In recent years, many unexpectedly tasteful changes occurred at District V’s historic “Belvárosi Piac” (“Downtown Market” in Hungarian) – after serving as the location for Budapest’s first-ever Street Food Show, the building was thoroughly renovated in 2014, followed by a series of several new high-class casual eateries setting up shop here, often led by renowned Budapest chefs. At this point, visitors can find a huge variety of low-priced high-quality cuisine here to be taken away or enjoyed at the gallery’s picnic tables, where we can dine while watching locals select vegetables below.

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1054 Budapest, Hold utca 13.

Not long ago, the 19th-century Belvárosi Piac was a long-ignored covered market hall tucked away near , mostly visited by the neighborhood’s pensioners for each day’s meat and produce... but now this is officially a hotspot for Budapest’s gourmet chefs seeking a laid-back environment for serving street-food versions of their international delicacies. Thus, there is hardly any better spot in Hungary for sampling a wide variety of epicurean eats amid a historic dining environment well worth visiting for either a quick lunch or a full feast – and since the selection encompasses eateries that serve dramatically diverse cuisine from around the planet, everyone will find something to their liking here.

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Séf utcája

1054 Budapest, Hold utca 13.
Több infó

Lajos Bíró was among the first star chefs to establish a booth on the market’s gallery section in late 2014. At his Séf utcája, a high-quality, home-style deli and butcher’s shop come together in an authentic environment – the whole place is basically a beefed-up chophouse. Although the prices are a bit higher than at your average office canteen, the quality is worth those extra forints. The selection features dishes like Eszterházy beef in Bangkok style, tripe stew, oven-baked stuffed cabbage, cholent, French toast, the “bizarre” hot sandwich, or lecsó sausage. The dishes are priced between 1,400-1,700 forints.

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Buja Disznó(k)

1054 Budapest, Hold utca 13. (Galéria 6-os üzlet)
Több infó

Lajos Bíró and his team followed up on the success of Séf utcája by opening Buja Disznó(k) in autumn of 2015. As indicated by the playful name (meaning “Lush Pig(s)” in Hungarian), their main ingredient is pork – the highest quality, largest slices. The repertoire includes dishes like lung stew (1,700 HUF) and pig nose (1,400 HUF). Not recommended for vegetarians.

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Vörös Homár (Closed)

1054 Budapest, Hold utca 13.

Péter Szabó launched his first Vörös Homár seafood location in Buda’s Hegyvidék Center, and then decided to move his business to the Downtown Market. The place is essentially a fish shop where we can purchase seafood mainly imported from Spain and Italy, but we can also taste various dishes made from them prepared in the restaurant located on the gallery. The selection includes dishes such as fish and chips (1,890-2,290 HUF), grilled trout (1,990 HUF), marinated octopus (2,690 HUF), shrimp skewers (850 HUF), pasta with creamy smoked salmon (2,290 HUF), or pasta with tomato, garlic, and shrimp (2,490 HUF).

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Bullseye (Closed)

1054 Budapest, Hold utca 13.

The team of Vörös Homár – encouraged by the increasing popularity of the Downtown Market – decided to have a go at beef, as well. They opened their new place called Bullseye right across the fish shop, where we can eat hamburgers, barbeque sandwiches, and various steaks (2,490-7,990 HUF). Everything is made from Hungarian ingredients here, thus ensuring that everything is fresh and high-quality – it is possible that the crew would like to compensate for Homár’s products all coming from afar.

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Panificio il Basilico - Pest (Closed)

1054 Budapet, Hold utca 13.

Panificio il Basilico, where the Hungarian bakeries’ expertise mixes with Italian and Austrian traditions, is the love child of Szabi the baker. The place offers double cocoa rolls, various filled tarts, focaccia packed with Italian vegetables, or lactose-free crescent rolls. Residents of Buda can still visit the unit at Városmajor Street, but now those on the Pest side of the city will not have to cross a bridge just to drop by Panificio il Basilico.

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Steamboo (Closed)

1054 Budapest, Hold utca 13.

Recently, Győző Szabó’s Steamboo opened, as well: the Hungarian actor invented the strangely named food during a dinner with friends, when he made finger food similar to sushi with a new method. He first shaped the rice into a long, oval form usually used for nigiri, packed these with fish and other ingredients, and put zucchini on the end product’s sides. Then he wrapped these bites into rice paper, further shaped them, and cooked them in an authentic bamboo streamer. Steamboos cost 370 forints apiece, but we need at least four of them to fill our stomach.

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Italian gastronomy

1054 Budapest, Hold utca 13.

Gianni Annoni, who we already know from , brought Italian gastronomy to Hold Street, as well. He wanted to cover almost every aspect of Italian cuisine, so he went ahead and opened four places right away. One of them is Pasta & Sugo, where we can eat pasta and Italian sweets in street-food style – in addition to the daily offers (1,200 HUF), this place also has some permanent pasta dishes, all for the same price. Right on the opposite side, we can find a pizza-slice place, which is also part of the Gianni collection. Here, we can eat high-quality slices for 490 forints, or buy a whole pizza for 1,900 forints. Another member of this family is the recently opened Via Lattea Gourmet Shop, which provides mozzarella, hard and soft cheeses, and mascarpone from milk supplied by the Maszlik Családi Gazdaság (“Maszlik Family Farm”) in Hungary’s bucolic Nógrád County. Among the four places, Fritú is the odd one out – it is a Hungarian-style lángos place, offering extras such as fried cheeses (450-950 HUF), fish fingers (690 HUF), and French fries (350 HUF).