You Don’t Have to Go as Far as Greece for Authentic Greek Food – but Almost

Greek cuisine isn’t one of Budapest’s strong points, so when a recent craving for some good Greek food hit, I headed to the ‘burbs to try out Gyradiko (follow link for contact details, user feedback – and, crucially, a map). I knew that the place was run by Ghavrilos, who led some Greek cooking classes for the foodies in the Lucullus club, so I had high hopes that the HÉV ride to Békásmegyer would be worthwhile. When we arrived and saw that the place looked pretty much just like the kind of gyro stand that you’d find anywhere else in the city, I started having doubts. But when you walk inside – which pretty much just holds the counter where you place and pick up your order, with the chefs preparing everything right there – there were signs that the people running this place did really have some ties to Greece. What’s more, the outdoor tables were packed with people eating gyros, tzatziki and pita bread from plastic plates – another good sign.

Thinking that this was the type of place where I’d be better off ordering a fröccs instead of an actual glass of wine, I did. The guy slicing the roasting meat refused, passing me a glass of the Greek house wine (in an actual glass) poured from a huge bottle and a bottle of mineral water, insisting that the wine was too good to be mixed. When he mentioned that the owner’s Greek mother helps run the restaurant, my appetite definitely returned, hastened further by the no-name wine, which turned out to be very good.

We ordered a good spread of food to share: mixed cold appetizers (Ft 1,150, €4.80), mixed warm appetizers (Ft 1,150, €4.80), and a Gyradiko plate for two (Ft 3,990, €16.60). Despite their different temperatures, the warm and cold appetizer plates were actually pretty similar. Both had tzatziki (cucumber and yogurt salad) and gygandes (white beans in a tomato sauce). The cold plate added dolma (a stuffed grape leaf), tirokafteri (goat cheese cream) and melitzano (roasted eggplant and feta cream). The hot plate added a sheep cheese croquette, a piece of spanakopita (phyllo filled with feta and spinach) and a crab’s claw. The main course was a plastic plate laden with grilled meat: lamb chops, souvlaki, bifteki and soutzouki (minced veal patties) and a tasty Greek salad (tomatoes, olives and cucumbers). It goes without saying that there was also pita bread freshly heated on the grill.

Despite being essentially just a shack, with a couple of guys working in a tiny kitchen, this Greek food beats any that I’ve had at the better presented blue-and-white painted places in the center. It is obvious that the food is the main concern here. Everything (with the understandable exception of the crab claw, which was kind of stringy and not very appetizing) was fresh here – the Greek yogurt, the cheese, the vegetables and the meat. And who cares about the decor when you’re eating házi goat and sheep cheese, and a huge plate of meat just off the grill?

But don’t expect gyro stand prices: our meal here (which admittedly did include several glasses of that tasty Greek house wine) was around Ft 10,000 for two/three, which, considering that there is no service and the out-of-the-way location, was pricey. On the plus side, it is just across from the Pünkösdfürdő strand (which recently re-opened after a two year closure), making it the perfect place for a post-swim meal.