Budapest markets
Produce markets are scattered all around Budapest. During the summer they carry much better selection of good fruits and vegetables than supermarkets, while during winter, the selection is very poor. Even if you do not intend to buy anything, it is worth visiting one of the markets just to feel the atmosphere.
The most famous market is Central Market Hall (Központi Vásárcsarnok, Pest IX, Vámház körút 1-3, open: Mon 6:00-17; Tue-Fri 6:00-18:00, Sat 6:00-14:00), which is a tourist attraction in itself. It is probably visited by majority of tourists (ground floor is reserved for fresh produce, while in the first floor you will find dozens of souvenir shops), thus we are trying to avoid buying fruits and vegetables there, as the sellers are rather unfriendly - not only to foreigners but even to locals. On numerous occasions we spotted the sellers yelling at the customers because they touched the fruits, which is supposed to be a big no-no.
The sellers at Lehel tér Market Hall (Lehel téri Piac, Pest XIII, just above the Lehel tér metro station, open: Mon-Fri 6:00-18:00, Sat 6:00-14:00) and Hunyadi Market Hall (Hunyadi Piac, Pest VI, Hunyadi tér) seem to be OK with customers picking their own fruits and vegetables, so we prefer to go there. Lehel téri Piac is bigger and has a better selection than Hunyadi Piac, but the highlight of the latter is a friendly farmer selling very good cottage cheese (tehéntúró) on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. He sets up his stall at the square behind the market hall and is the only cheese vendor using a small electronic scale. You will easily recognize him by 3 small soft toys, which he puts on his stall as labels for cow, sheep and goat cottage cheese. The smoked cheese we tried was rather bland though.
Budapest supermarkets
Forget about the big supermarkets (Tesco, Auchan, Cora) if you are not travelling by car, as they are all at the outskirts of Budapest, not easily accessible by public transport. There are however numerous smaller supermarkets all around town as well as hundreds of tiny private shops (some of them open 24 hours). The following centrally located supermarkets might be handy if you get thirsty/hungry in the middle of sightseeing in downtown Budapest:
- Match (Pest VI, Deák Ferenc tér 6, just
above Deák Ferenc metro station, open: Mon-Fri 7:00-21:00, Sat 7:00-14:00)
- Match (Pest VI, Andrássy ut 30, a few steps
away from the opera house, open: Mon-Fri 7:00-20:00, Sat 7:00-18:00)
- Match (Pest XIII, Westend shopping mall, Váci
út 1-3, open: Mon-Sat 8:00-21:00, Sun 8:00-18:00)
- Kaiser's (Pest VI, Nyugati tér 1-2, above
Nyugati metro station, open: Mon-Fri 7:00-20:00, Sat 7:00-16:00)
- CBA (Pest VI, Bajcsy zs. út. 31)
- Rothschild (Károly krt. 9, open: Mon-Fri 7:00-22:00,
Sat 8:00-20:00, Sun 9:00-17:00)
- Rothschild (Teréz krt. 19, off Oktogon, open:
24 hours, except on Hungarian national holidays)
Supermarket buys
Tips for those who are particular about drinking water: bottled mineral water with a pink cap is still. The one with a blue or a green cap is gassy.
After trying countless types of cheese from Budapest supermarkets, we decided that we like the following the most:
- Pannonia produced by Pannontej Rt.
- Karavan Fustolt, smoked cheese, also produced by Pannontej Rt.
- Nagylyuku, produced by Cheeseland.
- Pöttyös Túró Rudi (Well, this is a dessert actually - a small stick
of cottage cheese covered with dark chocolate.)
Speciality shops
Culinaris has wide variety of (pricey) ingredients and delicatessen from around the world, including the famous Häagen-Dazs ice cream, although only 4 flavours are available. Some of the Culinaris staffs speak English.
Location: Pest VI, Hunyadi tér 3. Open: Mon 12:00-19:00, Tue-Sat 10:00-19:00. Web: www.culinaris.hu