Many people say that living in a city has a lot of advantages. One of these advantages is that you can try different cuisines, different dishes what’s more you can prepare these foods yourself as well. If you know that Indian cuisine is not just about curry and Italian cuisine is not just about spaghetti Bolognese, and if you are open-minded about new tastes the delicatessen shops of Budapest are for you! We checked out six of these shops and we were looking for the ultimate gastro-experience.
1/6
A little bit of India
Szép Kis India is the ideal place for the lovers of exotic flavours and for those who are keen on trying new dishes, new tastes. You can find small gifts in the 7th district shop, there are traditional Indian, African and South-American delicacies and there’s also a massage centre. The food division offers different types of rice, spices, sauces and semi-prepared meals. The costumers mainly include foreigners but there are quite a few locals as well. According to the Indian owner, Dr. Sharma Santosh Hungarians are very curious but they are afraid to try new things. “Sometimes it takes a few visits for these people to dare to buy something. At first they usually just take a good look around, then they collect all the necessary information about the products, they return with very specific ideas and they buy the ingredients they need. The owners are glad to tell everything about the special delicacies to the more daring ones, who are not afraid to ask.
2/6
Biscuits, tea and ginger ale
British Store
Address: 1136 Budapest, Tátra utca 26.
Facebook
If you like the English sense of humour and you enjoy the English cuisine The British Store, which we already told you about, should be your next destination. Owner László Kozma says that the British cuisine is not as bad as the stereotypical beliefs suggest; the biscuits, the teas and the ales of the British are world-renowned for example. The shelves are full of these things and from behind the shop window Queen Elizabeth II is looking back from a metal biscuit box. The shop in the city centre has a lot of Hungarian costumers who are now addicted to certain British tastes, but of course there are foreign customers as well. According to László Hungarians are quite curious but sometimes they need some guidance from the media.
“We were the first ones who offered cider but back in the day people didn’t really know what it was and they were not interested in trying it. Thanks to the advertising campaigns cider became really popular, the interest for it is growing and now people seem to be buying more and more of it.”
The British Store offers not only English delicacies but real bargains as well.
3/6
Kóser Piac
Oblath Kosher shop in the 7th district opened about three years ago. The clientele mainly includes members of the Jewish community who follow the traditional rules of the kosher cuisine but there are other costumers as well. According to the saleslady, Dvora Csordás, the majority of the costumers are very open-minded about the kosher cuisine but they hardly know anything about it, and what they know about it is usually not true. “Many people think that the kosher cuisine is a lot healthier, but the meals are much more about the spirituality. The fact that these foods are healthier is just a pleasant side effect.”
The kosher cuisine is based on the strict rules of the Torah that describes basically everything from slaughtering the animals to preparing the dishes. The most important thing is that the meat dishes are not mixed with the milk dishes, and they don’t consume pork, crab, snails or any other animal that is not kosher. The shop mainly offers refrigerated semi-prepared goods, but you can find spices like zatar, which is a very popular Israeli spice, kosher wines and alcoholic drinks, dairy products that don’t contain artificial additives and other kinds of typical kosher dishes and ingredients. Because of the great interest the products are now available on a kosher webshop as well. The owners hope that their gastronomy will bring people closer to their culture as well.
4/6
Budapest Dolce vita
Culinaria Italia
Address: 1024 Budapest, Lövőház utca 2-6.
Facebook
The Italian cuisine is probably the most popular foreign cuisine in Hungary. The Italian gastronomy is full of surprises but unfortunately, many people stick with the typical dishes like pizza, macaroni and spaghetti. The more daring ones, who are not afraid to try new tastes, will not be disappointed. A delicatessen shop in Buda, called Culinaria Italia is run by Kornél Turi and his wife. There are more than a thousand different products available in the shop including hand-made flavoured Tuscan pastas, fresh coffees and great wines. Kornél says, they try to satisfy the needs of their costumers by any possible means – they share the recipe for Sicilian cannelloni with their guests on a weekly basis for example. “One of our most popular products is the balsamic vinegar crème but there is a growing interest for Campari Soda as well which is only available at our shop.” If you are planning to prepare a traditional Italian dish then this is the best place for you; not only can you get all the ingredients, you can ask for help and advice as well.
5/6
The delicatessen of the embassies
Szír Cenre
Cím: 1111 Budapest, Karinthy Frigyes út 27.
Honlap
In Buda, at the last stop of tram No.6 there’s a Szír Centre, which was founded by Beáta Nagy and her Syrian husband. The centre and the shop were originally established to serve the needs of the arabesque community, but nowadays there are Hungarian costumers as well. A specialty of the shop is the halal chopped meat. The procedure is performed by the owner who faces east and who is praying while the animal is slaughtered and bled out. “The religious Muslims only consume meat that is prepared this way, all of the arabesque embassies order their meals from this shop but there are Hungarian costumers as well who are looking for fine quality products” – says Beáta. Everything is available here from the light vegetable dishes to the sweet desserts. You can find all sorts of cheeses, spices, seeds, olives and teas. Beáta offers help for her costumers to prepare the dishes, some of the costumers even told her that they would like to grab their hands on a Syrian cookbook too. If you’d like to try the traditional ‘seven spices’, if you’d like to taste coffee which has a menthol and cardamom aroma or the freekeh you just have to go to the 11th district.
6/6
A bite of Asia
Chinese Grocery Store
Address: 1084 Budapest, Rákóczi tér 8.
Foursquare
This Chinese delicatessen shop, next to the Rákóci Square market offers Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese treats for those who would like to prepare their favourite Asian dishes. The shelves of the spacious shop are packed with sauces, spices, semi-prepared pastas and instant soups. The information on the packaging is available in Hungarian as well, but it’s still not easy to know one's way around the teas, the rice that sometimes comes in huge packages, prawn crackers and frozen seafood. Owner Ágnes Horányi says that there has been a massive change in the clientele in the last 10 years.
“At the beginning we had a lot of Asian costumers; Hungarians only came to take a look around. 10 years ago even jasmine rice was a rarity. Nowadays people are more open-minded, they like to experiment with food and they want to taste new flavours. The majority of our customers are interested in healthy lifestyle, they like unique tastes and they are very conscious when it comes to shopping.” The most popular products include soy sauce, tofu, dried wood ear mushrooms, different types of tea and rice but sometimes costumers are looking for fresh vegetables and bamboo shoots. if you are planning to throw a fancy Chinese dinner party you can grab all the ingredients here, what’s more you can find chopsticks, woks, China sets and all kinds of traditional utensils as well.
