At the end of last year, a very cool place opened in Budapest with the spirit of the countryside, offering foods from domestic producers, delicious ingredients, and simple-yet-superb meals and drinks. The concept might be familiar to those who’ve heard of Házikó already – and for those who haven’t, we’re here to fill you in. Házikó is essentially a rural development project helping the sustainability of Hungarian farms by finding primary producers and purchasing their products. All we have to do to aid this mission is to eat and drink. Simple!
There are certain shopping-related keywords that can instantly increase the value of a food product in our eyes. Just think about it: it simply feels better to bite into any treat that is dubbed as free-range, organic, or fair-trade. Foods and drinks made from such ingredients tend to taste better, as well. Farmbistro recognizes this correlation and offers these kinds of products in a cozy, cheerful little catering unit, located on Dembinszky Street.
But before we delve into the selection here, we must introduce the catering company/team/concept of Házikó, which is behind the bistro. Házikó was founded by Gábor Bertényi and Mihály Szalai, two experts in rural development, in 2014. Their former work and this new project had the same goal: to connect the countryside with the city and to establish a fair-trade system with Hungarian farmers. Szimpla Market is their initiative, as well, but Házikó takes the project to another level. They started to cook food (without artificial additives and preservatives) in their Dembinszky Street kitchen, initially for events only.
The enthusiastic team probably would’ve stuck with this type of catering work, but the demand for permanent access to Házikó’s delicious meals increased, eventually leading to the opening of Házikó’s Farmbistro. This particularly friendly bistro, packed with colorful chairs, opened on Dembinszky Street in Erzsébetváros – not in the crowded party district, but closer to Keleti Railway Station, proving that even this oft-ignored part of town can produce nice things.
We know that everything in the bistro is made from Hungarian products (we can even check what is from where) and prepared onsite, but what does “everything” include? Farmbistro has perfect ingredients for a breakfast, light lunch, afternoon snack, or dinner: sandwiches, quiches (450-550 HUF), cup desserts, and cakes line up in the refrigerated display, but they have soups (350 HUF) as well. The ingredients change seasonally, and come in pairings such as squash and apple. At the time of our visit, we tasted the latter as a kind of pastry, batyu – the house specialty, which comes in various versions stuffed with fruits, vegetables, or meat (420 HUF).
As for drinks, we can choose among fruit juices, syrups, or even coffees. Additionally, it’s important to note that we don’t have to reach deep into our wallets in order to pay for this rural freshness – the prices couldn’t be friendlier for the quality provided. We are delighted about Házikó’s Farmbistro, and hope that more people will join this delicious rural development project by stopping in here.
UPDATE: Farmbistro has closed.
