The 5 best places for street food in Budapest

What could be a more authentic Hungarian experience than chomping on fried food in an underpass amid the tower blocks of Óbuda? A delicacy to some – and a crime against your body to others – lángos is a traditional deep-fried dough, usually doused in garlic sauce, sour cream and grated cheese. Don’t be deceived, though: this is a high-quality street – if not health – food. Widely considered the best in town, Krumplis Lángos offers a range of toppings, including things like tzatziki. It’s budget-friendly, too.

Budapest’s legendarily sketchy Chinese Market has long been the only major source of authentic East Asian food for expats searching for a five-spice fix. With its bright décor and top-class food, Ngon Street Food has upped the game significantly. Its Thai and Vietnamese menu stars pho and yum yum soups, as well as Thai curry and fried noodles with meat, fish, prawns, vegetables or tofu. The flavours reflect the chef’s Isan roots and the Thai region’s tradition of simple yet tasty street food. The pan-Asian supermarket next door sells a wide selection of Malaysian and Indonesian products.

Bors is famous for its soups, so much so that the queue usually spills onto the street outside. They change the menu daily, so you can always expect a surprise. The daily special soups on offer – sketched on blackboards above the counter – show remarkable creativity. Making an appearance alongside your standard gazpacho and vegetable varieties are Hungarian specialities such as fruit soups, but the real draw here is the wacky ones – think Nutella pancakes, Raffaello chocolates and black forest gateau.

On the former premises of defunct ruin pub Rácskert, the trucks at Vegan Garden offer exclusively plant-based street food, including Mexican tortillas, Middle Eastern food, burgers, chimney cakes (a proud Hungarian innovation) and dairy-free ice cream. The fun of Vegan Garden is in grabbing a table and mixing and matching dishes from the dozen or so trucks crammed into the space. 

Post-punk... and post-pub? If you like your pizza and your music edgy, Pizzica is for you. Brothers Paolo and Enrico Bartolomeo serve light square pizza slices in this cosy two-storey gaff where Joy Division and other post-punk bands rule the stereo. Light years from the half-a-euro greasy triangular slices that predominate in Pest, the boys from Lecce, southern Italy, serve up pizza in cute boxes, and infused olive oils sit on the shelves for those wanting an extra kick. Toppings rotate but star premium ingredients, whether truffles, buffalo mozzarella or fresh basil.