budaveg – vegetarian Hungary your vegetarian home in Hungary

A short walk from the körút and Blaha Lujza tér, you’ll find the newest veggie eatery in an Indian cultural centre. It is in a small street just off Almássy tér.

The staff were very kind and welcoming and explained our choices: normally they have a soup,  one or two subjis, rice, pakoras, a Hungarian dish, a salad and cakes. You can buy a meal or set menus, raging from student (small 630 Hufs) to maharaja (everything they have for 1980 Hufs). Most dishes are lacto vegetarian, but there are always vegan options. Interestingly when we were there everything was vegan!

We had chickpea soup with peanuts, aubergine subji with rice and salad, small veggie burgers and pakoras on a skewer. I really loved the soup and the pakoras, so much that I bought a couple more to take home for the children.

This is the “bharata menu” and pakoras, it was very filling and great value for 1400 Hufs!

Bharata
Bharata Cultural Centre is the new home of Indian culture and cuisine: it offers yoga, ayurvedic medicine, meditation, dance and music courses,  and soon cooking classes! The cafe has special offers at the moment with really friendly prices. All food is lacto vegetarian or vegan. There are set menus, special offers for students, lassis and sweets.
Budapest 1074. Almássy tér – Tivadar u. 3.
Open: Monday-Friday:  12:00-8.pm; Saturday 6pm-9pm, Sunday closed
http://bharata.hu/bisztro.html

This has been one of my favourite places since it opened, a real gem in the city. Napos Oldal is very conveniently located between Octogon and Nyugati tér easy to pop in when I am running errands or on the way to the cinema in the evening. The name means “sunny side” and it’s surprisingly sunny due to the corner location.

Half of the premises is a veggie cafe, the other half is a health food shop, selling everything from seitan to organic cosmetics. They have a wide selection of fresh salads, baked and fried vegetables, sandwiches and cakes. There is a different soup and main dish every day, you can see the daily offers on their website. There is also a wide selection of teas and other drinks. The menu  is almost always vegan, and the majority of the salads and sandwiches are too. My favourite is the seitan sandwich, and these are pre-packed so you can easily and quickly take them away.

They do a wide range of cakes from sugar free candida cakes to real patisserie beauties and none of the cakes (or dishes) contain eggs, yeast or white sugar. Obviously a real heaven for the health conscious or candida sufferers. Also the ingredients are  roughly 30% organic.

I chose two types of salads, bulghur and potato, a vegetable pie, a vegetable pancake, a carrot and walnut cake and a cup of green tea  for my lunch. Firstly the cups are BIG, which I just love, I love tea and I find small cups annoying, why go stingy on water?! The food was delicious and filling, the cake was a “healthy” cake, so not too sweet, but I like it that way.

You order at the counter, all the signs are in English, and you pay at the health food counter on the way out, I think it is great that you don’t need to queue twice if you want to buy anything. There is a nice and very light seating are with 5 tables, it was busy at lunchtime, but I always had a seat, as many buy takeaway.

Napos oldal is an amazingly peaceful place right in the middle of the city, highly recommended!
 
Address: Jókai u. 7. Metro: Nyugati tér on blue line or tram: 4/6 at Nyugati tér or Oktogon
Open: Monday- Friday 10 am till 8 pm, Saturday 10 am till 2 pm.
Tel: 1-3540048
http://www.naposoldal.com/

I was over the moon when I found this little veggie place a few minutes walk from our newly established veggie B&B in 2003 and I became a patron immediately. I just got hooked on their warm spinach pita bread, spinach is my favourite vegetable and I can’t have it too often.

The place is tiny, with only 4 chairs and 2 tables outside in summer, but I always managed to get a seat since most customers just pick up their food and eat in their office.
There is a lovely selection of sandwiches, warm pita breads, salads, and one or two main dishes a day and some desserts. They also offer water, fresh fruit juices, cocktails and teas. There is always a vegan and a macrobiotic option. The dishes are very imaginative, Indian, Hungarian, Italian and so on.  The food is free from additives and preservatives and filled with their loving care!
They make the sandwiches in the shop, the salads and the mains are made in their home delivery kitchen and arrive in the shop around 12. There is normally warm food till 3.30 or 4.00, but you can get sandwiches from 11.00-5.00.

I popped in at 11 just as they were opening up, I normally get up at the crack of dawn so by 11 I am usually famished and the nice girl behind the counter was very understanding and warmed up the previous day’s lecsó, my favourite traditional Hungarian food! It was delicious and just the right spiciness- we Hungarians love our paprika!

I was on my way to the airport to pick up a couple of omnivorous friends from Denmark, so I bought 4 sandwiches as well, two mozzarella tomato and two parmesan rucola baguettes, they were a massive hit and very good value for 690 Hufs!

Nem süti 
small sandwich bar, five minutes walk from the budaveg apartment right next to Margit Bridge,

Address: Jászai Mari tér 4./b (Pozsonyi u). Metro: Nyugati tér on blue line, tram: 4/6 at Jászai Mari tér
Open: Mon-Fri 11am-5pm
Ovo-lacto-veggie
http://www.nemsuti.hu/
https://www.facebook.com/nemsuti

Just a 5 minute walk from the budaveg vegetarian apartment you can find the nearest vegetarian cafe: Keleti Életmód Centrum.

It is in fact a lot more than a cafe: it is an alternative health centre, a health food shop and an organic vegetarian cafe. They serve organic fruit and vegetable juices, coffee, teas, salads, sandwiches, pizzas, warm meals, healthy cakes, sugarfree deserts, organic ice cream, etc: there is food for vegans, diabetics, gluten intolerants, and people on a candida diet.  Most of the dishes are vegan, some lacto vegetarian, and they are always clearly marked. They aim to serve exclusively organic food, at the moment roughly 90% of what they serve is organic.
They open at 8 in the morning and offer a good breakfast selection: pastries, porridge, soya sausages, sandwiches and of course coffee and tea.

At lunchtime they have a set meal of two dishes, the menu changes from week to week, you can check the menu on their website or pick up the small flyers in the shop. You can call and order lunch in advance or just pop in but they are normally sold out of the set menu by 3 pm. I had a seitan sandwich, a langallo Hungarian style, a bit like a pizza with grain sausages, and a tofu-plum cake- all really delicious.

The cafe has a lovely atmosphere, small tables and nice decor, and lots of books to entertain you! In the summer you can sit outside and enjoy the breeze from the Danube and the nearby park, you can also ask for a takeaway.

The natural practitioners are upstairs offering everything from massage to kaballah and NLP.
The health food store is well stocked with vegan delights; soy and seitan sausages and slices, organic bread and pastries, juices, jams, glutenfree and diabetic products, organic fruit and vegetables.

They have a very generous loyalty card: for every 1000 hufs you spend, you’ll get a stamp- when you have 10 stamps you get a breakfast for two!

Open: weekdays 8 am-8 pm
1137 Budapest, Pozsonyi út 16.
Tel.: (1) 339-0209
info@eletmodcentrum.hu
http://www.eletmodcentrum.hu/

The newest vegan cafe in Budapest is right in the city centre; a few minutes walk from Deák tér, on Paulay Ede street. The place looked inviting and the people lovely on their facebook page and we were eager to try out their vegan delights.

The place is tiny but they made the most of it I guess. As you enter you pass the counter and can see into the kitchen. You can place your order, then go upstairs where there is a small seated area which can seat 12 people.
They do vegan burgers (tofu and bean burgers), burgers with chips/ french fries, hot dogs, vegan spreads, salads, and soya shakes. Every day there are two special dishes which are posted early morning on facebook and their blog.

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I had bean burger menu with lemonade and my friend tried the tofu burger (in the background), and I have to say they don’t go stingy on the portions; those burgers were huge and really filling! The prices are very friendly, good value for money.

Address:  1061 Budapest Paulay Ede 8.
Open:  Mo – Th : 11.30 – 20.00, Friday: 11.30 – 22.00, Saturday: 15.00 – 22.00
http://gorillavegabufe.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/GORILLA-VEGA-B%C3%9CF%C3%89-vegan-vegetarian-restaurant/127044247370486?sk=wall_

Update: this restaurant unfortunately has closed down.

I was eager to try this new vegan restaurant ever since I become aware of their existence, the dishes just looked amazing on the website. I have known the manager Gábor from a Hungarian vegetarian forum and I think it is awesome that a seriously committed vegan like him start a veggie business. Good luck!

Loving Hut I found out is a franchise inspired by Supreme Master Ching Hai who promotes vegetarian lifestyle because of spiritual and environmental reasons.

The restaurant is extremly well located right at the Váci street at the Pest side of the Elizabeth Bridge, and is open everyday from 10 am to 10 pm. Nice calm decor in the restaurant and very friendly and fast service. They have a wide menu both oriental dishes, Hungarian and even burgers. I tried two (I went there twice I am not that greedy) first time the mock duck called”Pekingi specialitás”. I don’t know what duck should taste like but this seitan dish was delicious.

Loving Hut Mock Duck

On the next occasion I went for the “Loving Hut burger menü”- guess what soy burger with chips and ketchup, yum yum. Tasted great and they are generous with their chips!

Loving Hut vegan burger menu

Next time I’ll probably try the vegan gulyas…

Loving Hut
address: 1056 Budapest, Irányi utca 9.
Tel: +36 (1) 7876609
Open every day 10am-10 pm
http://www.lovinghut.hu/

Finally I managed to check out this lovely new veggie place: it is a bit off the tourist track, on the Buda side a 10 minute walk north from the Margaret Bridge; however it is worth the walk.

The restaurant has a pleasant atmosphere and there are several tables and a small tea corner with a cushioned seating area.

govinda buda tea corner

It was relatively empty when I got there so I had all the attention of the nice young waiter and he was very helpful serving me and answering my questions.

govinda buda counter

govinda buda counter2

Govinda Buda has breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, vegan options and desserts as well, and it is really inexpensive: I had the small menu; soup, subdji, rice and naan bread for 745 hufs! (less than £3/ €3)

govinda buda soup

govinda buda dish

And then my eyes caught their amazing pakoras: it is several vegetables and Indian cheese fried together, looks and tastes amazing. So when I found out they are 170 Hufs a piece (50p/60€cents) I new what my family was going to have for an afternoon snack!

govinda buda pakora

Can’t wait to go back with the whole family!

govinda buda pakora munching

1023 Budapest Árpád fejedelem útja 33.
a 10 min. walk from Margit Bridge, Buda side
Mon-Friday 7am-6.30pm
http://www.govindabuda.hu
http://www.facebook.com/govindhabuddha