Review of Stuffed Cabbage a la Kolozvar at Napfényes Restaurant and Confectionery by travellingweasels

Napfényes Étterem is the best place to eat in Budapest if you want delicious, vegan, traditional-Hungarian food. Even meat eaters agree this is one of the best Hungarian restaurants in Budapest. The staff are lovely and the food is beyond delicious. I highly recommend töltött káposzta - picked cabbage stuffed with rice, faux meats, paprika and other Hungarian favourites - it's one of my favourite meals on the planet. They also do amazing pizzas here, with fake cheese that tastes so real, you'll probably double check that it's not cow cheese (it really isn't I promise). The only things I don't really like here are the drinks (I had a shake once and it was too lumpy), and I'm not over-keen on the cakes (they're a bit bland). The prices are also quite high for Budapest, but completely justified and worth it - those main meals are so delicious, I would pay more for it, seriously.

We're currently stuck in Hungary (coronavirus situation), hence a short comment from my Hungarian bf Tamás (who hasn't been to Napfényes but has been a resident of that country for 20 years now): here are some things that we are defo gonna write to (+poke) them about: we wonder whether they are a co-op? Unfortunately, co-ops are not very popular in Hungary bc when the Soviets overtook the country, they forcibly nationalized all land and forced all agricultural workers into faux-democtratic and heavily corrupt co-ops... time to establish some real (that is, not top-down, but bottom-up) co-ops in this country! Second question: do they have any organic plant-based meals? We think there would be a market niche for that... like basically anywhere (the legal differentiation of "non-organic" and "organic" produce is basically an euphemism for "poisonous" and "a bit less poisonous"... which is an outrage! All fruit & veg (+any plant-based food) should be organic, everywhere, not just the privilege of wealthy individuals who can afford to buy the more expensive, healthier stuff). BTW: We've recently learnt from a friend that most fruit & veg in Hungary is GMO-free (unless it comes from the US), so yay for that! Last, but not least: were the agricultural workers paid well, in a fair trade fashion? (probs not, most field workers come from the biggest ethnic minority in the country, the Romani people, who are subject to day-to-day (institutionalised) racism If you liked my review, you can follow me on @veganvstravel on Instagram or Facebook. I wrote a whole blogpost about vegan restaurants and eating out in Budapest here: https://www.veganvstravel.com/2017/10/best-places-to-eat-out-in-budapest.html Go vegan!! :)