Paper-thin pastry stretched until it covers a tablecloth, filled with apple-cinnamon, sour cherry, poppy seed or sweetened cottage cheese, then rolled and baked.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
The retes arrived through Vienna in the 18th century but was perfected by Hungarian cooks who treated dough-stretching as the room's central performance. The poppy seed (makos) and cottage cheese (turos) fillings are the most Hungarian of the variants.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Egg
Elso Pesti Reteshaz on Oktober 6 utca is Budapest's first dedicated strudel house, in a 1812 building with bakers stretching dough across the open table.
Order: The apple-cinnamon retes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Tip: Daily 09:00 to 22:00; ask to watch the dough-stretching demo at 11:00 or 16:00.
Worth the queue: Apple-cinnamon retes
Retesbar on Suto utca is a downtown Budapest takeaway strudel counter with apple, cherry, poppy seed and cottage-cheese retes at well under HUF 1500 a slice.
Try: Hungarian strudel slices
Order: The poppy seed (mákos) retes with a small Hungarian coffee.
Tip: Open daily 10:00 to 22:00; ask for a piece warmed in the oven if there is a slow moment.
Daubner on Szepvolgyi ut in Buda's Rozsadomb hills runs a hundred-year cake counter where locals queue for birthday and name-day pastries in Budapest.
Order: The original Dobos torta with the caramel disc crackled on top.
Tip: Closed Mon and Tue; queues run 30 minutes deep on weekend mornings.
Worth the queue: Dobos torta
More cities are in research. Want rétes (hungarian strudel) covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.