butifarring – we savored the word many times in the recent past as we made our way along Múzeum Boulevard. It’s a funny and alien expression, and the red-winged pig in the window of this first Budapest unit of the Barcelona-based Butifarring franchise is also a humorous sight. However, we didn’t go there for laughs, but for the Spanish-sausage sandwich, which first gained local renown when globe-trotting Hungarian foodie András Jókuti waxed poetic about the Iberian delicacy on his Világevő gastro blog last year. The author – who found love at first bite with the Catalan sausages cooked in a Josper grill – wrote about feasting on botifarra in Barcelona with wishful thinking; even then, he thought that these savory links could be a big hit in the Hungarian capital. The time has come, since from now on, the new Butifarring street-food place awaits customers with its playful pig logo just across the street from the National Museum.The interior design of Butifarring is simple – in focus is the Josper charcoal oven, grilling the sausages one after the other, which are then put into fresh-baked baguettes that are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, alongside some fresh vegetables and sauces. The sausages are undoubtedly different from the Hungarian version; they are seasoned with salt and pepper only, resulting in a more natural flavor. Those who are used to paprika and garlic-seasoned sausages might have some difficulty with the classic version (990 HUF), but the stronger flavors of the varieties with mushrooms, goat cheese, and blue cheese might win them over. Our personal favorite was the Morcilla (1,490 HUF), which is basically a sandwich with three pieces of Spanish egg-potato-ham sausages. We recommend concluding the meal with similarly charcoal-grilled potatoes, which go really well with aioli sauce.
Butifarring offers a quick, classic street food as an alternative quick bite in the Kálvin-Astoria-Egyetem Square triangle.
Butifarring Budapest
Web
(Catalan/Spanish)
Address:
Budapest 1053, Múzeum krt.
27
Opening hours: Monday-Friday, 11am-7pm
Budapest Barbecue Company
The combination of a friendly attitude and professionalism is no coincidence at
Budapest Barbecue Company: the brothers who dreamed up the place are already experienced in the restaurant business. After many years of work, they launched their own project: they would like to feed Budapest with authentic BBQ meats. Before, we would see BBQ eggs or smokers at festival stands at best, and there used to be only one gigantic Southern Pride smoker in Budapest – but that place lacks the classic barbecue atmosphere. On the other hand, this spirit is omnipresent at BBC.A large interior, numerous tables, American design, TVs for watching sports, and lots of colorful signs guarantee a down-home atmosphere. There are no unnecessarily complicated decorations; instead of tablecloths, steak cutlery and sauces are lined up on the tables. This is typically the kind of place where new details could be added every day – mainly in the form of new signs, whether they are metal or neon.In addition to the atmosphere, the meats are in the primary focus. The owners put together the concept of BBC during a “study trip” – in other words, they traveled through the southern states by car for weeks, with several crates of beer and whiskey. They stopped at the best barbecue restaurants and roadside eateries they came across in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, and instead of glamor, they chose authentic spots in the middle of nowhere instead, where guests wait for hours for their meal to be done – with beer, music, chatting hours away, until the ribs, sausages, pork knuckles and pulled pork reach their most crumbly state. They’ve been to Franklin BBQ and Salt Lick, as well.
The meats of BBC are cooked for anywhere between 3.5 to 14 hours in apple-and-hickory wood smoke, with special seasonings. Regarding the quality, the guys definitely set the bar high: for example, the brisket and the spare ribs arrive straight from America (and are also USDA certified, which is also indicated on the menu). Encouraged by this, we tasted the Almost Heaven USDA (3,490 HUF), the price of which also includes two side dishes. The brisket is characterized by a delicious smoky flavor and superb texture, with a thin, soft layer of fat. We tried the huge pork ribs, the so-called Forever West (2,490 HUF), as well. The ribs not only proved to be tender and perfectly seasoned, but we didn’t have to worry about slicing it, either – the meat simply slid off the bone as soon as we touched it with our fork.We can also order hamburgers, salads, snacks (chili con carne: 990 HUF, chicken wings: 990 HUF), tacos (990-1,090 HUF), grilled steaks, and meaty sandwiches. The selection is huge, but we didn’t manage to try much else – the two BBQ dishes were challenging enough to finish. However, we have to mention that it would be a sin to miss the hot pecan pie with vanilla ice cream (890 HUF). From spring, the place will expand with a large terrace, and they will also screen sports events here. By the way, the beer is quite fairly priced too, so this place is even more appealing. Slow-cooked meats with beer and friends – that is pretty much everything we need.
