Visiting Budapest for the first time and I'm quite the foodie. Bringing back local goodies is part of the fun and grocery stores are legitimate attractions in my travels.

Aside from paprika (esp. a paste in tubes) and Unicum, what goodies should I look for? Wine? Pastries? Condiments (e.g. honey)?

Apricot brandy, a specialty of the Kecskemet area.

Tokay wine.

SoloAlex, I also love to visit grocery stores where ever I travel. I have Hungarian colleagues + I've been to Budapest twice. I didn't know about the paprika paste-just bought powder and lots of it to give to friends. Also, pear liqueur is a specialty & chocolate cherry candies. I was told their salami is very good but unfortunately couldn't get that past US Customs so I didn't try.

Another vote for the Tokaj wine (pronounced 'tokai'). It's like a not-so-sweet sherry.

I also picked up quite a few boxes of Neiderecker marzipan chocolate, but I think it was made in Austria (but plentiful to buy in Budapest).

I found that for all the hot or sweet paprika powders and pastes in Budapest, I could find them all at my local Eastern European deli/shop here in Canada. Look for and take home a good Goulash recipe instead. The containers that the powders come in (ceramic pots or tins) can be quite nice.

There's a market building on the south side of Pest, about a block from the river, which we enjoyed greatly. Bought paprika and saffron.

We bought some wine, expecting Mogen David quality, and were pleasantly surprised that it was like a Bordeaux. Sorry can't more definitive than that.

There's a big deli just off Vorosmarty Square that sells tins of goose liver pate that is wonderful.

Be sure to go to the Central Market Hall and marvel at how many things can be marinated in vinegar! Don't forget the fish market downstairs.

We've had a tube of that paprika paste gathering dust on a kitchen shelf since 1996. Darned if we can figure what you use the stuff for.

We bought the paprika primarily because the day before we had eaten some delicious paprika soup in a Hungarian restaurant. It was called #diu98ue4w5, or something like that. I had not expected it to taste good, and was very pleasantly surprised. I wish we could get a recipe for it.

USNR:

Our tube of paprika paste has been gathering dust for a mere two years. If you ever figure out how to use it, please let me know!!

Unless one is a purist, Hungarian paprika can be used in dishes that take Spanish pimentón, or can be used in ratatouille, or added to a tomato sauce for a little bite if you have the sharp paprika. Tube or powder, it makes no difference.

I've not been to Budapest but am a fan of foreign grocery stores. I don't know until I'm there and shop around what great things I might find. Go with an open mind is my advice. Sometimes it's simply the packaging that is so wonderful I pick something.

Yet another vote for the Tokaj wine. For the sake of specificity (as the Tokaj region produces a variety of white wines), purchase the Aszu wine. This wine, developed in the Tokaj region before any others, can only be produced in three locales in the world. This is attributed to the fungus or "noble rot", as the Hungarians have come to call it, that requires a unique environment and is the prerequisite to "growing" the Aszu grape.

Vineyards vary greatly in quality, but look for a 1999 vintage (a phenomenal year for the entire Tokaj region) from the Rakoczi or Oremus vineyards and you can't go wrong.

There are several kinds of ground paprika -- with different colors and levels of heat. I always have brought home an assortment.

BTW the marzipan you mention is made in Luebeck, Germany

You mentioned paprika pastes: don't know if you like spicy foods or not, but the paprika condiment called Eros Pista is amazing! The company that makes it also makes a sweeter, non-spicy version called Edes Anna. I'm so envious of your trip!