Budapest’s Chinatown Offers More Than You’d Think

With more than 30,000 people, Budapest is home to the biggest Chinese community in Central Europe. Most Chinese people settled here between 1989 and 1992, a period with no visa requirements and abundant economic opportunities in post-Communist Hungary. Chinese immigrants were largely unskilled, hard-working people hailing from villages and small towns in Eastern China – mainly Zhejiang and Fujian provinces – in search of a better life in Europe.

They set up markets on Budapest's outskirts, selling low-priced imported Chinese goods, mostly clothing. Over time, some have done very well but the majority is still toiling away as clothing vendors from dawn to dusk, seven days a week. At its peak, in the 1990s, the Hungarian Chinese community amounted to almost 50,000 people; since then, many people have moved on to Western Europe or returned to their hometowns in China which had been drastically transformed in the meantime.

Recently, a new wave of Chinese immigrants came to Budapest: between 2013 and 2017, thousands of Chinese citizens purchased Hungarian residency bonds through an immigration-by-investment program launched by the Hungarian government. Unlike first-wave immigrants, these newcomers were more cosmopolitan and well-off (the cost of a residency bond ranged from €250,000 to €300,000). Instead of settling in working-class neighborhoods, many bought homes in the Buda hills and other elite pockets of the city. The recently opened Chinese restaurants in Budapest, particularly the pricier ones, cater to these well-heeled newcomers.

Chinatown Budapest: Monori Center

Budapest's Chinatown, also known as Monori Center, is situated in Kőbánya, a bit outside the city center. In addition to hundreds of clothing wholesalers, many establishments serve the needs of the local community: traditional Chinese medical centers; churches; massage and hair salons; Chinese-language newspaper publishers, tea and coffee shops, and Hungary's biggest Chinese supermarket, Dunapanda.

The range of products is impressively wide; I am told that Hungarians generally buy instant noodles, frozen dumplings, and Chinese snacks, whereas Chinese people do their regular shopping here for everything from Asian fruits and vegetables to Asian sauces, baked goods, seafood, and kitchen equipment. The other day I picked up some instant noodles – the Master Kong (Kang Shi Fu) brand, as instructed – and latiao, which are chewy strips of spicy snacks.

Monori Center is also home to plenty of Chinese restaurants. Be it a modest dumpling takeout, a neighborhood restaurant, an upscale Sichuan or seafood place, one will find them all here. Since the majority of customers are Chinese people, the dishes are comparable to those found in China without being adjusted to Hungarian tastes – there's even a local Chinese farmer outside Budapest who grows Chinese vegetables in a greenhouse.

Bear in mind, though, that Monori Center isn't your typical Chinatown. Instead of the usual signifiers of Western Chinatowns – pagoda-shaped building ornaments, red lanterns, lively street food vendors – Monori Center is primarily a vast wholesale center. If it weren't for the Chinese signs above the storefronts, one could mistake it for a massive outlet mall. Still, the depth of food and shopping options can make a visit worthwhile.

There's another area near Monori Center where many Chinese businesses operate: Józsefvárosi Piac/Euro Square. Here, a seemingly endless row of neglected industrial buildings are filled with Chinese and Vietnamese wholesale vendors. In general, Monori Center is a bit nicer and more upscale and contains more sit-down restaurants, whereas Józsefvárosi Piac targets somewhat lower income customers.

Cultural and ethnic diversity are trademarks of all great, cosmopolitan cities and I'm thrilled about Budapest's Chinatowns. Don't expect many people to speak English or Hungarian, but if you follow your nose, good things will come your way.

How can I get to Chinatown from Budapest's city center?

To reach Monori Center, either take bus #9 from Kálvin tér to Kőbánya alsó vasútállomás or tram #28 from Blaha Lujza tér to Mázsa utca. You will journey through working class neighborhoods that offer a glimpse into the less glamorous sides of Budapest, those that tourists rarely see. By taxi, the 15-minute ride will set you back €12-15. Józsefvárosi Piac/Euro Square is a little bit closer to the city center and along the same bus (#9) and tram (#28) lines as Monori Center.

Where to eat, what to eat?

Budapest's downtown has plenty of Chinese takeouts that serve toned-down foods adjusted to local taste preferences; in Chinatown (Monori Center) one will find more exciting Chinese restaurants. China has a refined, complex, and diverse cuisine with major regional differences. The leading Chinese restaurants in Budapest don’t usually specialize in a particular region, instead serving pan-Chinese fare with a selection of signature dishes from the main provinces such as lazi ji chicken (Sichuan), lamian noodle soup (Gansu), and steamed dumplings (northeast).

Nonetheless, the international popularity of Sichuan food has rippled out to Budapest too, meaning that chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns prominently feature on menus. Spicy Fish is a pricey, Hehe and Shandong are wallet-friendlier options. Although a landlocked country such as Hungary isn’t a seafood chef’s dream, Chinatown has a standout restaurant specializing in steamed lobsters, scallops, and other treasures of seas and rivers: Milky Way. It is especially enjoyable on Friday and Saturday evenings when many Chinese people wind down here.

Hot potting is a huge trend in China and it’s becoming popular in Budapest as well. Like fondue, it’s a communal activity where a group of people sits around an oversized table and cooks together, dunking an array of raw ingredients into the boiling broth just to fish out the cooked-through morsels a few minutes later. Chinatown boasts a couple of excellent hot pot restaurants: In Town Hot Pot and Mandarin Grill & Hotpot, the former being the nicer and more upscale option.

Cheng Gu, also known as Gu bácsi, is a legendary noodle chef in Budapest’s Chinatown. Hailing from Lanzhou in northwestern China, Gu bácsi moved to Budapest in 1996 and has since become a fixture of Chinatown. Anyone can peek through Hehe restaurant's kitchen door and watch him swiftly transform with his hands a mound of brick-like dough into perfectly uniform spaghetti-like strands (lamian) before depositing them into the boiling broth.

When it comes to breakfast, two small eateries stand out in Chinatown: Hong Kong Étterem or Feng Wei. They both serve typical Chinese morning foods such as rice porridge (congee and xifan), deep-fried dough sticks (youtiao; similar to lángos which is how Chinese vendors call them when dealing with Hungarian customers), steamed buns (baozi), scallion pancakes (cong you bing), pickled vegetables, and sweetened soy milk. Prices are low and it pays off to try a little bit of everything. Be there by 8 a.m. for the best selections.

Hong Kong Étterem is best-known for its delicious rice porridge (xifan) and scallion pancakes, whereas Feng Wei has earned fans for its sticky rice layered with morsels of meat and crunchy fried pork (nuomi fan), as well as its tofu pudding (dou fu nao). Feng Wei is hidden inside the first courtyard off Jegenye utca, next to Milky Way restaurant.

Every year from May to mid-September, many Chinatown restaurants join the lively outdoor food market, which is also here. 12 food stalls serve everything from Chinese pancakes to Sichuan food to Chinese hotpot to grilled skewers to traditional Chinese cakes to bubble tea. This is the 13th year of the outdoor market; the share of Hungarian diners has gradually increased from about zero to more than half. With many direct flights currently between Budapest and China, Hungarians who have visited China come here to re-experience true-to-China flavors. For others, this might be a first foray. The night market is open daily from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m until September 15th.