A thick paprika braise of cubed meat (beef, pork, veal, mutton) with onions and just enough liquid to cook it down to a glossy sauce. The serious version eaten in Hungarian homes, distinct from gulyás.
Where to eat it: 4 restaurants across 1 city.
Porkolt is the thick Hungarian braise that the world often calls goulash. It is older than the paprika version, probably pre-paprika, with the spice added from the 19th century. Eaten with nokedli (egg dumplings), potatoes or rice.
Common allergens: Egg (in the nokedli), Gluten (in the nokedli)
Hungarikum Bisztro on Steindl Imre near Parliament cooks the canonical Hungarian classics, with goulash, chicken paprikash and stuffed cabbage in a tiny old-school Budapest room.
Signature: Goulash soup, Chicken paprikash
Order: The chicken paprikash with house nokedli and cucumber salad.
Tip: Online reservation only; the small room books out for both lunch and dinner.
Getto Gulyas on Wesselenyi cooks 14 varieties of Hungarian stews alongside Jewish-Hungarian classics in a tiny ghetto-era room in the Jewish Quarter of Budapest.
Signature: Beef goulash, Rooster pörkölt
Order: The rooster pörkölt with nokedli; the Jewish egg paste as a starter.
Tip: Tiny room, no walk-ins after 19:00; reserve a day ahead.
Bock Bistro inside the Corinthia Hotel on Erzsebet korut is a rustic-modern Hungarian kitchen with 220 wines from the Bock family Villany cellar, Budapest.
Signature: Veal cheek pörkölt, Foie gras
Order: The veal cheek pörkölt with nokedli and a glass of Villany Cabernet Franc.
Tip: 12:00 to 24:00, closed Sunday; the wine list is the deepest house list in town.
Koleves on Kazinczy in an old kosher meat plant cooks affordable Hungarian and Jewish-Hungarian lunch menus, with a hidden summer garden across the road, Budapest.
Order: The weekday lunch deal of soup, main and dessert.
Why locals love it: An old kosher meat plant turned weekday lunch room with a hidden summer garden across the road.
Tip: Lunch menu Mon to Fri until 16:00; the summer garden across the road is the better seat from May.
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