History

Langos is older than the country, a fried-dough tradition shared across central Europe with Hungarian-specific toppings. The sour cream and cheese version became the Budapest standard from the 1970s. Cooked at every market hall in the city.

Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield Makes 4 lángosHands-on 20 minTotal 1 hr 30 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 500g plain bread flour
  • 1 sachet (7g) instant dried yeast
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 250ml warm milk
  • 100ml warm water
  • 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
  • 1 litre sunflower oil for frying
  • 200ml sour cream
  • 200g grated trappista or mature cheddar
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled

Method

  1. Mix the flour, yeast and salt. Whisk the warm milk and water, pour in, and knead 8 minutes to a smooth dough.
  2. Cover and prove in a warm place for 1 hour until doubled in size.
  3. Knock back, divide into four. Stretch each piece to a 20cm disc with your fingertips, leaving a slight rim.
  4. Heat the frying oil to 180 degrees Celsius. Slide a disc in and fry 60 to 90 seconds per side until puffed and golden brown.
  5. Drain on kitchen paper. While still warm, rub a peeled garlic clove across the surface, spread with sour cream and shower with grated cheese.

Tip from the editors. The dough must be soft and slightly slack; if it tears when stretched, rest another 10 minutes before frying.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat lángos

Lángos in Budapest

Karaván Street Food ★ 4.3

erzsebetvarosUntil Thu-Sat 01:00

Karavan on Kazinczy stays open until 01:00 Thursday to Saturday, the late-night Budapest stop after the Szimpla ruin bar for langos, burgers, gyros and kurtoskalacs.

Try: Lángos, burgers, kürtőskalács

Order: A garlic-and-cheese lángos with a Soproni beer at the picnic table.

Tip: Late-night until 01:00 Thursday to Saturday; the langos and kurtoskalacs counters move fast.

Kazinczy utca 18, 1075 Budapest

Központi Vásárcsarnok Lángos Counter ★ 4.0

ferencvaros

The upper-gallery langos counters inside the Central Market Hall on Vamhaz korut are the iconic Budapest spot for a HUF 2000 lunch over Hungarian fried dough.

Try: Lángos at the gallery counters

Order: The classic lángos with sour cream, garlic and grated cheese.

Tip: Cash only at most stalls; closed Sundays; the gallery is upstairs from the produce floor.

Vámház körút 1-3, 1093 Budapest

Retró Lángos Budapest ★ 4.0

terezvarosDaily 11:00-22:00Cash only

Retro Langos on Bajcsy-Zsilinszky across from the Arany Janos utca metro fries 30-plus varieties of langos to order, the canonical sour-cream-and-cheese fried dough in Budapest.

Try: Lángos with sour cream and cheese

Order: A langos with sour cream, grated cheese and a clove of raw garlic rubbed on top.

Tip: Cash and card; queue runs 15 minutes deep at lunch, the standing-room counter turns over fast.

Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út 25, 1065 Budapest

More cities are in research. Want lángos covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

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