Oh Ridge Campground

It's so easy to get caught up in your own problem that you forget to be thankful for the simple joy in life.  That's why I chose to be a traveler, because every time I leave my comfort zone, I realize that my life was perfect and I already have what I need..

This July 4th weekend, I got a chance to mingle with some awesome young adult group from my brother's church.  They invited my brother, his fiance, my boyfriend, and I to spend 3 days and 2 nights on Oh Ridge Campground, which is a part of Inyo National Forest.

At first we were trying to find Oh Ridge Campground on our GPS, but we couldn't find them on the system.  Therefore we just plugged in Inyo National Forest and realized about 5 hours later that we actually passed the campground and would need to turn back and drive for another hour.  Hahahha it totally feels like a dejavu.

We end up arrived at the campground around 10pm.  I feel blessed by the warmth that these people poured out at us.  Even when they were a bit tipsy, they helped us build our tent in no time.  Some were holding the flashlight while the other was giving some drunk man instruction hahahaa.

Before anyone says anything.  I know I said church and drunk in the same post, I personally do not have any objection against alcohol as long as it is consumed responsibly.  I mean, even Jesus turns water into wine!! haahaha..

Well anyway, we couldn't do much on the first day.  Us four slept in a small tent that were meant for 2 people.  Since I love the sound of wind blowing through our tent and the sound of birds chirping in the morning, I thought I wouldn't have trouble sleeping at all.

 However, I apparently couldn't handle the snoring orchestra that my brother conduct when he sleep!  So I quickly went to sleep before that happens, yet the orchestra was so majestic that I would wake up feeling the need to make a standing ovation every now and then hahahah

The next day, we climbed the mammoth mountain.  We only visited some of the site like Devil's Postpile and Rainbow Falls.  The hike was actually wasn't too bad, except for occasional steep hike here and there.

The view was unique, I never seen anything like that before.  Study says that Devil's postpile was constructed when thousands years ago some lava cooled down and cracked.  Now you can see a bunch of symmetrical columnar basalt from below and pentagons from the top.

Sorry for the random tree poses, please focus on the ground people!!!!

Next, we hike for another miles to see the rainbow falls.  It was kinda cool to see how some people were swimming through the water falls and how the mist really create rainbows.  Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture that shows what I was talking about, so let your imagination go wild!

One thing that's different about the campground than off road camping is that there's an actual bathroom with waterline, so people can do their business and take a shower there...

While some of my friends were cooking dinner, I was taking a shower. We have to take turn for shower because there's only two stalls.  The shower was surprisingly cheap! It only cost $1 for 7 minute cycle.

I got back to our camp just when the sun is set and when the dinner is ready, talking about perfect timing..

After a good hike, shower, and dinner.  We spent some quality time talking about Elisa lam and Cecil Hotel, Udin sedunia, and some other random stuffs.  Then we all passed out like no one cares.  Forget about the snoring orchestra or the rocky ground, I woke up 6 hours later just because my bladder was about to explode..

I ended up making a quick trip to the restroom accompanied by a dang gorgeous night sky. I attempted to send a message to our friends in the other galaxy, but ended up looking like a crazy woman waving at nothing...

Then I went back to bed and helped out with breakfast in the morning, take down the tent, and drove back to home.  It was such a quick yet memorable trip.  People are so friendly and easy to talk with, that I feel like I knew them forever.

I also learned the secret of contentment : The lesser I have, the more content I am.  As Dalai Lama said, "When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, 'Oh yes - I already have everything that I really need."  Before the trip, I don't feel as thankful and happy as I should have, but then I realize that  there's so many little things that I took for granted.  For example my comfy bed and the internet ahahha.

That's all for today. Until the next adventure you all, vagabond girl is out~

Roadtrippers

Summer is here, and that's mean it is time for road trips!!!  As I have to move out from Michigan to California for work, I end up chose to travel with my car.  Even though I owned my car for 6 years, it only has about 30,000 miles on it because I drove like a senior driver back in Michigan hahah.

Well anyway, the purpose of this post is not to tell my fabulous pre-honeymoon with my boyfriend, but to share about this new traveling app called "RoadTrippers" that I found just when we plan out our trip.

You can access RoadTrippers via web or mobile app.  You just need to set up an account, then download the FREE app through whatever App store is in your phone.  I know for sure that RoadTrippers is available on itunes and Go Store.  If your phone have a different app store, let me know if you can find RoadTrippers~~

Web

I personally thought that the navigation through the web is easier than the mobile view. Once you made up your account, you'll be able to directly typed in your starting point and end point.

So for example, if I'm planning a trip from Seattle to Houston, I could just type in the given box and click Go.  Then it would automatically gives you the fastest route, complete with the estimated miles, hours, and cost for gasoline.

But if you want to take an alternative route, you can always adjust your itinerary.  For example, if I want to pass through Wyoming so I can visit the Yellowstone National Park, I could insert the information on the "Add waypoint" box.

It will give you different option to choose from, and once you click the location that you want, RoadTrippers would recalculate the estimated distance, time, and cost.

I especially like the fact that RoadTrippers also offers two different view: "Plan Trip" and "Find Places". No matter which view you use, RoadTrippers would automatically pin point the places that you chose on the map and number them.

You could then click on these numbers to see more information such as the exact address of the place or just a little review from other RoadTrippers users.

On top of that, it would gives you the address for the particular place that you selected.  If you chose a restaurant or a hotel, it would even show you the rating!  Unfortunately, Roadtrippers is not as popular as yelp just yet, so their database is probably not as complete and there is not as much customer's review.

 

Nevertheless, since most of the time, people would first research before they plan out a Road trip, I would first talk about one of the two awesome views that RoadTrippers offer: "Find Places".

Find Places View

"Find Places" is a useful tool that basically listed all the different point of interests that within your path.  The information is neatly classified into different categories such as attractions, accommodation, entertainment, all the way to nature!

Plan Trip View

To access this view, just click "Plan Trip" on the top left hand side.  Then you will see that the location that you have just added has been included as a list in this view as well.

RoadTrippers offers a user friendly feature for changing the order of places on this "Plan Trip" view.  You can just click the number and drag them to where ever you want it on the list.

Additionally, next to every location, there's an "ADD DATE" feature that allows you to plan in more detail.  The only problem that I found on this is that you cannot put two dates for the same location.  So if you are staying in the same hotel for two days, you can't even put the two dates in your itinerary.

Mobile App

On my smart phone, here are the different apps that I currently have under travel.  I would always suggest to check the weather for the next couple days or 10 days if possible, so you know what kind of clothing you would need and whether it is safe to travel during the time that you planned out.

I also use TripAdvisor and Yelp interchangeably, since they serve for the same purpose most of the time.  I also have the build in map here just in case I need them.  So RoadTrippers is a new addition to my collection hahaha.

The same way with the web view, you can also insert your starting point and end point once you click "Trip", "New Trip".  You can also find places in between by clicking "Places".

But the coolest thing about RoadTrippers is that once you set up your itinerary on the web and save it, your itinerary would be accessible even from the app.  It also goes the other way around.

RoadTrippers would also save all other trips that you have previously planned out, and you can share it with other users.

I named my last trip to San Francisco, SF.  Man, I thought I was so creative.  So for example, if a friend asked for recommendation, I would be able to look back at the places that I have visited.

There are also two views available on the mobile app: map view and list view.  You can switch back and forth between the views by clicking the earth icon vs the list icon on the bottom.

On the map view, the different places are numbered according to the order that you set up on the list view.  Unfortunately, unlike the actual web, the mobile app does not allows you to see the planned dates.

On the list view, You can see the name of places that you plan to visit and  you can also click it to get more detailed information.  You can even see the number of miles from your current location.

WARNING!! The distances that the app calculate are off most of the time.  It would be off by an hour or so in comparison to my GPS.  Even if I use the build in google map on my phone, in the end the total hours and distance listed on my GPS would be the one that is most correct.

Another drawback from RoadTrippers is that it depends on the connection. I wish RoadTrippers would make an update where we can use our itinerary offline. Because sometimes I would not be able to find the address of my next destination because I lost my signal in the mountain, and it was kinda frustating.

Nevertheless, in general RoadTrippers has helped me to spent less time researching and more time planning. Me and my boyfriend had an awesome and less stressful nature themed road trip thanks to RoadTrippers.

Hope the tips provide some good help for my fellow traveler ^^

Until the next adventure you all, Vagabond girl is out~

Prague's Best Restaurants

Holy Crab!!! I have so many homework to be done.  You know you are a traveler at heart if after a whole month of travelling, you didn't miss your bed at all and wanting to move around some more hahahah.

Well unfortunately, after one month, I have to take a rest and finally settle down before my job starts.  That leaves me some leeway to write about my wonderful culinary experiences in Prague.

People says that Prague is one of the most beautiful city in Europe.  I kinda agree and disagree on that notion.  I agree to the extent of their architecture and infrastructure, but I disagree because sadly people doesn't know how to keep it clean.  If only people are a little bit more responsible, I am sure Prague would leave me a better impressions.

Restaurants in Prague, Czech Republic are completely different to those in Budapest, Hungary.  While Budapest are filled with fine dining places, Prague are filled with pub!  In terms of food, both countries have similarities and specialties.  Goulash for example are available in both countries and taste rather similar.

Czech however knows how to cook their pork really well!  All the Czech restaurants that are on my recommendation are mostly known for their pork.

Pizza bar

Czech restaurant rarely have a fancy decoration inside, yet this one was a surprise.  From the outside it looks like a regular pub.  But once we went to the underground, it was beautifully decorated with a mythical under the sea theme, complete with mermaid pictures and chorals everywhere hahaha.

We were here for a quick lunch, so I ordered a goulash soup in a bowl right here and it taste alright.  I just wished they would have given us more meat than potatoes.  The bread was really cute though, it looks like a monkey and it taste great too.  The bread was sprinkled with sesame seeds; it is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

U kroka

This restaurant is awesome except for the fact that it was kinda far from the center of the city.  We had to take a metro then walk for another 13-15 minutes.  Also, I would recommend you to make a reservation in advance because lately they have earned many attention not only from the locals but also from the tourist.

I ordered pork knuckle from the literary called "Manly Menu" and it came with horseradish and some chili on the side.  It was served on a cutting board.  So that should tell you something.

"Manly Menu" was certainly not a false advertisement!  The pork knuckle was as big as my head!!!! So girls, I would suggest sharing.  I was surprised because the price was really reasonable, it was under 200 Koruna or 10 USD.

The meat on the pork knuckle was rather dry and hard like beef jerky.  I love beef jerky, so I don't mind the knuckle being overcooked at all.  I also like some part of the skin, where it is thin, salty, savory, and crunchy.  Unfortunately, most part is a little too hard to eat

Smichovsky Radnicni Sklipek

This restaurant was totally a hidden gem.  It wasn't even listed on trip advisor.  My friends went there earlier during our trip and she said the local people even asked her how does she knows about the restaurant.  It was an underground restaurant and its name plate was not easy to find.  So make sure pay close attention when you are right on the block.

Within the next couple days, my friends wanted to go back because they had a wonderful culinary experience.  So since they speak highly of this restaurant, I couldn't help to be persuaded.

First of all, the price was cheaper than any other restaurant that I have visited.  Secondly, the pork knee and stuffed chicken was crazy good as well.  It was even have a vintage decorations all over the restaurant.

The way they cooked the pork is really different from U kroka.  Both the meat and the skin was really soft and chewy.  The meat falls apart from the bone in no time, so definitely easier to eat than U kroka. What surprises me the most however is the fact that they have chili sauce and Indonesian sweet soy sauce on the side instead of ketchup, where am I?!

Unfortunately the only picture that I have of the pork knee is kinda blurry ~__~ maybe I had too much pork grease in my brain that it affect my ability to take pictures lol.

Kolkovna

Our tour guide recommended this restaurant and it is indeed local's because this is one of the few places where the server does not even speak English.  In this case, I turn to the world known language (Read: body language).  It works pretty well if you are not picky.  Cuz you would get exactly what you pointed at, nothing more nothing less.

You could probably compare Kolkovna to Red Lobster here in US.  There are a couple different location that you could go to and the price are in the mid range.

I ordered a Svíčková,which is a pot roasted beef that are served with cream-veggies sauce, bread dumpling and carlsbad dumplings.  Don't expect a Chinese dumplings to show up on your plate, because what Czech called dumplings are closer to a loaf of bread.  The Svíčková itself taste alright, it wasn't as rich in flavor as I had expected.

Vidlicky A Noze

I went to this restaurant strictly to taste the famous strawberry dumpling.  I heard mixed review on the dumpling.  On one side, I heard that this could be the best dessert ever and on the other I heard it just like a pancake.

I cannot trust either side if I haven't try it on my own, so I end up going to Vidlicky A Noze to try this traditional Czech dessert.

To be honest I kinda in the middle of the extreme sides.  I like it, but I couldn't enjoy them to the fullest, some part because I was too full or maybe I just have too much expectation.

The dumpling came in three and they were pretty big.  It was covered in shaved cheese and raspberry glace.  The dumpling itself taste almost like pancake, but the strawberry was inside and hot!  I need to wait a little bit before I can shovel it into my mouth.  I would give the dumpling 3 out of 5.

Lokals Dlouha

ANDDDDDD as usual, I would save the best for the last!  We found this restaurant on trip advisor, and our tour guide says that it's not used to be as crowded.  I guess trip advisor has just recently helped them gain popularity among tourist.

The restaurant live up to its name, this place is one of the local's favorite place to hang out.  I also found one of the most traditional Czech food in this restaurant and order it without a second thought.

I ordered what's called beef tartar.  Which is a raw minced beef mixed with some special ingredients and served with well done toast and raw garlic.  My friends were all worried that I would get food poisoning, but really..I rather have a stomachache than not trying out something as exotic as this!

I guess I'm that kind of person that would go ahead try anything crazy except domestic animal and human hahah.

I just ate the beef tartar like you would eat a bruschetta.  I didn't know what to do with the raw garlic, so I just start cutting them into pieces and put them on top of my raw beef.  Until the guy on the next table suddenly approaches me with his broken English and start showing me how to eat them.

Apparently I was supposed to rub the garlic onto my bread and then spread the raw beef after.  Thank you mister-lots-of-help!!!  I was so happy to have a true local experience!  If local people eat with their feet, I would eat with my feet!

Anyway, back to the beef tartar...it might look unappetizing for some, but I kid you not it was one of the best thing that ever enter into my mouth.  It was as if my palate was having a party!!! The toast was crunchy and buttery and the raw beef was fresh.  They definitely do justice to these cow that sacrifice its life for people like me.

I don't usually like the texture of raw beef, but maybe because it was grounded beef, I do not mind it at all.  The tartar was soft and wasn't gross at all.  I don't like the taste of blood in my food and I certainly do not find them on my beef.  The freshness was similar to raw seafood that you would find on sushi.

Also, the best thing of them all is that I do not have any food poisoning or indigestion at all!! You can tell that the restaurant only serve high quality beef to their customer that it is okay to eat them raw.  Or maybe I just have a strong stomach.. I don't know...Either way, I am happy!!! hahaha

So yeah, this conclude my little food blog for Prague.  Pray so I could fight my laziness and start writing more! hahaha

Until the next adventure you all.. vagabond girl is out~

Culture Shock : Budapest and Prague

I won't spent so much time talking about all the tourist attraction in Budapest or Prague, because first you guys can just Google it and find a lot of information about them.  Second, I wouldn't be able to wrote down good enough description that would do justice to the beauty of these attractions.

Therefore, I would share my observation about how things in Budapest and Prague are different from stuffs in US instead!  So when you visit this two cities, you would have less of a culture shock and ready to pump your fist up in the air.

Water

First. as I have mentioned in my post about Hungarian dishes, soda water is really popular in Europe. In Budapest you can differentiate the soda water from the still water from looking at the color.  Pink for still water and blue for soda water.  However, it is the other way around in Prague.

I also like how bottles in Europe are shaped to fit your grip.  From the small bottle to the large one.  All of them are lean and shaped like an hour glass.

I am not sure why these bottles are made the way it is, but my guess is that American probably choose to focus more on efficiency of production and logistic, while European focuses more on design and packaging.  With the regular cylinder shape, a bottle with the same width and height would be able to hold more water.  It would also be easier to fit in a box.  The downside of course it isn't really convenient to hold and this is especially applicable to the larger bottle.  So the European probably see this problem and come up with the hour glass shaped solution.

Dogs

Second, I saw so many dogs literary everywhere in Budapest and Prague.  From the park, mall, all the way to metro.  What surprised me is that all of them are really well behaved.  Since people says that dog behavior reflects the owner's state of mind, I started to question whether this means Hungarian and Czechs are less stressful than American.

But then after walking thousands of kilometers, I suddenly had a revelation.  I remember a word by Cesar Milan, the dog whisperer.  He said that walking is the most important part of dog training, and European walk everywhere with their dogs!  This is also why soldier and hobos usually have a really good bond with their dogs, because they walk everywhere together.

Elevator

Third, Elevator in both countries are tend to be small in comparison to US.  I didn't came across all the elevator in Budapest and I only based my observation on the elevator in our hotel.  

One thing that I notice in Budapest is that elevator does not have a closing button, so it ran rather slower because we have to wait until the door automatically closed.  Moreover,  it uses "0" for ground floor instead of "G".  In Prague, ground floor is "1" and the underground represented with minus sign hahaha.

Public Transportation

Public Transportation on both cities are pretty good; they both got subways, tram, and buses.  However, Budapest certainly has a stricter regulation in comparison to Prague.  Most of the time when we are trying to get into a subway, there would be one all the way to three people checking whether we have the ticket or not.

Sometimes these people would even went in to the train to check or asked people to show their ticket at the exit.  You certainly do not want to forget to bring your pass in Budapest because one of my friend did and he got charged 8000 ft fine, which approximately equal to $40.

Prague was not as strict, throughout my stay I have seen zero officer standing by to check our ticket.  I would still have to make sure I bring my ticket though, because our tour guide says that the fine used to be around 800 Koruna, but it must has increased.

Street

Apparently people in Central Europe drive on the right-hand side like in US too!  All this time I thought all European drove on the left-hand side like in England and Indonesia.  Well now I know hahaha.

Both in Budapest and Prague, the street sign are not embedded on a pole.  Instead they are all attached to a wall of the first building at the corner.  Some street in Prague would also have street lamp in hanging in the middle instead of standing on the sides.  Which I thought was smart and energy conscious.

I really like the street in Budapest, it was pretty much symmetrical and easy to follow.  It's a little bit different in Prague however.  Street in Prague are a beautiful mosaic made out of little cubic.  But boy, the saying that "behind something beautiful, there has been pain" is certainly applicable to the street in Prague.

I really couldn't handle walking on these mosaic street because it is so uneven that I feel like Hans Christian Andersen's version of little mermaid.  Every step that I took feels like a sharp needle knives is protruding my feet! Also, Prague's street is more dirty than Budapest.  There's a bunch of dog poop trap in Prague, so be careful!!

Even though there are differences between countries, I certainly see more stuffs that are similar.  For example, I see that people everywhere loves ice cream hahahah.  It reminded me of how two humans are about 90% similar in terms of genetic blueprints.  This means whether we came from America or Europe, we are more alike than different.

After Budapest and Prague, I'll be heading off to Germany and Netherlands, so...Until the next adventure you all, vagabond girl is out~

Budapest's Best Restaurants

After three short flights from Detroit to Boston, Boston to Paris, and Paris to Budapest, I am totally ready to dig into the Hungarian culture.  I heard Hungarian uses paprika almost in all of their food, even dessert!!! Oh yes it makes me have food orgasm just to think about it.

I research on restaurants to visits in Budapest, but I also came across to some of the places that I listed on this post by accident.  Most of the time, I would just walk around the city and see a restaurant that full of people and stop by for a taste.

I learned that lots of Hungarian food are pretty similar with Indonesian.  Unlike Western European, Hungarian food full of spices.  Many looks like Rendang but taste different.  Their soup are crazy good and usually contain mushroom in it.  Also, Hungarian takes ice cream seriously.  There are a bunch of ice cream parlors around the city, and each of them would probably have thousands of customer each day.

Another thing that is unique in Europe is that they LOVE soda water.  So, if you don't like it make sure you order "natural water" or "still water".  If you just say water, they most likely would give you the carbonated one.  If you are trying to buy regular water at a convenient store, grab the pink one! Blue stands for soda water here.

Lastly, you need to give 10% tips whenever you eat a a restaurant in Budapest and it is considered rude to leave your money at the table.  So make sure you ask for the bill and wait til the server takes the money.

Now, since you know the basic Hungarian dining etiquette, you are ready to go visits some restaurants...

Gastland Oktogon Bistro 

This is a must go buffet! For only 1190 ft, you can try all sort of Hungarian dishes.  From Hungarian curry vegetable soup, pickled red cabbages, deep fried breaded cauliflower, Hungarian grilled chicken, all the way to some sort of Mongolian style beef.  Oh my lord they have it all!!! They even sell gelato outside for only 99 ft/scoop.  Is this even real??

Cafe Vian 

This is your all European cafe.  It serves some Italian, French, German food too.  But of course since I am in Hungary, I promised myself to eat only Hungarian food.  I didn't eat too much because I was still kinda full from breakfast.  Therefore, I ordered frozen smoothie with banana for 890 Ft and Hungarian mushroom soup for 850 Ft. The menu on the website says 790 Ft for the soup, I guess they have increased the price but haven't really update the website.

My friend Kaiser ordered a Chicken Vian Style, which basically is a ratatouille plus some kind of hash brown.  However, I need to make a note on this because the hash brown was sooooooooo good!  It's so different from what we have in the US.  It is well seasoned and had some onion in it.

I really like Cafe Vian because not only they provide perfect food at a reasonable price, but the servers were really friendly too.

Első Pesti Rétesház Kávéház

I went to this wonderful restaurant for a welcoming dinner of our study abroad program. We went there with our professor and our fabulous tour guide. All cost was included in our program fee and all of the food was pre-ordered. So I have to take a look at the menu online and try to figure out what I ate at the dinner.

We all get to try the Chicken Soup "Ujházi" Style which apparently cost 1.490 Ft. Then we have Filet Mignon of Pork with "Letscho" Potato Hungarian Style for 3.990 Ft. So yes, this restaurant is fancy and expensive. But you'll get strudel making show in additional to the lovely food that you get to eat.

Moreover, this restaurant is also known as the "Strudel House" because on top of the shows, they allow you to try to make some strudels. They said that Hungarian need to know how to make strudel, otherwise they would never get married hahhha. Of course I would volunteer for this opportunity!

So apparently I would end up as a Nun, cuz we failed so bad, but the pastry chef was being really nice and keep on praising our terrible job hahahah. Then, after we are done with our meal, we even get to try the strudel that the pastry chef made during the show. We got the Almás (Appel) strudel and potato cottage cheese strudel. It wasn't as sweet as American dessert, but still good.

The restaurant also have gorgeous decoration. Even the restroom was decorated with transparent sink that allows you to see through things below, so vintage and interesting. Definitely would recommend tourist to visit!

Kovari Grill

I found this in a Bread and Cheese festival on May 10.  I shared the meal with my friends Grace and Shuo.  We didn't know what's the name of the food that we ordered, we just point and the server would scoop up the meats and put it on top of a pita bread.

Unfortunately I took a bad picture and only show one of the meat that we chose, which looks a lot like Rendang.  It taste different though, it wasn't as spicy and I don't think they use coconut milk to make the sauce.  On the other side of the plate there was suppose to be a chicken dish with tons of paprika and onion.  It was salty but wasn't quite like any other dish that I have tasted before.  It was pretty expensive though, the whole thing cost us 3750 Ft.

Belvarosi Lugas

I definitely never thought that Eggplant and cheese would go together so well! It just reminded me of the royal wedding, because the combination was so perfect! The eggplant was stewed with some tomatoes, and it wasn't overcook. The skin was soft but the inside is light and fluffy. Then they put the cheese on top of the stew and probably baked it for a little bit, so the side of the cheese are slightly turning brown. The eggplant stew doesn't really have a strong flavor on its own, but the cheese gives enough saltiness to the complete dish.

Chivas

I was just looking at something on the menu that sounds unique and doesn't cost that much, and decided to go with the chicken yogurt with grilled peach. It was indeed unique in a good way. The chicken was seasoned and grilled to perfection. and the peach was sweet and refreshing. It kinda take the same role as pineapple on Hawaiian pizza. The only thing that I was kinda disappointing is the fact that I could not really taste the yogurt at all.

Menza

Hungarian cabbage and minced meat was the special main dish of the day and it cost only 1290 Ft, so without a second thought I ordered it.  It came in Hungarian size (read: BIG).  It doesn't look fancy at all, but absolutely taste good.  The cabbage are stewed until it doesn't have any form and mixed with some potatoes and orange sauce.  The meat taste like meatloaf in general.

Look at me getting really excited to be in the picture.  I almost dropped the food, but as you can see my friend luckily stopped me from doing so.

Overall,  the dish was not surprising and pretty bland.  It is probably my least favorite out of what I have had in Hungary.  However, my friends ordered other stuff and I tried a little bit of everything, and it was good.

On top of that, I really like Menza because they have a retro and earthly theme that's just awesome.  The walls were painted in warm orange and and decorated with flowery wall paper.  Super cute!! a really nice place for family, friends, or even for a date.

Zeller Bistro

You need to make a reservation way ahead if you would like to go to Zeller.  We were so surprised that we got in when we made the reservation only two days ahead.  Usually people would make reservation two weeks ahead.  Zeller do not have an online menu or website because they changes the menu every now and then to fit the ingredients available during the time.  Zeller is located in a rather shady place, but this is THE BEST restaurant in Budapest that I have been to.

To start with, they gives us welcoming champagne with 2% alcohol and it was delicious!!!

Then after we put in our order, they brought a basket of never ending bread (which is uncommon in Hungary).  On the side they also brought some really good olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chili pepper, and salt.  I don't know what it is, but the olive oil is different from what I have had in the past.  Zeller's olive oil almost had a little bit garlic taste in it.

Afterwards, come the appetizer.  My friend Grace ordered a Goose liver and Helen ordered small fish appetizer.  I had a bite on both dishes and I could swear the heaven split open and the angels sang Gloria as when Jesus was born.  Both dishes was really good, the goose liver was so soft you could break it with a light touch.  My friend Kenny trying to safe up some money, but immediately order another goose liver once he tried one.  It was that good!

Once we finished the appetizer, here come the main dish.  I ordered a paprika chicken for 2200 Ft.  Really affordable considering they gave us free champagne and bread.  The chicken was really good too, I never had a chicken breast that is cooked to perfection like this.  It was really moist and chewy but cooked, I really don't know how they do it.

We were really happy with the service and the food, so we were ready to pay for our meal and leave a huge tip.  Just when we receive the check, we had another surprise.  They even gave us poppy seeds cupcakes with cream cheese on top and some Hungarian candy.  Oh come on!!!! Now I wish I had more Hungarian Forint.

Unfortunately I had exchange every Forint that I had before I went to the restaurant, leaving enough money to give only 10% tips.  Otherwise I would give 20% or even 50%.  Zeller really gave me the Disney happy ending in Budapest.

I would have a separate post on Hungarian snacks and dessert, please look forward to it.

Until the next adventure you all, Vagabond girl is out~