A Budapest food tour with Taste Hungary

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As previous visitors to the city of Budapest, our main foray into the world of Hungarian food has mainly been various types of goulash (generally washed down with copious amounts of beer). We knew our local culinary knowledge had to improve so on a recent trip, we opted to join Taste Hungary’s Budapest food tour called ‘Budapest Culinary Walk’ for a cultural walking and tasting tour.

Starting off in Budapest’s famous Central Food Hall (recently called ‘Europe’s best Market’ by CNN), we were met by our guide Eva and taken to a beverage stall to sample one of Hungary’s national drinks – Unicum. This is a classic herbal liquor which has an absolutely fascinating history – sadly this drink was not enjoyable at all, actually it was pretty disgusting. We were glad we got a chance to try it thought, as we had seen it in many bars in Budapest and had always wondered what it tasted like.

*Starting the day in the Central Market Hall with a shot of Unicum, followed by a selection of different strudels.*

Eva then navigated our small group around the rest of the market to visit a few food stalls where we snacked on various classic Hungarian street foods including strudel (layered pastries with cabbage, plum and poppy seed fillings), cured meats and deep fried Langos with cheese and garlic.

We both adore our cured meats and absolutely loved receiving our very own personal charcuterie platter (which included some delicious pork crackling!).

Budapest food tour | Taste of Hungary Culinary walk | Travel Blog — *Serving up several platters of various charcuterie*

After our exploration of the market, we headed out and visited some nearby food spots including a butchers, a classic coffee house and an award-winning chocolatier (we won’t say which ones as we do not want to give away too much of the surprise – but you will be following in the footsteps of much missed foodie Anthony Bourdain…).

At the end of the trip we were taken to the tour company’s very own tasting room and wine shop (The Tasting Table), where a sommelier introduced us to 3 different Hungarian wines (a red, a white and a dessert), paired with local artisan cheeses (and amazing pumpkin seed oil!).

He talked about the many wine regions in Hungary, and the different types they produce. I had never tried Hungarian wine before so I found this part extremely interesting. A perfect end to a really great tour.

A Hungarian food tour in Budapest | Taste of Hungary Culinary walk | Travel Blog — *The tasting room and wine shop*

By the end of the tour we felt completely stuffed and content, and were both surprised at how delicious Hungarian cuisine could be. We thought that the tour was also a nice way to meet people from all over the world, in our group of 8 (the maximum group size), we had British (us!), Canadians and Americans. Highly recommended – Cheers, or as they say in Hungary – Egészségére!

If you are a lover of food and are visiting Budapest shortly, make sure you check out the Culinary Walk itinerary and all the other wonderful food and wine experiences that Taste Hungary offer.

You can book onto this particular food tour by clicking here. The Culinary Walk Budapest food tour costs $90USD per person and lasts 4 hours, starting at 10am everyday. My top tip is to skip breakfast as you will be eating a lot of very hearty food!