The Most Pleasant Restaurant in New York’s Hungarian Neighborhood

February 26th

By Alex Lingerfelt

Over this summer I took a trip to Boston and New York. The trip to Boston was fun and I learned a lot from traveling. One of the lessons I learned is that I do not want to go to university or live in the Northeast, the summer’s are shockingly hotter than California. I’ve also heard stories about how bad New England winter’s are, and don’t plan to experience the entropy. But the environment is beautiful in New England! Though I loved the city of Salem (not so much Boston or Cambridge), I feel I learned the most over my trip to New York. Where I would experience a moment that inspired me to found the Hungarian Culture Union.

The day started by going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (one of the best museums in the country). I spent a good few hours wandering around all the different exhibits, but then after many hours, decided to go get lunch. I previously decided to go to a Hungarian restaurant for the sole reason that I was interested in Hungarian food, and there’s only one or two Hungarian restaurants in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. However, as I was walking from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the Hungarian restaurant, I soon found out New York had an entire neighborhood known as little Hungary! There was a library with a plaque commemorating the 1956 Hungarian revolution. As I walked along the sidewalks of the asphalt streets, the brick buildings of little Hungary buzzed past me, until finally I made it to cafe!

Though the name implies that Budapest Cafe is just a cafe, it is that and so much more, operated as both a bakery and restaurant. When sitting down, the barren cardinal bricks decorated with not too barren Hungarian photos created quite the impressive atmosphere. Soon free bread was brought out, but instead of being boring sourdough bread, Pogácsa (Hungarian Cheese Biscuits) were brought out and were the most delightful. I ordered goulash--the national dish of Hungary--and learned how much Hungary loves to use paprika. The stew-like mean smothered in paprika came out on a plate with a side of spaetzle. Upon mixing the spaetzle, my taste buds were engulfed with the savory flavor of the meat, slightly spicy scent of the paprika, and the spaetzle lightened the blow of the the strong flavors. 

Though the food was enjoyable and the atmosphere was unique, walking through the streets of New York’s Hungarian neighborhood was equally delightfully after leaving the most stunning museum in America (Metropolitan Museum of the Arts). This sense of discovery is what I love about traveling. After discovering the charming restaurant of Budapest Cafe and the Hungarian neighborhood in New York, I was inspired to research more about the nation of Hungary. Through this research I realized how unique Hungary was, being one of the only European countries to speak a non Indo-European language; the nation only recently finding self determination, previously being ruled by the Ottomans, Austrians, Germans, and Soviets; and of course being an obscure country that not many people know of.

All of this would accumulate into founding the Hungarian Culture Union, where a community is being built around educating and diffusing the culture of Hungary across the city of Irvine, and America. To achieve this, the union launched innovations such as polls for the school and a news website (the Hungarian Culture Chronicle). Hopefully in the future more initiatives can be launched to further support our purpose, and more importantly, our current initiatives increase in member count.

Who knows what the future will bring

Ki tudja, mit hoz a holnap.

Chicago:

Lingerfelt, Alex J. 2024. “The Most Pleasant Restaurant in New York’s Hungarian Neighborhood.” Hungarian Culture Chronicle. https://feltgrad.wixsite.com/hcchronicle/post/the-most-pleasant-restaurant-in-new-york-s-hungarian-neighborhood.

MLA:

Lingerfelt, Alex J. “The Most Pleasant Restaurant in New York’s Hungarian Neighborhood.” Hungarian Culture Chronicle, 26th February 2024, https://feltgrad.wixsite.com/hcchronicle/post/the-most-pleasant-restaurant-in-new-york-s-hungarian-neighborhood.

APA:

Lingerfelt, A. J. (2024, February 26th). The Most Pleasant Restaurant in New York’s Hungarian Neighborhood. Hungarian Culture Chronicle. https://feltgrad.wixsite.com/hcchronicle/post/the-most-pleasant-restaurant-in-new-york-s-hungarian-neighborhood