Review of Vegan Goulash at Kozmosz Vegán Étterem by travellingweasels

Goulash ('gulyás') is Hungary's national dish: stew consisting of meat, vegetables (potatoes, carrots and parsnips) and of course: paprika powder. Obviously, it's not vegan, but luckily, there is a traditional version that comes close: goulash with beans. Kozmosz does their own vegan version (tofu instead of meat). I'm not going to lie it wasn't the nicest thing I've ever eaten - I'm not sure if that's because of Kozmosz or if it's because I wouldn't like any goulash. It wasn't bad or anything it just didn't blow me away. BUT I also had a burger there that was amazing. (Edit from 2020: since then, my current, Hungarian bf has made vegan bean-goulash at home that blew my mind away, so it was probably the way it was prepared at Kozmosz...) It's a really cool basement-restaurant kind of place, the staff very really kind :)

A short comment from my Hungarian bf Tamás: 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! (like Gólya presszó in Bp: http://golyapresszo.hu/golya/tortenet/) 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 citizens 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
and here:
https://www.veganvstravel.com/2018/10/vegan-budapest.html
Go vegan!! :)