Lángos is Hungary's most beloved anti-health food: lángos, a feast of deep-fried dough with various toppings. It should be crisp, but also soft and crumbly, and the toppings (usually gralic butter, sour cream, and shredded cheese) are also important. We sought out the best lángos places in Budapest: we mapped the city center, walked through the markets, looked around the outer districts of Buda, and even found a fancy restaurant dish featuring lángos.
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Lángos at markets
Fény Street Market – Lángos Land
Lángos Land opened at only a few months ago, and is already a worthy competitor for the other two lángos vendors at the market. The young vendor, Géza, tells us that his parents ran a lángos stand at the old market as well. From 1985, the place of his parents, which stood right across the old Fény Street Market, was legendary for about ten years. Older citizens still remember that lángos – some of them came to the market all the way from Pesterzsébet, because this place has the best fried flat bread. The recipe is a secret based on expertise, Géza said, and is passed down to the younger generations. He told us, however, that they fry with palm oil. Their lángos is large, but not pale or holey, and appropriately crispy. Sometimes they sell 300-400 lángos in a day, since their selection is wide; a plain lángos is 250 forints, the one with cheese and sour cream is 450 forints, but there are some other versions including ones with potato or cabbage, and even filled with the toppings.
Address: Budapest, Fény Street Market, 3. floor A
We also recommend:
Lángos at the Bosnyák Square Market
(ground floor, in the middle)
Lángos at the Kispest Market
Lángos at the Garay Square Market