Have lunch for a thousand forints in Budapest Part 2 – Hot meals

In the first part of this series, we have shown places where you can grab either a sandwich, a bagel or a baguette, and still feel like you have had a filling and healthy lunch. In the second part, we show you a few places where you can have a hot meal for lunch, while still staying on (sometimes around) the HUF 1000 budget.

Vega City

• 23-25. Múzeum boulevard (near Astoria)
• Monday to Friday: 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM

Even if you are not vegetarian or vegan, Vega City will not let you down. I do not follow any kind of special diet, and I still like this place very much.

It is a self-service place that always reminds of my high school cafeteria, only with much better food.

They have a huge menu that changes daily, including soups, stews, pastas, and some kind of reform dish. If you could not find anything on the menu, they always have a couple of permanent dishes you can get on any day of the week, like deep fried vegetables, falafel, salads, vegetarian burgers, etc. They often serve traditional Hungarian dishes which, by default, have no meat in them, such as lecsó or the different kinds of so-called főzelékek [vegetable stews, boiled seasoned vegetables usually thickened with flour or sour cream]. The place also has a wide selection of very delicious smoothies.

Every meal is vegetarian, but if you happen to follow a specific diet, they also have vegan dishes, as well as sugar-free and gluten-free options and desserts. The dishes are always fresh, delicious and cheap. I usually go for a small soup and small main course [together HUF 1040], and sometimes I cannot even finish everything in one sitting.

I get a serious craving for pasta at least once a week. There are amazing places in Budapest where you can get a box of delicious pasta that fills you up for at least until you finish working. I would like to introduce two such places to you: PASTA. and Bellozzo.

PASTA.

• 2. Kálvin square
• Monday to Friday: 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM
• Saturday-Sunday: 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM

PASTA. is a very tiny place on Kálvin square with a very tiny menu, but honestly, that is all you need. They usually offer three or four types of pasta to choose from, the options change from time to time. They have the classic Bolognese, the so called “not-padthai”, and a lot of other funny named pasta that you should give a try. Ok, it is a little bit above our HUF 1000 budget, because their pastas usually cost around HUF 1100 – HUF 1200, but it is not a small portion!