A curious little eatery has just popped up in Budapest’s focal District V, a short walk from the historic Central Café. Appearing as an ordinary burger place from the outside, Kolbász Box welcomes guests with a slightly more complex concept within its unpretentious interior. A photo board behind the counter shows fiery red sausages served with fresh bread, pickled cucumbers and all kinds of dips on the side, including classic mayonnaise and mustard. Bangers are also filled in burger buns and slathered with smoky prune sauce.

Irányi utca 5 is the latest destination for Budapest carnivores. And those who like sausages will particularly appreciate Kolbász Box, a fast-food spot amid the sit-down restaurants dotted around the vicinity.

Paprika-infused links, also offered in spicier versions, can be ready within minutes. Then they are served with a thick slice of soft white bread and a sauce of your choice, mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, even piquant pink-coloured home-made dips. Sausages come on paper trays and can be accompanied with French fries, waffle fries and a selection of pickles – gherkins, beetroot and coleslaw.

The meat is sourced from fine-quality Hungarian producers and the filled sausage is then prepared in the central kitchen of Kolbász Box with modern-day cooking technology. At the shop, the sausage gets reheated in a special apparatus that keeps it as fresh as if it was fried on the spot.

But it’s not only these market-style treats that Kolbász Box has on the menu, though all of the dishes here have a common ingredient: sausages. Paraszt (‘peasant’) burger is filled with little bangers, a slice of cheese and garden-fresh vegetables, while another version of this handheld treat is made more piquant with smoky prune sauce, homemade of course. Burgers are available with a single or double meat.

There’s also kolbász csicsa, the sausage-style version of the Balkan treatćevapčići, a grilled dish of minced meat. Sausage plates are available from 1,290 forints, a basic burger can be yours for 1,390 forints.

Kolbász Box
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District V. Irányi utca 5
Open: Daily 11am-9pm