Strudel House

Strudel House is located on a tourist-saturated downtown street, but if you’d like to try some of the top strudels in Budapest there’s no escaping fellow visitors. Few people know that strudels evolved from the Turkish baklava, which was introduced in Hungary when the Ottomans ruled the country in the 16-17th centuries. It was from here that these filled phyllo pastries spread to the rest of Central Europe, most notably Austria, where the apple strudel became a national treasure.

At Strudel House, you can watch a dedicated baker freshly prepare the paper-thin strudel dough in an open kitchen right before you. I usually get one with a mixed filling of sweet cottage cheese (túró) and apricots. Unique to Hungary is the savory cabbage strudel, which tastes much better than it sounds. Strudels run a few euros apiece, and a couple of them make for a perfectly satisfying dessert (you can also take some to go, as many locals do).