So… Hungary this time! We often travel to Hungary for a weekend. Usually we go to Eger and we go by car (it’s best to sleep in Zakopane or Brno, depending on your liking of curvy mountain roads). We once tried a short plane trip to Budapest – LOT airlines offered a great connection – departure on Friday after work and return on Sunday evening. Check and see if they still have this connection in their offer.
Eger is a fairly small (56,000 inhabitants) and quite pretty town with cool old town and a castle that is home to various food and wine oriented festivals. You can buy Hungarian specialties there along with famous Egri Bikaver wine. The wine is not really a connoisseur’s choice but wine cellars in Szepasszony Volgy (The Valley of a Beautiful Lady) located a 15 minute walk from the city centre surely are a treat 🙂
wine cellars in The Valley of the Beautiful Lady
Szepasszony Volgy is a complex of wine cellars carved in volcanic tuff that keeps the temperature ideal for wine storage. You can try the wine, eat some bread with onion or a bigger lunch in one of the nearby restaurants. Prices are moderate (or even low) and the menu is in Polish as well. There aren’t that many places where we get taken care of so well, are they? :). You can buy wine “to go”, in a traditional glass or in a plastic bottle or a bigger container. Perfect for a party! Just remember not to store it for too long as it loses its quality over time.
The Valley is the best place to stay in Eger. You can always go for a walk to the centre of the town. We recommend Kulacs Csarda Panzio (http://www.kulacscsarda.hu/), located perfectly, with a restaurant serving great food, live music (Maks fell in love with Hungarian music), a garden and neat rooms. There was five of us so we got a beautiful little house! The breakfast, however, is nothing special. But as they say – you can’t have everything 😉
for a nie weekend
We decided to compensate the miserable breakfast throughout the day 🙂 What’s there to eat in Eger?
Let’s start with a soup. A goulash soup with meat and potatoes, served in a little pot is quite nutritious and a bit spicy whereas halaszle (a fisherman’s soup), a traditional Hungarian fish soup is also spicy, has great taste of peppers and delicate bits of fish inside. It’s delicious and warming and even a 30 degrees heat didn’t stop us from eating it compulsively…
halaszle
Then comes the meat – poultry, venison or goose meat… Goose liver is also quite popular and added to various dishes. The same goes for cabbage served in many different ways. I’m a big fan of all kinds of noodles such as gnocchi, dumplings, or kluski śląskie so I tried Pörkölt with galuska. The Pörkölt was a bit disappointing because I had to struggle with the chicken legs but the sauce and galuska were perfect!
goose with cabbage
stuffed cabbage
Pörkölt with galuska
If you’re really hungry you can order one of the meals for two with all sorts of local specialties – meaty ones, fried mushrooms or fried cheese (which is actually more a Czech dish). Yeah, they don’t eat lightly in Hungary…
Everything can be spiced using a hot pepper…
tasty pepper
Another interesting dish we found in Eger was a cold fruit soup. It’ usually filed under soups in the menu but I guess that it’s not a perfect starter before meat, cabbage or goulash. It looks like a drinkable yoghurt with fruits and a bit of whipped cream and makes a great dessert.
When it comes to desserts – try the chestnut puree. It’s one of the weirdest desserts I have ever eaten. Its taste is intriguing and addictive…
chestnut puree with whipped cream
I also liked a pancake with poppy seed filling and plum sauce but I’m not sure if that’s a Hungarian dish…
yummy
After a meal we recommend paying a visit to Egerszalok (it’s open until 2 a.m. in the summer) a complex of thermal pools located close to the town. A great place to relax…
Have a look at this picture of Maksymilian eating halaszle or, to be more specific, a fish he picked out of it. He didn’t get a full bowl because it’s a little too spicy for his taste buds. Let it be the best proof of its quality – our little one is a picky little eater 🙂
Maks and halaszle
🙂
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