Castle – district canteen – A royal eatery

It’s actually hard to believe but Budapest ‘public canteens’ are still operating more than 20 years after the regime which was officially sponsoring them collapsed. Well, of course their ownership lies in private hands now.

My Budapest favorite is the castle district ‘self-service restaurant’ – as we call it here (‘önkiszolgáló étterem’). It is very centrally located on castle hill, just a few steps away from Mathias’ church. It is a bit hard to find, that’s probably how the place kept its local taste though it made it into some foreign guidebooks (I know what I’m talking about!).

The canteen is just above Fortuna passage. On Hess András tér – Fortuna utca, go into the yard at the beginning of the street (yellow building with Fortuna written on it) and right after that, climb the stairs on your the left. You will find yourself in a spacious and bright room, that’s the canteen! Everything is written in Hungarian but you can see what will get on your plate from where you order.

The daily offer for about 700 Ft (including a soup and an main course) is usually gone by 13:30, so be quick! Otherwise you’ll have to order what’s still available (a la carte, still cheap though)! Don’t forget to sort out your knife, fork, spoon, glass, plate and tray, there is a space for that purpose on the left. So nothing left to say, just enjoy your meal!