“Burger” is a magic word that makes us hungry even if we just had a filling lunch. Luckily, Budapest’s street-food scene is bustling with all kinds of truly tasty options for burgers, like Bamba Marha Burger Bar, which also has another advantage: a Budapest blogger, Jani Jancsa, became a burger expert as an autodidact, and now creates mouthwatering handheld meals here. We sat down for a hearty lunch with him in the newest Bamba Marha branch at Deák Square.
Despite the shortness of the menu, we had trouble making up our mind about which burger to devour, as there are still almost too many exciting variations to choose from. For instance, there is a sandwich inspired by Pulp Fiction, called the Big Kahuna Burger (1,890 HUF), which includes cheddar cheese, grilled bacon, grilled pineapple, and teriyaki sauce, and it has been an important item on the menu ever since the beginning of Bamba Marha, just like the classic burger, the cheeseburger, the double-bacon burger, and the place’s signature dish: the Bamba Marha burger. The latter burger hides parmesan chips, grilled shiitake mushrooms, and umami ketchup between the fantastic buns. And as we already revealed that the buns are fantastic, we have to say that they come from Panificio il Basilico, which is famous for its olive rolls and sourdough breads. This information was enough for us to love the burger already, and after having a bite of it, we thought it was the best burger bun in Budapest.
The meat comes from Steak Shop, while the rest of the ingredients are from Culinaris, or from the Asian Store. This already suggests that Bamba Marha works with exciting ingredients, which results in succulent sandwiches like the specialty of the Deák Square unit, the Elvis (1,890 HUF). In this burger, blueberry jam, grilled bacon, banana, and peanut butter (!) mingle in a surreal symbiosis that actually works very well. We gave it a go, and after initial cautiousness, we cleaned up even the last crumbs of the sweet-and-salty tower.
The specialty of the Bamba Marha location found near St. Stephen’s Basilica is the Italian burger called the Mamma Mia, but the menu also holds a variation enhanced with a Mexican touch (jalapeño); however, our true favorite is the saucy-spicy Sloppy Joe (1,990 HUF) with beef-pepper ragout, cabbage salad with mayonnaise, and onion rings. We can see that they are generous with the toppings, so even a single sandwich is enough for us to forget about eating for hours.
However, missing out on the crunchy side dishes and the special homemade sauces would be a pity. A novelty (and our favorite) among the garnishes is sweet potato chips (590 HUF) that we loved dipping in a coffee BBQ and a cinnamon-beer-mustard sauce (200 HUF), but we also tried everyone’s favorite, the chipotle mayo, and an American burger sauce. We washed down the dishes with a glass of Hungariancraft beer (American Beauty from Monyó), and although we were completely stuffed after this exciting culinary adventure, we still had a bite of a slightly sweet dessert that could not have been any stranger conclusion to a meal: Oreo wrapped in bacon, served with maple syrup (250 HUF). Jani recommended that we gulp up the rest of the sauce like a shot, but at this point we didn’t feel quite so daring anymore.We left the restaurant feeling truly satisfied and stuffed, and a year and a half after our first visit to Bamba Marha, it again proved to be a business representing high quality with an American touch and superb sandwiches. At the moment they operate as a burger chainwith three eateries in Budapest, and seeing the team’s enthusiasm and energy, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a new place or new flavors popping up soon. Moreover, we heard insider information that they already have more novelties and extravagant monthly offers in mind.
