Gyros roasting near the entrance, baklava, tandoori chicken, falafel, and heaps of Eastern delicacies lining up behind the counter’s glass – nothing out of the ordinary, at least at first sight. But once you spot the Dalai Lama’s picture, right next to that of Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdish Labor Party, and captions declaring Free Kurdistan and Free Tibet, the vibe changes within the blink of an eye.
The main source of the revolutionary atmosphere is the owner, Ileri Ridvan, who is of Kurdish origin, and met his Tibetan wife in a refugee camp in Debrecen. Even though there are glaring differences between the two nation’s culture and religion, it was not hard for them to find a common ground, namely the idea of freedom, the most precious treasure of mankind.
The revolutionary bunch is strengthened by another Tibetan employee, Tsewang Thinley Namgyal, who’s also been in Hungary since 2005, and came here as a political refugee. He used to be a construction worker – making use of his hands at, for example, the construction of the Fehérvári út-based mall, Allee -, and is now fluent in Hungarian. He says that he loves living in Budapest, mainly because Hungarians are very kind and supportive. He has a Hungarian wife, and aspires to officially become a citizen, then take a trip to Tibet to visit his long-time-no-see friends.
As far as he knows, there are 13 Tibetans living in Budapest, counting children who were born here, and 5 of these people are refugees who had no other choice but the fled their home country due to the Chinese invasion. Despite the severe political conflict, he doesn’t have a bad taste in his mouth when it comes to Budapestian Chinese people. He says that Free Kurdistan has a plethora of Chinese guests and many of them are faithful regulars.
The latter is no surprise, because regardless of nationality, it’s really easy to become a devoted fan of Free Kurdistan’s delicious meals and excellent service. Everything is freshly cooked, portions are gargantuan and healthy, and you can taste the dishes you are curious about before opting for the one you loved the most.
Despite the sizeable gap in quality, prices are not through the roof, and don’t really differ from any other fast food spot: a large gyros plate costs 1100 Ft, a small plate is 800 Ft, gyros in pita is sold for 550, salads are 400, and nothing really goes above 800 Forints.
Twice a week, Free Kurdistan offers authentic Tibetan dishes such as yak stew, Tibetam Momo (a special type of dumpling), Tibetan bread, Sa Phale (meat pie with vegetables), and soup made from yak milk.
Tibetan cuisine has sympathetic characteristics, and is as healthy as a Tibetan mountaineer who has only seen polluted, overpopulated metropolises in his nightmares. The essential ingredients of most meals are yak and loads of vegetables; though Tibetans also love dough they can fill with anything then either fry or bake. Sounds good, looks good, tastes good – what else is there to say? See you at Free Kurdistan.
Free Kurdistan Canteen
Address: 1092 Budapest, Tompa u. 2.
Opening hours: 0-24.
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