I am in Budapest now and am interested in your favorite cafe or restaurant that serves traditional "Hungarian home cooking"--thick pork stews, gulas, etc. I am mostly interested in findng a cozy neighborhood restaurant with interesting atmosphere and plain filling comfort food. (It is very cold here!) We have had some great food here, but mostly fancy continental dishes. We are staying in central Pest but have gotten pretty savvy with public transport Can anyone help?

I really enjoyed the For Sale pub on Vamhaz korut, number 2.

If you walk all the way to the south end of Vaci utca, turn left on Vamhaz korut (across the street from the big indoor city market), it is just a block or so up on the left. You can see inside that there are little pieces of paper all over the walls, and the specials are written on a chalkboard outside. Reasonably priced and very clearly a spot for the locals, the restaurant has a fantastic golash that comes in an enormous communal bowl. Then the mains come in huge, warm, delicious servings -- you'll have plenty leftover for lunch the next day!

We had a good dinner and a lot of fun at Kis Rablo. It's very much a neighborhood-type restaurant, and we were amazed at the amount of food served.

The restaurant is located about a block and a half behind the Gellert Hotel on a side street. Maybe you could ask for directions.

The staff at the Gellert arecommended it to us, so they could direct you.

We were there about four years ago, so I hope it is still as good as we remember!

Byrd

Two great places to dine in Budapest

Cafe Kor and Firkasz! They were outstanding!

Thank you all for the recommendations. I will check them out!

There is a charming little neighborhood restaurant that you will enjoy and hope I can explain how to find it. The name translates to "The Little Cuckoo" and it is located on a tiny street that runs parallel to the river(Pest side). It is within walking distance of Margrit Island. They serve the traditional food and it is very good and the atmoshere has a library feel--it actually has lots of bookcases. We regretted that we were able to dine there (lunch) only once. Good luck & enjoy!

If you have time-go to the House of Hungarian Wines across from the Hilton Hotel near the Castle on the Buda side . My daughter and I had a wonderful time there last year as you are handed a glass with a map of the huge cellar and depending on what day and time(sometimes there are personal guides)-you wander around over 50-100 different wines to taste with info by the bottles on region,taste,grapes,etc. It really was fun and informational. I think that it was about $10US per person and you got to keep the glass but a great way to spend several hours.

Another vote for the Hungarian house of Wines! Also, this is from my TR:

"For my last meal in Budapest I finally ate goulash soup – at the Café Vian (www.cafevian.com/en%20menuoldal.html) on Liszt Ferenc. The soup was recommendable, but the goose liver pate was to die for."

Thank you again. I went to the House of Hungarian Wines yesterday and although the posted hours indicated that it should be open--it was closed shut! It is very cold and snowy here today-- so I will try the House of Wines again tomorrow for a pleasant way to spend the day.

If I spent all day at the House of Wines I would need to be carried out. LOL!

DD and I did have WAY too much fun there after a few hours....

I met up with some young Australian guys in the House of Wine. They said that they were told there was a two hour time limit. No-one said anything about a time limit to me, but I'm an older, solo, female! I made good use of the spittoons for many of the wines.

I had a delicious goulash at the Muzeum Cafe and Restaurant on the Pest side. It is located next to the National Museum. I found additional information for you on this website:
http://programs-budapest.heliospanzio.hu/en/museum.html

Oh, yes, House of Hungarian Wines is a must. Much fun to be had there. Be sure to check out the Hilton before hand.

2 favourites from a couple of years ago. Ate both places more than once:

Central Kavehaz -- simple, cafe atmosphere, good food; we must have eaten there 4 times on 2 separate trips

Karolyi, in the Karolyi Palota (palace) -- fancy but prices were moderate; superlative cooking, great location on the main floor of this historic palace

Also liked Muzeum, recommended by another poster

Word of warning about the Central, again from my TR: "This time my waiter handed me a hand-written bill on a scrap of paper, instead of machine-written one, and I only realized after I left that he had overcharged me. While I love the coffeehouse, I can only recommend eating there if you pay close attention to the bill!"

Cafe Kor was fantastic, however I would not put it into the category of "HUNGARIAN, Traditional home cooking."

The menu had wonderful selections, but not traditional.
We enjoyed the food, the service, the music, and the people.
Trend Girl.

Thanks for all the great suggestions.