marvelousmouse

I always get the best food recs here, and I'm looking forward to hearing about your favorites!

I'm not looking for anything extravagant--just delicious. I'm mostly looking for local, traditional food, but I do love Indian and Thai, and I'm always up for those. What are the breakfasts like in Budapest and Prague? Are they more sweet or savory? Are there any great food halls? Coffee shops? I gather Vienna is known for its coffee houses, but they seem to be more cafes than coffee shops. Is that accurate? What's the dining culture these cities like? Is it more reservations are necessary, like in Rome, or more like pub walk in? Late dining or early dining? Special regional dishes I should be on the look out for? Thanks!

Trip is Nov. 18-Dec 13.

I also welcome any off the beaten path ideas, although from my research, I can tell already that I have more than enough to occupy my time.

shelemm

In Vienna, go for Gasthaus Wild, traditional tavern on the way to Kunsthaus Wien, the museum designed by Hunnertwasser to house his works created for the museum. Also, on a tiny and adorable square, consider going to Zum Finsteren Stern for traditional with an eye toward modernity. Small place, reserve before going, even if its just an hour in advance. Please report back if you go.

BDKR

That's a very broad topic, even though the gastronomy of Hungary, Czechia and Austria have much in common due to living in the same empire for 400 years.

"Is it more reservations are necessary, like in Rome, or more like pub walk in?"

Reservation is normally not necessary except at the most popular, fancy restuarants. Of cousre in case you have your heart set on a particular restuarant it's worth to book a table to avoid disappointment.

"Late dining or early dining?"

Early diining. Most restaurants close at 10pm.

" Are they more sweet or savory?"

It can be both, whichever people prefer. Some poeople eat savoury breakfast one morening and sweet on the other or even combine savoury and sweet in one breakfast. For most locals it's a more important and substantial meal(or at least they think it should be, but often don't have the time for it) than in Latin countries where a coffee and a croissant or churros is thought to be enough for breakfast.

"Are there any great food halls?"

The market hall(Vásárcsarnok) of Budapest is an overrated tourist attraction. The architecture is nice, but the selection and the quality of the products on offer is a far cry from a similar market in France, Spain,etc.

Cafes and coffe shops

To be honest as a non-native speaker of English I had to look up the difference between cafe and coffe shop, but I'm not sure if I got any wiser. https://www.redshedespresso.com.au/c...-a-difference/ Perhaps you could try to explain the difference?

Vienna is the place to go for a classic and alive coffe house tradition. Read up a bit on how it works and how to blend in. The local types of coffee,etc. Budapest and Prague used to be similar, but communism followed by capitalism mostly destroyed that. There are enough nice spots of course to even do a cafe hopping in the short timne you have, but it doesn't play the huge role in the daily life of locals as it used to do before WWII.

Prague is the place to go for pubs and beer. If you like beer it's worth to read up a bit on pub and beer culture of Czechia, learn a few basic words and find the great local pubs, not the touristy ones. But only go to local pubs if you learned he ropes and enough words in Czech to order what you want. The last thing the locals want is to have obnoxious tourists in their pub, but once you know the basics you're totally welcome in them.

Budapest has a bit of everything, but food is generally better than in Prague and maybe Vienna. Where Hungary really excels is the wine and fortunately Budapest got a few good wine bars if you don't have time to visit the wine regions and many restaurants have a good selection of local wines.

marvelousmouse

BDKR

"Cafe: table service, food, people tend to linger. Coffee shop: you can have coffee to go, or stay, don’t expect much of the food, no table service."

That makes sense now. I got it. Cheers!

Cafes are more common and more traditional than coffe shops, but unfortunately the American trend of drinking coffe on the go from a paper cup is on the rise too.

"what words would you consider important to learn? I’m struggling a bit there, I’m afraid. I love local places, and certainly do not want to be perceived as rude, but I am a pronunciation moron, and Czech is difficult to wrap my head around."

You can practice the pronunciation. If you're struggling you'd better learn fewer words, but get the pronunciation right(or at least understandable). And don't struggle trying to talk in complete sentences, Czech grammar is very complex and you won't get it right anyway, just use simply phrases or 1-2 words. For example: Menu, please! instead of Can I please have the menu!

Most important words and phrases:

Greeting, please, thank you, numbers, small, large, hot, cold, common foods and drinks, the bill please, where is..., and so on,

For a start watch this video:
"Very excited to hear about the Budapest wine bars!"

https://www.offbeatbudapest.com/top1...bars-budapest/

Hungary has 22 different wine regions and you'll have no chance to taste everything, so try to focus on the local grape varieties not grown anywhere else. You may drink better Chardonnay and Merlot from France, better Syrah from Australia, but you can't taste Furmint, Hárslevelű, Sárga Muskotály, Irsai Olivér, Kadarka, Kéknyelű, Juhfark, etc. outside of Hungary. Try sparkling wines too, some of our sparkling wines easily compete with Champagne. By all means taste wines from Tokaj, our most unique wine region and trying the naturally sweet Aszú wine is a must even if you(like most wine drinkers) don't like sweet wines.

Michael

My recollection is that a light meal can be had in this Dresden establishment, and although it is a dairy store, wine can be ordered with the meal:


In Vienna I would recommend Stomach, if it still exists, which specializes in Styrian food.

Cowboy1968

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but you're 25 years late to experience any meaningful language barrier in Prague or Budapest.
Unless you go to some local restaurant in some off-center residential area (where there is nothing for you to see as a tourist), you will not have any problems.
And IF you should run into eateries where there is no knowledge of English, you will not be able to read the menu anyway nor will any of the 10 phrases in Hungarian help you in any way.
95% or more of all non-domestic tourists cannot count to three when they visit Budapest. And the only Czech word they ever learn is pivo (unless they speak another Slavic language).
Neither Czech and especially not Hungarian as a unique language of its own kind, remotely related to Finnish, are widely spoken.
So whenever you are at places where tourists usually go, you will find waitstaff or shop owners being able to speak "a little bit" English or fluent English.
When you run into people with only a very basic command of English, you can make their lives easier when you adjust your English also to a more basic level. So quit the complicated niceties like "Would you be so kind and show me where I can wash my hands?" and just say "Toilets?"
In fact, you will probably run into more waitstaff, museum attendants, bus drivers who cannot speak English in Vienna and Dresden than in Prague, Budapest, and - obviously - Cesky Krumlov.

P.S. When in Budapest, you should sample the Hungarian national dishes:
What you may know as "goulash" is in fact a soup or stew. "Goulash" meat which is served on a plate with noodles that resemble the German Spätzle is called Pörkölt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%B6rk%C3%B6lt
The other "must try" is Chicken Paprikash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_paprikash
As fast food or street food you may want to sample lángos - not exactly my cup of tea, but you should try.
P.P.S. Counting calories is a felony when visiting Hungary or the Czech Republic ;-)

StCirq

Hungarian is impossible. I tried really hard, and I do have the language "gene," but I couldn't make it past a few basic phrases. It didn't matter; everyone spoke either English or German, so I was fine.

We weren't impressed with the food in Budapest. It seemed pretty uniform, and we were there for a week and ate all over the place. The best meal we had was at an unprepossessing, somewhat touristy café where my DH had an almond-encrusted chicken filet, which didn't seem the slightest bit "local" but was tasty. We had Goulashsuppe a few dozen times and frankly, it was never as good as what we can make at home. The best thing about Budapest food offerings for us was the Irish Coffee at those velvet-draped cafés dripping with reminiscences of old composers. But we were there in the dead of winter. The main market hall was a real meh after enjoying so many gorgeous markets in other parts of Europe, though for paprika it can't be beat. A couple of wine bars were fairly impressive. But I wouldn't ever recommend Budapest for a sincere "foodie," whatever that is.

BDKR

" Unless you go to some local restaurant in some off-center residential area (where there is nothing for you to see as a tourist), you will not have any problems."

First of all, I don't agree there is nothing to see off-center. Perhaps nothing for a tourist, but quite a lot for a traveller. It can be always rewarding to get a bit off the beaten track, escape the tourist crowds for a while and discover some hidden gems or simply local life as it is.

Second, one of my favourite pubs in Prague is only a 5 minute walk from the castle on a historic street where thousands of tourists walk by every day on their way to the castle and most of them walk by the pub as well, because it's a local pub and the locals prefer to keep it for themselves as much as they can. There is no English menu as far as I remember nothing in English and while the staff may speak English, chances are they'll pretend not to speak it. They prefer it that way, and it seems to work. The 95% of tourists who cannot coun't to 3 - as you say- or can say only pivo, avoid it, perhaps don't even notice it or just feel intimidated to go inside. The 5% who made a little effort to learn 10-20-30 words of Czech and know how to behave in a Czech pub are all welcome.

" And IF you should run into eateries where there is no knowledge of English, you will not be able to read the menu anyway"

That's why it's a good idea to learn the most common foods and drinks, and/or those which you like or would like to try. You don't have to know everything by heart, you can use a phrasebook, a translating app and you can practice at places with multilingual menus and learn as you go and if not in your second, but maybe in your 3rd pub you could order nakladany hermelin with your beer instead of "that cheese thing".

And even at all, but the most touristy places an effort to speak the local language will not go unnoticed.

Prague is a very touristy city, but with a little effort you can still discover the traces of real Prague. Don't make any effort and you may end up complaining how crowded and touristy Prague was and Budapest was more authentic or you can make that little effort and may fall in love with Prague forever. It's your choice. Most people take the easier path, it's usually not the best one.

" But I wouldn't ever recommend Budapest for a sincere "foodie," whatever that is."

Anthony Bourdain doesn't agree with you. I guess you may call him a foodie. ;-)

https://www.offbeatbudapest.com/top1...ants-budapest/

In addition to the Hungarian dishes mentioned by Cowboy1968 I recommend halászlé(fish soup/chowder).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisherman%27s_soup

Cowboy1968

I agree that it always makes a good impression to know a few basic phrases in the local language.
You can't do much if the waitstaff is actually not able to speak English. Tough luck, it can happen. No one's fault.
But why would you want to spend your money in a place where the waitstaff "pretends not to be able to speak English"???
I don't consider that a sign of authenticity but rather an indicator of rudeness.

Ingo

I was not very impressed with the food in Budapest, either. And I ate in rather well-known places like Gundel, Cafe Gerbeaud etc. as well as in restaurants and cafes off the beaten path. Just not my kind of food. Often too greasy, too much "Paprika" in all sorts.

Anyway, it is Advent/Christmas season when you are travelling. So you will definitely run into Trdelnik stalls in Prague. Definitely try it! The food stalls at Vaclavske namesti (upper part) were surprisingly good. Traditional food is Svickova e.g. - beef with creamy sauce and dumplings. Don't expect much in regards of veggies ;-) Roast duck is another favourite of locals. Palacinky (pancakes) are a *must* as dessert and come in many variations.

In Dresden definitely try the sweets. You have already been, right? So you know about the Stollen. And about Eierschecke (the fluffy cheesecake), right? My favourite place for the latter is Dresdner Kaffeestübchen, had one piece just last week there. Otherwise try the typical German dishes, like Sauerbraten (beef) with red cabbage, Schnitzel, Bratwurst etc. As for restaurants, it has all become quite touristy in the old town, so my recommendation is to head to the residential areas for authentic and still inexpensive food. Hubertusgarten is a favourite of mine (venison specialties). And Waldschlösschen microbrewery. Not to miss is Schillergarten, very popular among both locals and tourists.

BDKR

OK, I don't know whether they speak a little English or not. The 20+ words of Czech I know is more than enough for a pub.

I don't know whether they would pretend not to understand English, but I could easily imagine if that would be true.

It's a pub catering to locals as it always did, fortunately they don't want to turn it into a tourist friendly place. There are hundreds of pubs in Prague which are more tourist friendly with English menu, signs, English speaking waiters. I don't think there is anything wrong, because they want to keep this pub as it is.

By the way a certain degree of "rudeness" is indeed a sign of authenticity in Prague. If your beer is served with a smile, that's probably the sign of a tourist trap like U Fleku.

StCirq

<<But why would you want to spend your money in a place where the waitstaff "pretends not to be able to speak English"???>>

Did anyone mention that? If so, I missed it. I don't know how anyone ever knows when people are pretending not to speak English, anyway. It always seems like it's newbie travelers who think they're being hosed by "foreigners" who say things like that. I never expect people to speak English, and if they don't I'm certainly not disappointed in them. American in general are pretty pathetic at speaking foreign languages, so I'm always impressed that Europeans meet us more than halfway. If they don't, I surely don't fault them for it.

I loved Anthony Bourdain, but that doesn't mean I have to have the same experiences he did. For one thing, I was in Budapest on my own dime - I doubt he was.

BDKR

"I was not very impressed with the food in Budapest, either. And I ate in rather well-known places like Gundel, Cafe Gerbeaud etc. as well as in restaurants and cafes off the beaten path. Just not my kind of food. Often too greasy, too much "Paprika" in all sorts."

Gundel is mostly living from its fame and tradition since chef Kálmán Kalla retired. It's not considered among the best restaurants of Budapest anymore, but I'm sure most guidebooks recommend it since they always did for 30 years and 90% of stuff in guidebooks is just reprinted without updating.

It's true however that in Hungary you have to know where to get a good meal. It's not like Italy, Portugal or France where you can sit down in a random restaurant frequented by locals and good food is guaranteed. There are still way too many restaurants in Hungary(even in Budapest) which serve bad or avarage food. 40 years of communism immidiately followed by capitalism has largely destroyed the gastronomy of Hungary and we just started to rediscover and reinvent our food culture since 10-15 years ago and we're still at the beginning, but I'm convinced that we're on the good path and the food is getting better year by year.

It's fair to say that Hungarian cuisine is not your kind of food. If you found it too greasy you have eaten at the wrong places. Hungarian food doesn't have to be greasy. To complain about too much paprika in Hungarian food is to complain about too much fish sauce in Thailand or too much Sechuan peppers in Sechuan or too much caviar in Russia. (There are plenty of Hungarian dishes with zero amount of paprika)

" So you will definitely run into Trdelnik stalls in Prague. Definitely try it!"

Good idea, I like it a lot too! Just mentioning that you can get it in Hungary too, where it is known as kürtőskalács and similar to trdelník only larger.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B...91skal%C3%A1cs

Cowboy1968

BDKR mentioned it in post #9.

StCirq

OK, sorry, missed it. Busy today.

fourfortravel

With your visit coinciding with Advent and Christmas markets, (at least) Vienna's coffeehouses will be crowded. An upstairs table at Gerstner's across from Opera would be very nice if you can get one. Cafe Schwarzenberg is also lovely (surprisingly good Tafelspitz, a dish of which I am not terribly fond); again, if you can get a table. Burg Ring 1 was a pleasant discovery for us, near KHM. At all of these you can either have just coffee or a full meal. The Tartare at Gerstner's is Mmmmm; the Haustorte and their Esterhazy are Mmmmmm-er.

We found the dining culture in Vienna to be all over the place. The markets will have food and Glühwein huts. Würstelstands and street noodle stands are sprinkled about (everyone has a "favorite.") Clementine has divine lunches in a swoon-worthy palace. Do & Co is worth the splurge.

Speaking of markets, Palais Niederösterreich may have its market open while you are in Vienna. Go if for no other reason that to admire the palace and purchase a bottle of Kürbiskernöl.

For Austro-Hungarian and Czech food, Beim Czaak always made us happy. Beim Hofmeister's owner hugged us and said that our Stammtisch would be available whenever we returned (order the Hahnchen nach Wiener Art and the house red). Gasthaus Pöschl had really good Schnitzel, and that is saying something considering the number of Schnitzel we consumed. For Thai our go-to's were Bangkok in the 4th (make reservations or go early) and Mamamon. I am afraid I don't have any Indian recommendations. Over our time we never found a place that matched the flavors that our friends from Kerala made in their kitchen. Don't forget the heurigers! Do check their schedules, as many are only open on weekends or may close altogether in winter. In no particular order, Friseurmüller (mostly because there was always someone there we knew owing to its proximity to the school); Fürlgassl-Huber (their Backhendl is good and so is their wine.); and Kierlinger were the ones we and friends frequented. Kierlinger's Backhendl in Nest is spectacular.

marvelousmouse

shelemm

You might want to consider visiting heurigen while you are in Vienna. These are tradition wine taverns on the western side of Vienna close by (or in) the vineyards. Some are directly associated with a particular vineyard. On Google Maps, if you search for "heurigen near Vienna, Austria" you will see them on a map. You can also do a Google search and you will find websites that rank them (if you care about that sort of thing). Each one has their own charms, and sometimes they have traditional music as well.

StCirq

Re: baths in Budapest, I would steer clear of Szechenyi, which I believe is the most popular. I absolutely love baths, have organized whole trips around them in various countries, but I was totally grossed out by that place. Dirty, slimy, slippery...I couldn't wait to get back to the hotel to take a shower.

I know a lot of people love it, but I'm not much of an advocate of Budapest. The synagogue and the old Jewish Quarter captivated me, and the Opera House was glorious, but apart from that, uh uh....