There’s nothing better at the end of an exhausting day than to reward ourselves with a divine piece of dessert or a tasty ice cream, especially if we can do so in one of Budapest’s finest confectioneries. This time, our editor Noémi Viski presents her favorite place, Erdős és fiai Cukrászda!
How would you introduce Erdős és fiai Cukrászda?
Gooseberry, limoncello, Irsai Olivér, violet. No, I am not placing words randomly next to each other—these are the actual flavors you get to see and taste when you drop by Erdős for an ice cream. The small family pastry shop will celebrate its tenth birthday next year, and over that time, they have developed a recipe for more than two hundred ice cream flavors. Norbert Erdős, the founder of the shop, opened his own place after spending many years in the hospitality industry making ice cream, near the Kelenföld railway station, right next to Etele Square. This means it’s a bit further away from the center of the city, but it is easy to access via public transport, and out-of-districters are happy to go that far because they know what to expect: high-quality delicacies made with professional humbleness, presented in a homey atmosphere.
Norbert and his team don’t work with ready-made products, they develop their recipes themselves: they mainly use Hungarian produce and love to create new flavors out of seasonal ingredients. Among their creamy ice creams, one can find classics, true curiosities and fruit-based ice creams as well, and there’s always some sugar-free, milk-free or gluten-free flavor in their assortment, too. Once good weather kicks in, there are long lines of people standing in front of the ice cream counter—but, as opposed to most confectioneries, ice cream is not only a seasonal specialty here. They have an ice cream selection during the winter, too (they even make winter ice creams at such times), and of course they welcome guests with desserts, tasty drinks and they also take cake orders.
Why is this your favorite place?
When I moved to Budapest, I lived in the street next to the pastry shop for years, so after Sunday lunch or when I longed for something sweet, I headed straight to Erdős. I love that the pastry shop could remain nice, homey, authentic and high-quality even in spite of their growing popularity.
The shop not only deserves recognition for the taste experience provided by ice creams or pastries—their visuality also deserves some praise. The dark green and red interior elements, the patterned tapestries and carpets, the fonts with an artisan feel to them and the small tables set on the street evoke countryside idyll, a fairytale world and the mood of Parisian cafes all at once. The breathtaking shop window decoration, which gets renewed every season, is a work of Gruber Andi Wedding Decor.
What’s your favorite product, what would you recommend here?
The specialty of the place is the Erdős cake made of pistachio, almond sponge cake, white chocolate cream, chocolate and raspberry and its ice cream alternative, which I am a huge fan of, too. I have a strategy when I have room in my stomach for two scoops of ice cream: I always choose this one as the first, while as the second I always opt for something I haven’t tried before—their selection is so wide I never seem to run out of options. The Erdős family keeps unveiling new and new flavors: their most successful taste experiments include pumpkin seed ice cream, baked plum with cardamom, honey sour cream with raspberry cream or the caramel brownie ice cream. Among pastries, the Albrecht cake and the Genoa chocolate mousse are both must-try flavors, while the chocolate-pumpkin pie is a solid choice in the fall period (even for those who are not great fans of pumpkin).
Address: 1115 Budapest, Etele Square 3 (next to Kelenföld railway and autobus station, the final stop of metro line 4, tram line 1, 49 and 19)
Photos: Milán Rácmolnár
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