Well, on our travels we had planned to spend 5 nights in Budapest, but, due to unforeseen circumstances, that portion was sadly dwindled to one night. So, with only one shot to make it count, I asked our host where his favorite place to eat a good traditional Hungarian meal was. His answer was St. Jupat.
ST. JUPAT
Located at 1024 Budapest, Dékán
street 3, in the Castle District, St. Jupat was exactly what I was looking for. First off, it seemed to have the right sort of feel to it. Lots of exposed wood, booth seating, good, yet laid back energy, and lots of locals in it. Right up my alley. It managed to have all of that without feeling like some cheesy, mountain themed restaurant. Next up, draft beers...full liter mugs. Another point in their favor. I tried a local beer called Dreher, and it was quite nice. Not amazing, not the most flavorful, but a good example of a Pilsner in the Eastern European style. Also, it cost about $5, so a pretty good deal if you ask me. My wife was still not feeling 100% from her recent ummm....ailment, so she ordered, very simply, the Újházi, which is basically chicken noodle soup. It was a good example, made with homemade stock, and little homemade snailshell noodles. Again, not amazing, but a well made soup. I started with the Tomato Salad. I have to say this far exceeded expectations. First off, the tomatoes were perfectly ripe. Delicious, sweet, perfect texture....everything. Second, they were marinated perfectly. They had enough marinade on them to actually accept the flavor, but hadn't been soaked in it so long that it broke down their texture. Hard to say if I just arrived at the perfect time of the evening or if they have a system for this, but either way, it worked for me. The marinade I can only describe as being the sharp, vinaigrette version of Peter Lugers Sauce. This is the sauce they put on the tomato salad at famous Peter Luger's Steakhouse in NYC. Wonderful. The only other ingredient was some finely chopped red onions, which added a nice flavor without being too strong. That is probably the most I will ever write on a tomato salad, but it deserved it.
For my entree, I had the "red wine braised shin of beef with farm style egg barley". Once again, a success. It was perfectly braised beef, in a nicely flavored and seasoned sauce that was surely made of reduced braising liquid. The farm style egg barley that it came with was great too. Perfect texture, well seasoned (something that is commonly lacking in grain sides for me), with bits of onions, carrot, and other fun little surprises throughout. If I had to venture a guess, I would say that this was definitely cooked in some sort of housemade broth because it had a nice flavor of stock to it. The portion would have fed myself, my wife, the three small children at 
Don't miss this one if you are in Buda, probably even worth the trip from Pest.
“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” ~Jawaharial Nehru
