After a morning in Pest and an afternoon in Buda, our next day in Budapest started with food and ended with a little opera.

Our day started with the Budapest Culinary & Wine Walk with Taste Hungary.

Central Market: Lángos, Unicum, and Pickles

The tour kicked off at the Central Market, the largest and oldest indoor market in Budapest, purposefully built in 1897. The first bite of the day was lángos: deep-fried bread dough with a garlic sour cream and cheese topping, from the 1950s. Seriously? Fried dough with garlic cream and cheese? So good. We also had a shot of Unicum, a Hungarian herbal digestive liquor with a recipe from 1790.

After that, we headed to the lower floor for a pickle tasting (so much better than it might sound). Hardly the breakfast of champions, but one terrific start to the day.

The Number Two Tram and Pogácsa

Our small group hopped on the number two tram along the Danube, a great sightseeing ride up to the edge of Margaret Island. There we stopped for pogácsa: think savory scones, at a lovely patisserie. The square ones are potato and the round ones are cottage cheese. Both delicious.

After that nice bite, a quick walk to the viewpoint on the Margaret Bridge brought a great view over the Danube.

Goulash and Strudel in the Újlipótváros District

From there we entered further into the Újlipótváros district for some authentic Hungarian goulash soup with rye bread. This was peasant family dinner food at its best. We also tried some more strudel: cabbage, sour cherry, apple, and cheese. All delicious.

Lehel Market Sausages

Then a trolley ride to another indoor market, Lehel Market, for sausages. We tried three varieties: a blood sausage, a liver sausage, and a sausage similar to kielbasa but with paprika in it. All were very good, but the kielbasa-style sausage won the competition, with the liver coming in a close second.

Hungarian Wine and Cheese in the Palace District

After the second market, we traveled down to the Palace District to the Taste Hungary Tasting Table for a tasting of Hungarian wines and cheese. All were lovely, from small wine producers in the region.

Cake and Coffee at the National Museum

Our last stop was in the gardens of the National Museum for cake and coffee, a sweet note to finish the tour. One was Krémes and the other Dobos torte.

This was an excellent food tour, with many stops feeling very local and authentic along the way. Small local producers, restaurants, and establishments lend to the charm and appeal of this tour.

A Tour of the Hungarian State Opera House

After a brief rest, the day was far from over. Next up: a tour of the State Opera House.

A competition was held for the design of the opera house in 1875, and it was completed in 1884 in a neo-Renaissance style with baroque ornamentation. The opera house holds just shy of 1,300 people and consistently earns high ratings for its acoustics. In fact, it has no amplification system. We waited for the tour to begin in the most beautiful lobby. Once inside, our tour began with a ten-minute “opera” sample with a soprano and a tenor.

After the performance, we entered the auditorium itself in all its glory. The interior is resplendent in reds and golds and in immaculate condition.

We also toured the royal rooms, including the Royal Entrance Hall and the “Red Parlor” for the Royal box.

It was an hour-long tour and we thought it was worth it; it was certainly popular. They offer three tours a day, and each tour can accommodate thirty people. We assumed tickets would not be a problem, but I bought in advance, because I always do. We saw people turned away at the window before the tour, and everyone around us had pre-purchased tickets. We slid this into our itinerary without much room for another date and time, so I was glad to have pre-purchased.

Dinner at the Bigfish Seafood Bistro on Andrássy út

A few blocks up Andrássy út was the Bigfish Seafood Bistro for dinner. We dined on small plates with a bottle of local Riesling: Sicilian crudo with pistachios and capers, octopus carpaccio with squid ink pearls, mussels in white wine broth, sea bass ceviche, and oysters Rockefeller. A crisp white wine with fresh seafood, eating al fresco at a sidewalk restaurant in a beautiful city. A great way to end the day.

Quick Tips for the Culinary Walk and the Opera House

• Do book a food tour. We say it all the time because it usually rings true, there is so much context, history and culture in food and Budapest was no exception.
• Buy State Opera House tickets in advance. There are only three tours a day, each limited to thirty people, and we saw people turned away at the window before our tour.
• Plan the opera tour around a set time slot. With so few tours a day, it’s worth locking in a date and time before you build the rest of your itinerary.
• Ride the number two tram along the Danube — it’s a great sightseeing ride on its own, and it was part of our food tour.