Tag: Food | Peter O Regan

The local bakery

Posted on May 31, 2012 by martinoregan • 0 Comments

Situated at a busy junction, yet separated from the main road by tramlines and a cycle/ footpath*, the Lipóti Pékség (bakery shop), at St John’s Hospital (Szent János Kórház) tram stop, now in its second year is the epitomy of success. Along with rivals Fornetti, they have been carving up the market share of late and while others like Princess still hold prominence at some metro locations one does have to wonder as to for how long more.

The small park adjoining this particular outlet makes it all the more alluring for the early morning commuter and whereas Hungarians are not as inclined as some other Europeans to the early morning coffee trade (many cafes in the centre don’t open till well after nine am), things are changing. A healthy flow of customers passes through here each morning but as to how many stay for a cup of Joe, I cannot say. Now when it comes to buying pastries and such Hungarians are no strangers. Some, in fact, may tell you that Hungarians don’t have the money for such luxuries a cup of coffee but that’s not about to stop their ‘pékség’ intake. Priorities is what it’s about really!

Sitting in the covered outside seating area provided, the flower pots almost encroaching in their splendor and proximity, if one could just for a moment filter out the noise and put their backs to the road, it may be a type of paradise. Perhaps I’m stretching it here but what with a tram-stop that caters for two tramlines, frequently running, and a bus stop with 3 to 4 buses stopping, dropping and picking up, it certainly is a place for the people watchers. As this is a day long process business is never too far off which is apparent by the selection of cakes and sundries now available that weren’t here last year.

It’s also perfectly located 3 stops from the busy hub that is Moszkva ter/ Széll Kálmán tér and on the 61 tram-line to the picturesque suburb of Hűvösvölgy, itself home to the lower terminus of the children’s railway, the upper station situated on the hills in Normafa boasting spectacular views of the city.

http://www.gyermekvasut.hu/english/chrw_home.php

There is a hospital nearby, if that’s your thing, a supermarket, a couple of bars and a park. It is also quite near the cog-wheel train terminus so if its tourism Buda-side you’re after with a break between places you could do worse. The Lipóti Pékség is one of a chain so don’t expect anything different here, but for easy tastes and snacky urges, it serves its purpose well. The coffee on offer is better than any canteen crap but it probably won’t be found listed in this year’s Connoisseur Coffee Magazine

(if there is one…Let’s check! http://www.connoisseurcoffeeco.com/specials.html

No luck but this may be of interest ).

Now if you’re this side of the river to see the castle and you find yourself here you’ve gone too far but before you turn back take it from me…if you’re on holiday relax, the castle’s going nowhere…sit down, enjoy the sights and sounds and if you do decide to hurry back from whence you came why not take the park option, a pathway just off the 59 tram starting point leads under the cog-wheel rail tracks past a sports centre and school and returns you to Moszkva tér through the park.

Whatever you choose you’re never lost if you have a minute to sit down and get your bearings, and why not here!

http://www.lipotipekseg.hu/

*http://thehairyteacher.com/?p=439

Best Burger in the West

Posted on May 25, 2012 by martinoregan • 0 Comments

best-burger-west-station — The Best in the West

There is burger joint on the steps that lead down from Nyugati Square, Skala side, to the underpass. You are by all accounts required to ignore the temptation of a homogenised Subway (brand placement nonetheless) and move one flight farther down to the Best Burger. It’s a Gyors Étterem, not to be mistaken for Győr or Gyros as once I did! Let’s be honest. I may again depending on my mental state.

Well to cut a short story long in my earlier days here in Budapest this landing, if this is what one would call it, was home, and still is, to a small bar. In the winter you sat inside and suffocated in the fumes of blazing cigarettes. The only way to counter it was to add your own to the equation, and certainly when strapped for cash a cheap beer and a dirty rollie coupled with the ci-mog, while rarely fulfilling the former at least allowed for higher levels of nicotine to pass into your body. Nowadays with the smoking ban all that fun’s gone but it does lend to a smell of freshness rarely before encountered. This holds especially true when considering to venture a lunchtime beer where before one would have come away smelling like an ashtray.

Concerning burgers, that’s next door and while being introduced earlier in this piece, chronologically it was a later addition to the steps, and most welcome. Sitting with a beer and a ravenous ensuing, one was now offered choice, real choice. A retro burger from the Best Burger at Nyugati does not taste like one in Beijing, Tokyo, Vladivostok or even Cork (where’s that?)! It’s home grown, Magyar Termék maybe, at least in concept and composition and it’s a taste sensation. To put it mildly it’s delicious and not just for those post beer experiences, or other munchie inducing activities. You see, if like me, you get the notion to have a burger, perhaps influenced by a billboard, but not yet ready to compromise your dignity to yellow arches and royalty ( inebriation and geographical disadvantage excepted), then this is the place to be.

It shares its terrace with the bar next door so if the mood prevails one can have the best of both worlds. Shoppers weary of the load they are lugging may find time for respite from the chore, the drudgery, of being dragged around to look at every handbag, gladrag and high-heel. Those whom the heat has oppressed may fall to countering it in a two tier motion, lending hand to energy inducing feeding while at the same time thirst quenching. And if you find yourself inclined to vegetarianism and teetotalling there is still room for a veggie burger and soft drinks. This place, but dare I say places, lends to the all-inclusive, not the exclusive. Give it a try. Don’t be shy

https://www.facebook.com/westbestburger

https://foursquare.com/v/best-burger/4e275e0d62e17c33019388ea

For further thoughts on this:

http://thehairyteacher.com/?p=482

The local ‘kitchen’

Posted on February 22, 2012 by martinoregan • 0 Comments

Not a fan of this translation, kitchen, for what I’ve always used myself, cuisine, it has become harder and harder to ignore. Now as it goes for teaching you’ll never hear me use the cursed phrase ‘I like Hungarian kitchen’, not alluding I assure you to anything negative about the food itself, just that kitchen has always been the place in a house, not the dishes of a region or country.

Eg: My mother’s in the kitchen trying to cook some Italian dish. Good luck!

Cuisine is the word I use when it comes to expressing that collective, the food of, as I mentioned, some country or other.

Eg: I’m particularly fond of French cuisine.

Now speaking of French I’m well aware of the etymology, and furthermore realise that in some quarters at least there is that shift away from the French influence on English. And here I don’t mean in the US where English is particularly different with Spanish being, perhaps, an influencing factor there. I’m referring to Britain where more and more people are using napkin over serviette, for example. On this latter I’m not the stalwart but I’m staying put on cuisine

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cuisine

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kitchen

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