FOOD & TRAVEL
ESCAPE
Brody Studios
The parliament buildings
WHATEVER YOU DO...
EAT
Brody Studios is the Soho House of Budapest; a private members’ club that rocks (brodystudios.com). Spilling over many floors, with distressed walls and decoupage, and a stunning inner courtyard with outdoor fires, the food here is as robust and clever as the ambience: skin-roasted chicken with Jerusalem artichoke chips is memorable. For fine dining head to Babel, which serves exciting, innovative regional dishes with 75 per cent of ingredients sourced in Hungary (babel-budapest.hu). Try duck broth with pine and celery or sea bass with lentil and black sesame, then an ingenious pumpkin pudding cooked in hay. Avoid the garlic ice cream, it is bizarre and off-kilter. Kollázs, the brasserie at Gresham Palace, is the perfect antidote if you’ve eaten a lot of traditional heavy Hungarian food – paprika chicken, glutinous noodles and goulash (kollazs.hu). Here, knock back the local spirit, Pálinka, made from pears, it is said to have medicinal qualities, and share a steaming pot of black mussels with perfectly grilled vegetables.
PHOTOS: THINKSTOCK
Fine dining at Babel
Take the Budapest Metro, the oldest electrified underground system in Europe.
LIVE LIKE A LOCAL... Go jogging on Margaret Island, wedged between Buda and Pest. Once called the Isle of Rabbits, as it was a favourite hunting ground for kings, today it is like Budapest’s Central Park, with a tiny zoo and running lanes.
SEE
It sounds cheesy but the hour’s tourist ride down the river Danube is great fun. Listen to the headphones and soak up cultural facts about Buda and Pest. Ogle the stunning cityscape with Baroque churches and the limestone extravaganza of Hungary’s parliament, the National Assembly, with its intricate 365 towers. Budapest is known as the City of Healing Waters with its 118 natural thermal springs, which produce over 70 million litres of thermal water a day. Although the Romans discovered the waters in the second century, the bath culture flourished during the Turkish occupation of Hungary in the 16th century. Visit Széchenyi Bath, in the City Park, the largest medicinal bath in Europe. Built in 1913, in Neo-Baroque style, it’s a huge scene with locals and tourists bobbing away in the wonderful warm waters. Take swimming togs, flip flops and towels or you will be issued with vintage speedos or state-issue bathing suits. Not sexy. Stock up on Herend China
BOOK IT... Four Seasons Gresham Palace superior room, from ¤325 per night. +36 1268 6000 fourseasons.com/budapest Brody House, from ¤80 per night. +36 1266 1211 brodyhouse.com
BUY
Visit the Central Market Hall – an architectural triumph near Liberty Bridge on the Pest side – to see every conceivable edible substance, from pigs’ ears to rare mushrooms. Sample street food and buy local Hungarian lace. For something expensive but heirloom quality, buy famed Herend China. The pottery factory of Herend was founded in 1826 and Budapest has two flagship shops. This exquisite Hungarian porcelain was collected by Queen Victoria, the Rothschilds and the Habsburg dynasty. True, the animal figurines were pure eighties Sloane, favoured by Princess Diana, crammed on chintz covered tables, but there are some stunning plates and serving dishes. September 2017 | COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.CO.UK | 105
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