Budapest to the Black Sea (the Food)

JohnS

One of the top questions we are asked whenever we travel is “How was the food”. I thought I would give a brief overview of our food experience on this trip. This is not a blow by blow description of our dining but just a few examples.

I have done a review of the tour and the accommodations in seperate posts. Here are links if you are interested.

Budapest to the Black Sea review
Budapest to the Black Sea (the Accommodations )

If you have been on any Tauck trip it is very hard to go hungry. This was no exception. Sometimes toward the end of the tour eating becomes a somewhat painful experience. (not really).

We got into Budapest a day early and wanted some Hungarian food. The restaurant was called the Strudel HouseIt was one of the recommendations from the concierge and was also on the Tauck recommendation list. We would highly recommend this restaurant in Budapest.

Onboard the ship there were two dining options. The main dining room is called Compass Rose and a more casual option is Arthurs. Here are some sample menus from each.




Compass Rose Lunch Menu

Arthurs Menu

Our final dinner on the ship was a one seating for everyone on the ship. The menu was a bit more extensive than the normal dinners.

There were some off the ship dining events on this tour. Our welcome reception and dinner was at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Some traditional Hungarian dancers provided entertainment.

In Belgrade an off ship dinner was at the Royal Palace of Dedinje. This was originally supposed to be inside the palace but due to a storm several days earlier, some of the electricity was out. The dinner was moved to an outside patio area which turned out to be a blessing in disguise since the temperature was quite balmy.

Our farewell dinner was held at Bragadiru Palace (a.k.a the Palace of Culture). Food wise, this was at or near the bottom. Unfortunately, I only got a picture of the starter. The main dish was a beef tenderloin which I was trying to cut and chew with little success. Unless one put in a dietary request at the beginning of the tour, this was the choice. Based on the number of plates sent back partially eaten, I think this was not a popular meal. The starter course was visually appealing, but the taste was just so-so.

One highlight of the farewell dinner was entertainment by a violinist playing an actual Stradivarius violin. He was accompanied by someone playing the traditional electronic keyboard.