Dish finder in Budapest

A paprika-red soup of beef, potato and carrot, a meal on its own with bread. Ask for hot paprika paste (erős pista) on the side.

A thick paprika stew of beef, pork or veal with onions, served with small egg dumplings (nokedli). What most foreigners imagine goulash to be.

Chicken braised in a paprika and soured-cream sauce with nokedli. Mild, rich and a safe first order.

River fish, usually carp, in a fiery paprika broth. The Christmas Eve dish, and on menus all year by the Danube.

Cabbage leaves rolled around pork and rice, simmered on sauerkraut and finished with soured cream. A winter and Christmas classic.

Sliced potatoes baked in layers with egg, sausage and soured cream. Home cooking, found in canteens and workers' restaurants.

Thick stewed peas, lentils, squash or spinach, the cheapest good lunch in the city at a főzelékfaló counter. Ask for it without the meat topping.

Peppers, tomato and onion stewed with paprika, sometimes with egg or sausage. Meat-free as long as you ask for it plain.

Deep-fried dough rubbed with garlic and piled with soured cream and grated cheese. Market halls and lido stalls sell the best.

Small savoury scones with cheese, crackling or potato, sold by weight at every bakery. The standard snack on a train.

Savoury pancakes filled with a meat stew, baked in a paprika and soured-cream sauce. A traditional starter.

Paper-thin pastry rolled around sour cherry, apple, poppy seed or sweet curd cheese, sold by the slice.

Sweet dough wound around a spit, roasted over embers and rolled in sugar, cinnamon or walnuts. Best warm from a market stall.

A chilled bar of sweet curd cheese coated in dark chocolate, from the supermarket fridge. A national habit.