Crispy duck’s head, pig’s ear and thinly sliced tripe – these delicacies await at Wang Mester's latest venture, located in the Chinese market, between vendors of misbranded merchandise and surprisingly high-quality deli shops. Warning: once you taste the authentic, colorful, flavorsome, home-style Chinese cuisine this restaurant offers, you’ll never go back to cheap buffets and poorly prepared sesame chicken again.

If you’re looking for a decent Chinese eatery in Budapest, many will recommend Wang Mester’s Chinese Kitchen. Now Wang has opened an outlet at the Chinese market, deep in District VIII, approached through gate 7 before following the red signs to the front door. You can also explore the surroundings in search of authentic, smaller diners if you have enough time and patience or a dedicated tour guide.

For now, though, it may be easier take the path of least resistance: WangMester offers genuine Chinese cuisine, with the explicit goal of shifting the local audience from the widespread, bland buffets to high-quality meals instead.

Wang Mester at the Chinese Market is open beyond the market’s opening hours, every day from 11am to 9pm. The interior design is rather simple yet elegant, a black-and-red color scheme and decorative, lotus flower-shaped lamps hanging from the ceiling. The service is dynamic and the waiters are not only ready to help you navigate the lengthy menu, but also gladly recommend dishes to try – depending on how far you’d like to venture into Chinese cuisine. You’re free to use chopsticks or European-style cutlery. If chopsticks, you’re given the real deal rather than the disposable bamboo variety.

The menu is so extensive that you could spend 20 minutes pondering what to order; seeing the heaped plates being served to neighboring tables, you might take the huge portions into account and hold back from over-ordering. Soups are available in single portions or larger bowls enough to feed four to six people – the hot and sour soup (650 HUF), is fresh and luscious, topped with chopped chives, and balancing sour and hot flavors masterfully. As an appetizer, you could try thinly sliced, spicy tripe served with cold noodles (1680 HUF).

Extreme cuisine is available at Wang Mester, as well, including beef heart and tongue served on one plate, pig’s ear and chicken leg, gan guo hot pot, Sichuan pork kidney, various lamb and rabbit dishes, pork belly variations, or seafood specialties. In addition, the Sichuan-style duck leg (2880 HUF) is served with bell pepper and chestnut – an unusual yet strangely homely dish that you can somehow imagine being served on a Chinese family’s table. Still, the prices are that of an average Chinese restaurant – or a dearer eatery around the market.