Don't be put off by Istvanffi's unnecessarily complicated menu (basically, all of the options are
the same, just some come with an extra burger or gherkins or onions). I was really pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food here, it may try and dress up like a vegan junk food restaurant, but I'm not fooled! The food is too good to be classed as junk food, in my opinion (okay, maybe the sugar, oil & salt content...) Anyway, the burgers are really tasty, as are the fries and the grapefruit juice was freshly squeezed with no sugar! The cups came in non-plastic cups too which was really cool to see, the only downside I could find about Istvanffi's was that their sauces (ketchup, almond mayo, etc.) come in plastic pots. Normally this wouldn't be that big of a deal, but they gave me high expectations with the non-plastic cups... oh and another thing - why aren't they called Mockdonalds? All jokes aside, this place is really cool and I love it. Perfect for when you want that 'junk-food vegan' kick.
We're currently stuck in Hungary (coronavirus situation), hence 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!! :)
