Asparagus cream soup recipe for dummies

Some days ago I wrote that it is asparagus season in Budapest at the moment. It truly is, and probably the most popular asparagus meal in Budapest during such seasons is the Asparagus cream soup.

Celebrating the asparagus season I have recently made the cream soup of asparagus several times and here you can find the recipe. It is worth knowing that when I work in the kitchen and whatever I cook is cooked in a „for dummies” way. That means I do everything as easy possible, without loosing to much of quality and taste hopefully. That is why I dare to say that this recipe is so easy that anyone can make an asparagus cream soup following this recipe. If you like the end result or not, that is up to you.

Asparagus cream soup for dummies

Ingredients:

½ kg asparagus (green or white)
1 onion
oil/butter
salt
pepper
1 dl cooking cream (főzőtejszinhab)
1 spoon flour

Making the asparagus cream soup

Start with placing some oil and butter in the pot. Add the onion which should be cut to small pieces. Keep stirring to make sure that the onion does not get burned. After a while add the asparagus which has been cut into small pieces and let them stir together for 1-2 minutes. If there are parts of the asparagus that are very hard, almost like cutting tree, leave them and throw them in the garbage instead.

After this add enough water so that all the ingredients are covered and let them boil for 20 minutes until they are really soft. When you have reached this point you need to find your blender (turmixgep) and pour everything into it. Let the blender work everything for a minute and afterwards it actually starts looking like a soup!

At this point there is something very important that needs to be done. Find a sifter (szürő) and before pouring the soup from the blender back into the clean pot pour it into the sifter. Use a wooden spoon to push the soup through the sifter. In the end you will have a small portion left in the sifter which you can throw away and not use. It feels tragic to throw it, but the reason why you need to do this is the fact that it contain parts almost like fish-bones which can be really annoying if they end up in your soup, and they are capable of destroying the joy of soup eating (been there, done that).

Once the soup is back in the pot you can add the remaining water (if there is anything left). Take the cream and pour it into an empty bowl. Add 1 spoon of flour and mix them together and then pour it slowly into the soup. The cream gives the cream soup a much more creamy feeling, but if you are on a diet and want to skip extra calories, you can skip the cream.

If you have white pepper use that, but if not black pepper can also be used. I would add ½ teaspoon of pepper and probably around 3 teaspoons of salt, but since this is very different from person to person and amount of salt also depends on the quality of salt, you should taste yourself to give the soup a taste the way you like it!

In the end let the soup boil for 3-4 minutes and your asparagus cream soup masterpiece has now been finished.

Enjoy your meal and please write a comment and write whether you liked the end result or not. If you have further advices or any modifications you would like to add to the recipe, write a comment as well!

Ten cheap street-eats in Budapest

We have earlier written articles about five hidden attractions in Budapest worth visiting and a list presenting some activities worth trying. Now it is time to feed our stomachs, so read on and get to know 10 places where you can have a cheap street-eat while walking the streets of Budapest.

1. Tamp & Bull

This is a special café in Budapest. In Tamp and Bull you can enjoy more than a normal espresso. Here you can find coffee with exotic spices and so much more. Besides them, dear guests can eat sandwiches, teas and delicious things but it is true, that this place is firstly the coffee lovers’ perfect place.
Address: 1093, Budapest. 3 Czuczor Street (Budapest, few minute walk from the Fővám Square, from the Szabadság Bridge’s Pest bridgehead to the Petőfi Bridge)

Tamp and Bull Budapest

2. Butter Brothers

Fantastic bakery with delicious products! Special, fresh, crunchy and first of all, the products are Hungarian, for example the famous quark bag, which is the best in the city. It is totally worth to taste!
Address: 1093, Budapest. 22 Lónyai Street (Budapest, few minute walk from Kálvin Square on the Lónyai Street)

3. Pervizaj Bakery

Because we are talking about bakeries, we have to talk about one of the most delicious Serbian bakeries in Budapest too. Giant bakery products, low prices, fast service, these are what Pervizaj offers you.
Address: 1137, Budapest. 32-34 Pozsonyi Street (Budapest few minute walk from the Jászai Mari Square, from the Margaret Bridge’s Pest bridgehead on the street of McDonald’s)

4. Ica Mama’s Meat Shop

After we became full with bakery products, we need to change to meat products. In Hungary there is a famous buffet type, the Laci Kitchen. These meat shops offer you cooked meat and place for eating. One of the bests of these buffets in Budapest is Ica Mama’s Meat Shop, which has a plus advantage; this buffet has made the same delicious profile for 50 years ago at the same place. Cheap and delicious lunch, especially for meat lovers!
Address: 1114, Budapest. 64 Bartók Béla Street (Budapest, few minute walk from Móricz Zsigmond Square)

5. Leves.

If you don’t have the mood for bakery products or meat, we can offer you a place, where you can eat great appetizer: soup. Don’t think these are just simple soups, these soups are specials with changeable spices. People get their soups in paper glasses, so they can eat it anywhere, even during walk.
Address: 1053, Budapest. 14 Vámház Street (Budapest, few minute walk from Fővám Square, from Szabadság Bridge on the Vámház Street)

6. Pasta.

After we ate our soup, we should continue our lunch with the second dish; however, we should stay with the same company. The Pasta., as the Leves. offers you special dishes in paper box, but of course it is not soup, it is pasta. Moreover the two buffets are very close to each other!
Address: 1053, Budapest. 2 Kálvin Square (Budapest, Kálvin Square, almost opposite to National Museum)

7. Zing Burger

If you like hamburger, but you are sick of the popular fast food restaurants’ offers; here is your time to try something new! The Zing Burger is a mobile buffet which appears in different points of Budapest day by day, and their supply is fantastic, huge, special and cheap! If you want to know the next station of Zing Burger is, follow them on Facebook!
Address: Budapest

Zing Burger

8. Finomító Kantin

This buffet is perfect place for an exhausted tourist. There is sandwiches, soups, burgers, coffee and drinks here with good prices, but the most important is that everything is fresh! The Finomító Kantin is very proud of this virtue. You definitely should visit it, when you are in Buda!
Address: 1027, Budapest. 33 Irén Street (Budapest, few minute walk from Széna Square)

9. The Donut Library

This is the island of peace in this fast city. Donuts here are made from only fresh ingredients without any additives or colorific. You can’t get soda-pops here, but a glass of delicious syrup or fresh milk is better with the donut, isn’t it? Besides the donuts, guests get books, so they have something to scroll while they eat.
Address: 1137, Budapest. 22 Pozsonyi Street (Budapest few minute walk from the Jászai Mari Square, from the Margaret Bridge’s Pest bridgehead on the street of McDonald’s)

10. La Pizza di Mamma Sofia

We can’t make a buffet compilation without pizza! In the La Pizza di Mamma Sofia one slice of pizza is only 350 Forint, huge and very delicious! The offer is amazing, sweat, salty, small, big, but there is one common thing: they are 100% Italian!
Perfect place if you only need a bite.
Address: 1061, Budapest. 20 Király Street (Budapest, Király Street in the center city)

Pizza in budapest

Well, we hope, you like our “Street Food” compilation. These places are all cheap, special and friendly, so choose any of them and you won’t be disappointed. If you have thoughts, comments, recommendations or any other thing to say, please write a comment!

Hard Rock Cafe Budapest review and thoughts

I just visited Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest. It wasn’t the first time I visited the place, but since I hadn’t been there in more than a year I thought it was about time to return to heaven for people who like to listen to loud music while eating.

Hard Rock Cafe arrived in Budapest just before Christmas in 2011 and my impression is that it has turned into a big success. It seems to be large crowds of people there throughout the entire day and lots of tourists I speak to visit the place, not only because it is cool, but because they love the food.

Hard Rock Cafe location

It must be said that Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest has the most brilliant location of all restaurants in the Hungarian capital. At the location with most tourists in all of Budapest it is located just at the corner where the shopping street Vaci Utca meets Vorosmarty square, so couldn’t be better. As the sun starts shining and the thermometer shows more than 10-15 Celsius they add an outer terrace making it possible to eat in open air.

Hard Rock Cafe review

From the first second you enter Hard Rock Cafe you get a feeling that this is American. The service and the way they treat their guests is somehow not typical for Eastern Europe. The waiters are really polite and “cool” at the same time and they do their uttermost to make all guests feel at home entering the restaurant.

If you have a favorite course in Hard Rock cafe you will probably find it in BUdapest as well, because the menu is a traditional Hard Rock Cafe menu with the legendary burgers, sandwiches and other courses waiting for you. After visiting the Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest 4 times I have still yet to become disappointed with the quality, but the only “problem” is that it feels a little pricy. It isn’t expensive compared to other Hard Rock Cafe restaurants around the world, but compared with other restaurants with similar profile in the capital.

This means that if I want to eat an excellent steak I’d rather eat a bigger and better one in Pampas Steakhouse or Prime Steakhouse, than in Hard Rock Cafe. The hamburgers aren’t that expensive, so if you want a great, big and juicy burger, the Hard Rock burgers should be considered. The most expensive burger costs around 4000 HUF which is quite similar to the hamburger prices in for example TGI Fridays.

Hard Rock Cafe is family friendly

A very positive thing about Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest is that it is family friendly. They have high quality chairs waiting for families coming with small children, they have facilities where mothers can change diapers on the smallest ones and they have big children menus where you find special offers for children, in addition to the fact that it is possible inside the menu to color guitars and draw other pieces of art.

The ketchup problem

This isn’t really a problem, but still it gave us a good laugh during our last visit. Most ketchup lovers agree on the fact that Heinz ketchup is among the best available in the world. So, next to my fries which was served together with the hamburger I thought I wanted to use some ketchup. The problem was just that it was impossible to get the ketchup out of the bottle it was in. We got a few drops on our plate, but after fighting the bottle for a minute we gave up, only to see that the people on our neighbor table fought exactly the same fight. The father wanted to give some ketchup to his son, but it simply did not leave the bottle… huhu! Guess we were all to lazy to ask the waiter for help.

Hard Rock Budapest wrap-up

If you want a Hard Rock experience while in Budapest, do not miss out on this one. They give you an authentic Hard Rock meals with guitars on the walls, music videos on big screens and quite loud music on the loudspeakers. I guess I am conservative, so I would enjoy my meal even more if the volume was turned down a bit, but I guess that is just me. The price level is higher than in most other Budapest restaurants, but it seems as if people and tourists in general gladly pay what Hard Rock Cafe asks for, so why lower the prices then?

Hard Rock Cafe Budapest information

Address: 1051 Budapest, Deák Ferenc utca 3-5
Opening times: 12.00-01.00 or 02.00

Monopoli Bar Pizzeria

Two weeks ago I visited Pizza Hut in Arena Plaza and wrote an article about it. In my eyes they serve some of the best pizzas in Budapest restaurants, but not everyone agrees with me on that. A person commenting the article told me that Monopoli between Oktogon and Nyugati has much better pizza.

I love pizza so I took the challenge and a few days later I visited Monopoli Bar Pizzera together with a buddy of mine and my little son. We ordered two pizzas; one traditional with corn and ham and another with mozzarella cheese and parma ham. The service was great and while waiting I noticed how someone came complaining because of a pizza they had bought. The man in charge did his uttermost to satisfy his customers and even offered them a new pizza if they wanted… after all he did not want anyone to live Monopoli unsatisfied. That is great service!

How did we enjoy Monopoli?

It is important to understand that Monopoli is not a restaurant like Pizza Hut or other Italian restaurants in Budapest. This is a mix between a kebab place and a restaurant, so it doesn’t give you the ultimate restaurant feeling. But, to sit down a place with friends to grab a pizza this is great and ideal. It is especially nice to sit by the windows and enjoy the view of the trams, traffic and trespassers.

Pizza toast in Monopoli

The pizzas were typical Italian, a bit too Italian for me. That is probably my problem, but I like the thicker bottom better, but I can absolutely bear over with a thin bottom, if it doesn’t taste to much tomatoes. Unfortunately the pizza in Monopoli was a bit to tomato like to me, so the ingredients didn’t help what I call the „foundational” problem.

In addition to the pizzas we ordered a pizza sandwich and a kind of calzone. They were both okay, but not a place I would return to for further eating and to taste the same pizzas again.

Final Monopoli conclusion

Pizza is a difficult subject, because there are so many ways to make them and we all like them prepared in different ways. If you like those typical Italian pizzas, go check out on Monopoli. We paid for the two pizzas, the pizza toast and the calzone kind of thing and two drinks about 6000 HUF. The service is great so you will be taken good care of and this is ideal if you want to eat Italian without visiting one of those expensive Italian restaurants in Budapest.

If you disagree with me, please write a comment and let me know. If you know about a place in Budapest where they serve fantastic pizzas, please write and I will visit those places and review them (as soon as possible).

Dinner in Il Treno

Not long ago I had the chance to dine in Il Treno in Budapest. Until now I have only eaten pizza slices from Il Treno on the run, but this was the first time I actually sat down in an Il Treno restaurant to really eat. And I am glad I did!

There are quite some Il Treno’s located in Budapest, but I visited the Il Treno restaurant located in Bartok Bela ut. This is a bit outside the city centre of Budapest, but if you live in hotels such as Hotel Griff, Hotel Mediterrean, Danubius Hotel Flamenco or maybe even Hotel Gellert, it isn’t that far away.

What we ate in Il Treno?

I am a pizza fan so I ordered a pizza, but I made sure that everyone else ordered something else, making me able to taste lots of other main courses in Il Treno as well. My father in law ate a spaghetti carbonara, my mother in law a fajitas with chicken and my beautiful wife a pasta with tasty sauce made up of smoked cheese, broccoli and other snacks.

After a while the food was served. I tasted all four main courses and to my surprise they tasted great, all four of them, especially the two spaghetti/pasta courses. I can warmly recommend those to everyone. After the main courses success we ordered four desserts hope for same great success over again. We had different sorts of pancakes with sauce and cottage cheese and the traditional Hungarian sponge cake (somloi galuska). Unfortunately the main course success did not remain for the desserts. It was not big mistakes with them, but at the same time they were nothing special, so if I would return another time I would probably skip the dessert.

Even though we did not enjoy our dessert as much as the main course, we were still very satisfied with our dinner and also with the price level of the restaurant. We all ordered drinks and the total price of five main courses, four desserts and drinks for everyone was just beneath 12,000 HUF.

If you have been to Il Treno yourself we would love to have you share your thoughts and your experience as you write a comment!

Il Treno information

1116 Budapest, Bartók Béla út 105-113
Tlf: +36 20 953 7261

Breakfast in Fruccola

Before visiting Fruccola to eat breakfast there we had only heard of the place as a healthy place with good breakfasts and lunches. There are currently two Fruccola’s in Budapest, one located at Kristof tér (just by Vaci Utca) and the other one in Arany Janos utca 32. Fruccola also have a slogan saying: „Fruccola makes us happy. Happy is good

English breakfast in Fruccola at Kristof square

Based on this I had quite high expectations as I went together with my wife to Fruccola to eat breakfast there. It is useful to know that Fruccola at Kristof tér normally opens at 7.00 in the morning and it is open until 20.00 from Monday – Saturday. Fruccola in Arany Janos utca is open from 7.00-19.00 from Monday – Friday.

Fruccola has a nice feeling to it and once you walk inside and look at what they have to offer you might get hungry in a minute (if you weren’t hungry already). The cheapest you can get in Fruccola is a croissant costing 240. We decided to go for something a bit more expensive, so we ordered an omelette with salmon, cream cheese and chives and besides that an English breakfast with baked beans (we skipped those though), grilled mushroom, tomato, bacon, eggs and sausage. To drink we had some fruit juice which was really tasty.

To the breakfast we got an okay portion of bread, though not the typical white bread, but tasty, fresh and maybe we can even call it healthy bread. Once the omelette and the English breakfast arrived we soon understood that if we eat all of this, we will not be eager to eat a lunch at 12.00. It was a lot, and especially the omelette had an extreme size. As far as I noticed the others in Fruccola who asked for other kinds of omelettes got something in the same size, so be prepared for large portions if you decide to eat an omelette in Fruccola. Personally I did not enjoy the cream cheese in my omelette that much, but since I ordered an omelette with salmon and cream cheese, I do not really have the right to complain.

Fruccola omelette with salmon and cream cheese

The fruit juice was delicious so if you ever visit Fruccola to eat a breakfast, you should try drink one or more of the fruit juices on the menu. Except from my little thing with the cream cheese everything was perfect, and we can warmly recommend locals and foreigners a breakfast in Frucciola. The price of our breakfast was about 3000 HUF, which is an average price for a breakfast in Budapest.

For more advices and thoughts, read our article named Breakfast in Budapest.

Il Terzo Cerchio Budapest review

The seventh district in Budapest is getting more and more popular, and in the area where Il Terzo Cerchio is located you can find popular bars and clubs such as Szimpla Kert and Kuplong and some very nice hotels, for example Continental Hotel Zara which is the nearest neighbour of the restaurant.

Il Terzo Cerchio is thus not located by the shopping street, but a bit outside the main center of Budapest, but still in a popular area where lots of people walk around, for example looking for a restaurant after visiting the second largest synagogue in the world, also located in Dohány Utca. Sitting in the restaurant eating on a Wednesday evening it was obvious that quite a lot of people end up in this restaurant in this way, simply walking around and then they bump into this Italian restaurant. And as the restaurant looks good, many people make this their dinner place for the evening.

If you visit this Italian restaurant during lunch time you can get a three course meal deal for a great price. When coming for dinner the restaurant has quite a lot of dishes on their menu, so everyone should be able to find something pleased their tongue and stomach. They write about themselves that “It’s a bit more sophisticated than your typical Italian eatery, but the atmosphere is still homey and inviting.” Concerning the interior they describe Il Terzo Cerchio as a restaurant with “Large windows, plenty of space and a brick-covered, vaulted ceiling all contribute to a warm, rustic ambience.” I totally agree, and both descriptions suite the restaurant very well.

As a sophisticated Italian restaurant you will of course find lots of pizzas on the menu, lasagne, carbonara and other Italian dishes. There are also quite a lot of fish dishes on the menu at Il Terzo Cerchio and the price level is not to bad, though for sure not the cheapest in the area. When coming to the desserts they have some really good ones, and my personal favorite is the Chocolate Souffle (see picture).

Some price examples:

Dessert in Il Terzo Cerchio

Selection of bruschetta: 2150 HUF
Grilled chicken breast: 2450 HUF
Capricciosa pizza: 2550 HUF
Lasage: 2550 HUF
Chocolate Souflfe: 1200 HUF

Il Terzo Cerchio information

1074 Budapest, Dohány utca 40
+36 1 354-0788

Colombus Budapest review

There are some restaurants in Budapest located on great places, and there are those with absolutely perfect locations if you want to enjoy good food accompanied by a beautiful panorama. Colombus is such a place.

Colombus is the name of a boat restaurant located on the Pest side of Budapest on the Danube. The boat doesn’t move, so it is lying still, but with windows looking towards the Buda side and with a terrace giving you a great view towards the Gellert Hill, the Castle of Buda, the Chain Bridge and lots of other Budapest attractions. The location and the view is perfect, but what about the food?

The wiener schnitzel, a traditional main course in Budapest

Colomus Budapest review

At the menu in Colombus you will find quite a lot of fish dishes and some traditional Hungarian dishes. We ordered a fajita with chicken and a traditional Hungarian wiener schnitzel, followed by two desserts. Service was good and the fajita and the wiener schnitzel tasted just the way they are meant to. For dessert we ate a chocolate mousse and a chocolate brownie (we do like chocolate). The brownie with ice cream was great, while the chocolate mousse was average.

Colombus is not only known for great panorama and good food, but they have live music available regularly, salsa evenings and other musical events. Many know the boat as a jazz boat, so if you want to combine good food with live music and wonderful panorama, why not choose Colombus. Next to Colombus you will find Spoon Cafe & Lounge, another restaurant boat. If I had to choose which place to visit of the two I would without hesitation choose Colombus, because based on my own experience I enjoyed my visit to Colombus much more than I enjoyed my two visits to Spoon.

The brownie was a good choice for dessert

The price for the one starter (the fajitas was only a starter), the wiener schnitzel with mashed potatoes and cucumber salad, the two desserts and two drinks was totally around 8500 HUF. I must admit that some people would pay that price for the panorama alone!

Colombus information

1051 Budapest, Vigadó tér, Peer 4

Panorama from the Colombus terrace

Have you been to Colombus yourself? Share your experience and write a comment/review. If you want to make a table reservation in Colombus, use the forms further down

La Perle Budapest review

Hidden away in a cute little street in the fifth district of Budapest you will find Brasserie La Perle. The restaurant has some French inspiration to it, but it is just as much an Hungarian restaurant as a French. Should you consider La Perle as a restaurant to visit in Budapest?

La Perle is located just across the street from the far more famous restaurant Borsso Bistro. While the latter has been around for many years, La Perle has only existed for about a year and it is still fighting to get some regular guests coming by. A few days ago I went to the restaurant with my family and we had a great time and I can warmly recommend this place to others, just keep on reading.

The interior of Brasserie La Perle in Budapest

La Perle review

Entering La Perle the first impression was very good. I liked the interior and the atmosphere of the restaurant, and I even enjoyed the background music. There were no other guests in the restaurant as we entered, so we got all the attention of the waiter present. We ordered four different starters, two main courses and three desserts.

You can feel the touch of Hungary in the restaurant as you look to the starters. Here you can find for example traditional Hungarian Goulash soup in addition to smoked salmon, goose liver and some other snacks. All the starters we ate were great, so do not forget to order a starter if you visit La Perle.

Tasty starter in La Perle

We were not really that hungry, so as we entered the restaurant we hadn’t planned ordering any main course at all. Out of pure curiosity we still ordered two main courses, just to check the quality and to see what a main course looks like in La Perle. We ordered a traditional Hungarian Beef Stew (marha pörkölt) and a sirloin steak with green pepper sauce and some more snack. I tasted both and I enjoyed them both and if I had more space for food I would have loved to taste more main courses (they have goose liver available as a main course and lots of other interesting dishes).

Highlight of the meal

If you have read a lot of my blogs posts you know that I love chocolate and I love pizza. In La Perle I did not eat pizza, but they had some awesome desserts. The number one dessert was their chocolate souffle (it has another name, but still very similar to a chocolate souffle). It was simply fantastic, and I still long to eat it again. Besides the chocolate souffle we ate a kind of cottage cheese cake/ice cream and a Creme Brulee. Both tasted great and I would love to eat that Creme Brulee once more in addition to the chocolate dessert.

The chocolate dessert tasted 100 times better than it looks on this pictures

Short wrap-up

I think about my stay in La Perle with great joy. We had a great evening together, and that is not only because I spent time with some of the people I love the most in the world, but because the food and the atmosphere was great. I can warmly recommend a dinner in La Perle if you visit Budapest, both to taste some traditional Hungarian courses, and also if you want to eat some French cuisine. The price of our four starters, two main courses, three desserts and five drinks were totally about 16,000 HUF.

La Perle information

Kepiro utca 2. -1053 Budapest
Tlf: +36-1-266-6808

Pastabar – Eat the Street

A few days ago we wrote an article about the soupbar between Kalvin square and Fovam square in Budapest. The soupbar turned so popular and therefore the owners expanded and has now opened a pastabar only a few hundred metres from the original soupbar. This time pasta is being served!

I first noticed the soupbar because of the crowd standing outside the place during its opening time. How did I notice the pastabar? In the same way! The pastabar has only been open for 6 weeks, but it has already turned into a success, at least based on what I have seen and on what the girl selling me the pasta told me. The concept is the same as with the soupbar, except from the fact that the Pastabar has 4 quite large tables located outside the bar making it easier for their visitors to sit down and eat their pasta in quietness and peace. If they get bored they are allowed to write greetings and make drawings on the tables which are covered with paper, so maybe this is the place where you can show the world the Da Vinci or Michelangelo hiding on your inside.

Pasta of the Day examples

I guess the answer is quite obvious, pasta! As I visited the Pastabar and ate there they had the following four pastas on the menu:

  • Mustar ezredes (chicken, cream, mustard, honey, peas)
  • O.G. (chicken, tomato, garlic, wine, basil)
  • Momofuku (chicken, carrot, leek, sesame seed, soya sauce, chili)
  • Bolognai (turkey, tomato, carrot, wine, oregano, basil)

The prices are easy to remember, because all pastas cost 990 Hungarian Forint. You can buy drinks to accompany the pasta if you are thirsty and ½ liter of Coca Cola cost 280 Forint.

If you want to eat the food right away you will find forks on the spot, but if you want to take the food away they have this special handle making it extremely easy to care the box with pasta with you.

In the vicinity of Kalvin ter today? Why not have some pasta for lunch?

Pastabar Budapest information

Opening times: 11.00-19.00
Address: Kalvin tér
Payment: Cash only