Pork Neck

On Wednesday I woke at about 9:00 AM. I didn’t have breakfast included in the hotel cost so I had no reason to wake early. I wrote the story about the train trip. I needed cigarettes so I went to the store nearby and bought some. In Budapest they cost 870 forints ($4.00-$5.00 AUD) for the sane Dunhill blues I was smoking in Romania. On the way back I stopped at reception and asked about laundry and if there was a traditional Hungarian restaurant nearby.

They gave me a leaflet for a restaurant called Voros Postakocsi. I finished writing the story and then called to make a reservation as the leaflet suggested a reservation be made. It was about 12:30 PM by this time and I reserved the table for 1:30 PM. I really had no idea where it was so I looked up Google maps and got a general idea of where it was.

It was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. I basically just had to follow my street the street the hotel was on, then cross a main road and it was a third of the way down another street. It was easier to find then I thought it would be. The street that the restaurant is on, and for that matter a lot of the streets in Budapest are paved. Not with bitumen but pavers. There were old classic buildings on either side of the street. The buildings were old, but not run down and dirty like in Bucharest. These buildings were well maintained.  I got there and there were 2 guys at a table and the rest of the restaurant was empty. “Lucky I reserved a table” I thought to myself. Everybody spoke English in the restaurant so it was easy.

The menu was in 7 languages so there was no problem understanding it and they had an extensive list of Hungarian wines. I ended up ordering a set 3 course menu called ‘Classic Hungarian’. It had Goulash soup as a starter, followed by a mixed grill of homemade pork sausage, spiced pork neck and pork ribs, with some kind of stuffed sponge cake for desert.

Goulash is the national dish of Hungary. I have always had it as a stew or casserole type of dish but in Hungary it is served as a soup. The Goulash was very delicious. I had ordered a bowl of bread and the waiter brought this along with some kind of chilli jam. The jam was absolutely delicious but a little bit on the hot in the mouth. I was disappointed when the main course arrived as I still had some broth left to eat, the bread was good was handy to try extract the most from the cup. I put the rest of the broth aside so I could eat the main course.

The mixed grill came with vegetables and chips. I ate the pork neck first. I had never eaten pork neck before and I wasn’t sure about it. It was like a small flat steak. I cut a piece off and was surprised. It just tasted like pork. It was actually very nice. I had ribs before so I would leave them until last. Next I tried the sausage, I don’t exactly know what was in it besides pork, but it was amazing. I enjoyed the sausage most out of everything on the plate. The ribs were succulent and tender. I didn’t have any wine because I was still very hungover from the night before.

After the main came the dessert. When the waiter brought it to me I said “Wow”. It looked amazing. I can’t remember the exact name of the dish. It was 2 small round sponge cakes stuffed with dried  fruits and drenched in chocolate sauce with fresh whipped cream. It looked Amazing. I was feeling slightly full after the main course, but I did my best to eat this rich decadent dessert. It tasted every bit as good as it looked. I wanted to pick the plate up and lick all the chocolate sauce.

It was nearly 3:00 PM by the time I finished eating. The meal cost 4900 Forints (about $22.00), they include the tip on the bill here.  I only had 10,000 Forint notes so the waiter had to go to a store across the street and get some change. I paid and I walked back to the hotel and just hung out in the hotel room until I fell asleep. Hungarian TV is fairly normal. They have a lot of American shows and as most of the people here have a working knowledge of English, they don’t require subtitles. I booked a walking tour of the city for Thursday, it cost 20 Euro. I was going to do it on my own but there are a lot of things here spread apart and it would be easier for someone to show me around so I don’t miss anything.