With more and more pressure to get everything done in the run-up to Christmas, and less and less time, it makes perfect sense to leave your seasonal feast to the professionals – and have them take care of the cooking. Here are ten great suggestions for the best places in Budapest to order your ready-made meal from. Note that some of the websites listed here are in Hungarian only but the photos and prices alongside make it reasonably clear what’s on offer.
1/10
Babka
This year, Babka’s unique Christmas offer is great
for aficionados of fish. in addition to the many takeaway products (homemade
pickles, pâtés, special fruit mustards, etc), a two-person fish dinner can also
be ordered. In the box, you’ll find oven-baked trout sourced from László
Sáfrány at Szilvásvárad, along with three types of potato salad (pink beetroot,
retro and horseradish toppings), and an appetiser of homemade trout pâté with
sourdough bread. Of course, wine cannot be left out of the package: Géza Légli’s
2015 Kislaki Riesling Selection – no longer commercially available – has
been paired with the fish. The price of the two-person dinner with wine is 24,200
forints. Orders are welcome by e-mail, telephone or in person, at the
Újlipótváros Christmas POP UP!, 1137 Budapest, Pozsonyi út 20.
2/10
Budapest Marriott Hotel
True to tradition, the Marriott undertakes to deliver succulent duck or the perfect turkey to the house during the entire festive period this year (until 10 January), but you can also pick up the ordered food in person at the hotel’s DNB Budapest restaurant. It’s only Christmas once a year, and if you really want to go for it, you can choose from a selection of smoked fish (smoked sturgeon, gravlax salmon, smoked trout fillet and mackerel), served with black rye bread and a bowl of apple-horseradish and honey-dill mustard, for four to five people (HUF 24,800), beef Wellington (black-truffle sauce, chateau potatoes, roast root vegetables and green beans for five to six people (HUF 47,000), or perhaps the vegetarian selection (hummus, aubergine spread, tzatziki, crudités), sesame and spicy cheese balls, crostini and a selection of bruschetta, for four to five people (HUF 15,650), but there are many more options on their website, from wines, cakes and themed brunches to festive dinners on the takeaway menus. (x)
3/10
InterContinental Budapest
Whole turkeys can be ordered in advance from the Lebanese ARZ Restaurant on the ground floor of the InterContinental Budapest until 31 December. Whole
roast turkey with chestnut filling for four to six people comes with mashed
potatoes, steamed apple and red cabbage, green beans, glazed carrots, cranberry
sauce, gravy, apple pie and a bottle of wine of your choice (Royal Tokaj Mád
Furmint or Bezerics
Zalai Shiraz). These treats are all offered for takeaway
and not home delivery.
4/10
KIOSK Budapest
The delicacies essential for everyone’s Christmas dining table will again be prepared with great devotion in downtown Pest this year, ensuring easier preparation for everyone. In addition to the Christmas takeaway offer, they are also making up four boxes (HUF 9,900-49,000) for fans of unadulterated KIOSK flavours. From truffle forest mushroom soup (HUF 1,950) to classic fish soup (HUF 2,750) and curried cauliflower heads (HUF 3,750) to the iconic poppy-seed bread and butter pudding (HUF 4,900) and Zserbó slices (HUF 950), you can order a variety of dishes, not to mention homemade egg liqueur (HUF 5,900/litre). The products can be picked up and delivered from 17 to 23 December.
5/10
Párisi Passage Café & Brasserie
The time we spend with
our loved ones has never been more precious than it is today. The Párisi
Passage Café & Brasserie is also aiming to make the most of the occasions
we have this year and to bring festive, delicious snacks to the table. With
their specially designed Christmas menu, they offer an easy solution for the
Christmas period, you can find both traditional flavours and festive classics
in their selection: poached duck liver, red-wine spread, figs, nut sablé (HUF 5,900), stuffed cabbage with sour cream (HUF
5,900), breaded pike-perch with potato salad (HUF 5,900), Baja fish soup with
matchstick pasta (HUF 2,900) and, to finish, poppy-seed and walnut bejgli cake (HUF 3,500/roll). Their selections are also available
in packages for two or four people, containing:
• 2 servings of poached duck liver,
red-wine spread, figs, nut sablé
• 2 servings of Baja fish soup, with
matchstick pasta
• 2 selected main courses
• 1 roll of bejgli cake
The price of the package is 29,900 forints for two people, 58,900 for four. Your order can be placed
until 11.59pm on 14 December. (x)
6/10
Pasarét Bisztró
Its kitchen now overseen by the renowned Olivér Heiszler, the Pasarét Bistro puts the focus of its Christmas takeaway menu on classic dishes made with quality ingredients, such as indefatigable stuffed cabbage (HUF 3,490), Baja fish soup with matchstick pasta (HUF 3,690-4,100) and suckling pig with mashed potatoes and red cabbage (HUF 3,950). There’s also rustic pâté in duck-liver fat, smoked salmon, beef Wellington, homemade bread and the inevitable homemade flódni cake (HUF 1,950). All is available for takeaway and home delivery.
7/10
Stand25 Bisztró
Stand25 has put together four iconic dishes for
takeaway this year. Meals require a few minutes of home preparation to get them
to the table in tip-top shape at home. The menu includes a homemade duck liver
terrine with apple stew and brioche (HUF 4,500), fish soup with carp fillets
and innards (HUF 3,900), stuffed cabbage with ribs (HUF 3,900) and
Somló dumplings with walnut crumblings and whipped cream (HUF 2,900). Meals can
be ordered through the webshop on their website. Orders
are taken until 19 December or while stocks last. Purchases can then only be
picked up on 24 December from 10am to noon at the Stand25 Bisztró itself.
8/10
Szépilona Bisztró
At the Szépilona Bisztró, orders are taken until 20 December, and it is possible to pick them up in person on 23 December, at a pre-arranged time, where Budakeszi út meets Hűvösvölgyi út. The guinea fowl soup (HUF 2,390) really puts the f in festive, deeply coloured and full-bodied, underscored by hand-made eight-egg pasta, carrots and butter kohlrabi, enriched with the slowly cooked thighs of guinea fowl. In a word, heartwarming. Their Baja fish soup (HUF 2,690, with carp and innards HUF 3,690), reveals that they make a rich, tasty liquid of fresh carp, with red onions and hot peppers, which also includes plenty of matchstick pasta, fish fillet and innards. The Szépilona stuffed cabbage (HUF 3,890), and the confit duck leg with caramelised-onion mashed potatoes, slow-fried quince and steamed stuffed red cabbage (HUF 4,890) are two further suggestions, crowned by a panettone cake (HUF 3,290 to take away, whole).
9/10
terra Restaurant
This Christmas, the terra Restaurant can also prepare the most delicious festive dishes so you can have a really special dinner on Christmas Eve, The Christmas menu, carefully compiled by chef Zsolt Haraszti and his team, contains traditional Hungarian dishes and desserts. True to the terra Restaurant, this menu is also made from domestic ingredients sourced from top-quality producers. The restaurant offers hearty portions that will be freshly prepared to order on site. The menu can be found on their website, and your order can be placed until noon on 21 December by phone, e-mail or in person at the restaurant, where it is worth visiting and enjoying the real terra experience in any case. Meals can be picked up until 8pm on 23 December and until noon on the 24th. (x)
10/10
Vendéglő a KisBíróhoz (Closed)
The carp soup at the KisBíró is legendary, as it is the recipe of Lajos Bíró’s father, which is followed so much that even the peppers that come are from Paks. It is offered with fillet of Akasztó salmon (with matchstick pasta, HUF 4,200), all of which Lajos Bíró himself will cook in person again this year. The oven-baked stuffed cabbage (HUF 3,500) is Emike’s recipe from Igási Koccintó in Makó, which guarantees perfect traditional flavours, and the underlying fermented cabbage is made by the Dabasi family from Vecsés based on a secret recipe that has been preserved for three generations. In the fat of the cold goose liver (140-200gr, HUF 320/10gr), their iconic dish reminiscent of the golden era of Bock shold not to be missed. You can place your orders for the Christmas survival package until 19 December (by e-mail or phone), and pick up your food in Buda on 23 December from noon-7pm.
