Best of Eastern Europe food question

Hi, it’s been a few years since my tour, but looking at my scrapbook, here are the group dinner entrees I had: Prague was chicken paprika, we went to Pustevny which is no longer on the tour, but there we had gnocchi and fried cheese and some beef item, Krakow was salmon, we did have pork cubes in a sauce in Eger but there also were lots of side dishes, at the school visit there was pork, but also an excellent soup and veggies, Plitvice there was meat and pork (but I was just there on a tour last year and we had chicken), Croatia is usually fish, and final dinner was fish.

That being said, the meals can change tour by tour but all you need to do is tell your tour guide on your first day that you don’t sausages, etc and they will take care of you. This is a great tour, such variety of countries and scenery. You’ll love it!

Hi,
We were not on the best of the Eastern Europe tour, but on the best of the Adriatic, fall of 2016. Be advised that you have only some dinners or lunches with the group. We only were able to have options on the last dinner. But also be advised that you will get A LOT of food, so perhaps the starter isn't to your liking because it has sausages (I must say that the sausages in Europe beat everything here in the US ..) We also had a whole small trout grilled that I absolutely love, but be advised that they serve whole fish with heads on. This I love, but many people are not so thrilled with seeing the head.

Please just advise your tour director, and even better give a quick call to RS Tours and inform them of this ahead of time. They may be able to look into the meals and give you a warning. You usually can almost always skip that meal and go on your own or order from a menu, if given enough notice to the RS Tours.
You'll have absolutely no problem finding enough wine to wash down this food...

I would say at least be open to trying some of the food that may seem unappealing (unless you don't eat pork at all of course). The sausage/cold cuts are so much better there than in the US - it's really not comparable. Many people would stay clear of prosciutto too unless they are "open" to it to begin with. I say this as someone who grew up in one of the countries on the tour and used to eat some really good sausage as a child (smoky "kabanos"). Now I'm largely vegetarian so I strongly gravitate toward Mediterranean food over, say, goulash. I still say to use the tour as an opportunity to experiment, even with the beer (Poland and to a lesser extent Czech Rep. do not specialize in wine, unlike Croatia and Hungary). You never know...you might end up warming up to it.

At Lake Bled a few years back, traveling on our own, the wines at more than one dinner were cheaper than the bottled water. And infinitely more fun :)

I took this tour last August. I'm not much of a meat eater and truthfully, don't remember being inundated with sausages/weiners or "cold cuts" at any of the meals. We did have choices for some of the included meals and of course, as has been previously posted (and as with any of the tours) just be sure when you fill out the paperwork, mention that you and your daughter don't eat certain meats. You might also reconfirm this with your guide when you have your first tour meeting in Prague. Of course, when you have meals on your own, you choose where and what you eat yourselves. I thought the variety of food offered in all the countries we visited was interesting (both included and not included meals) and everything I had was delicious. And yes, "having wine is as easy on this tour as any other". I like beer and wine equally and both were very good on this tour.

Took this trip in late 2016,, you'll be fine.

I don't eat sausages when I'm in the US because invariably they're not very good but in Europe..........

The wealth of sausages in all shapes and forms is so large that it is doing an injustice to say that you don't like them. The smoked, dried, cured sausages of Poland are a world away from their equivalent of what I've tried in the US (despite the claim that they're Polish style). From mici in Romania, Kolbász in Hungary to spicy dried beef or elk sausages and everything in between there is so much to choose from and I would be very surprised if there was anyone who didn't like at least one type of sausage they tried.

Sausage making in Europe is a time honoured and respected tradition and whilst there are poor quality sausages being made most of what you'll find are a world away from the mechanically recovered 'meat' filled brats, weiners, breakfast sausages etc that occupy the shelves of most American supermarkets.

As for cold cuts, that's a whole separate discussion in itself!

I'm with JC here. I guess it depends on why you don't eat sausages or cold cuts. We lived in Poland for a number of years and I will attest to the fact that most sausages and cold cuts are wonderful. (Also true in Spain and Italy, btw. Just stay away from the andouillette should you ever go to France. But I digress.)

European sausages are much, much better than anything you get here in the states, including what are considered "artisanal" sausages. Since you're not averse to eating pork, or raw, cured meat (vide prosciutto), you might want to be bold and at least try one.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply and calm any of my concerns regarding the food. My daughter and I will try the sausages and cold cuts at least once given you've all indicated they are far superior to those we find in North America. I appreciate all your advice and suggestions.
JoAnn

I took this trip, when it was 16 days. The food was beyond fabulous! Our guide and at least one tour member were vegetarians and never went hungry. In Krakow, their veggie perogies (homemade in restaurants) are delish!

In addition to what you've already been told about sausages, realize that food stereotypes about various countries are just that - stereotypes, meaning a bit of truth and a lot of exaggeration. Food in Eastern Europe is not all sausages, any more than food in the US is all hamburgers.

Also, you'll find variation from country to country. Hungary, in particular, has a very distinctive - and delicious - cuisine that's quite different from its neighbors. Hungary is famous for its wines as well.

For your free time in Krakow, I had great food at Polskie Smaki, a very inexpensive place in the center serving traditional Polish dishes. I don't know why it's been omitted from Rick's latest books (I found it in his earlier book), but at least in 2013, it had better quality than places charging much more (many of which are still in his book). In particular, I loved the Żurek, which is translated as "sour soup" but tastes delicious. The staff spoke enough English to explain the dishes, and it was cheap enough that if you don't like a dish, you can just get another one! If you look at their menu, you'll see bigos, which is a form of sausage, but you'll also see that they have many other main dishes. http://www.polskie-smaki.pl/en/

My other memorable meal in Krakow has also been removed from Rick's most current guide. It was Aqua e Vino, an Italian restaurant, charging high prices for Krakow, but much lower than you'd pay in Italy or the US for food of this high quality. At last in 2013, it was worth going to as an affordable "splurge," even if you're not seeking a change from Polish food. http://aquaevino.pl/en/

For Budapest, there is, believe it or not, a great all you can eat buffet! It's called Trofea Grill Etterem, and there are several around town, now with different owners. I went to the one my Frommers guidebook recommended, but our frequent poster James said the more central ones are good too. They have a great variety of foods, and a great advantage is you can take a bit of anything that interests you, then go back to get more of what you like They even include unlimited house wines (specialty wines are extra). They are cheaper for lunch then dinner, and cheaper on weekdays compared to weekends. Here's the one I went to: http://trofeagrill.com/en/restaurants/zuglo-etterem/
and here's the more central one James recommends: http://kiraly.trofeagrill.eu/en

I found James's post with more of his Budapest restaurant recommendations: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/dining-near-the-city-center-hotel-erzebet

This is just to get you started. If you look at Rick's Eastern Europe book, you'll see that he recommends all kinds of restaurants in the places you're going, and they have all kinds of foods besides sausages!

Just adding.....your guide will have a wealth of recommendations of what to try and where to eat your on-your-own meals in the various places you visit. Also agree with all above posts including recommendations by James E, our resident expert for Budapest.

Harold's post reminded me that when we were in Poland, we were constantly amazed at the excellent quality and variety of soups and salads. Żurek, which he mentioned, is amazing. It's based on rye, and sometimes has bits of bacon or some such in it, and is wonderful. Barszcz is based on beets, and is usually a clear (well, red) broth, often served with a hard boiled egg and herbs. Sometimes with a dollop of cream or sour cream on top. Bigos isn't sausage, but sausage is one of the many ingredients. It's a kind of stew, based on cabbage, sauerkraut, and mixed meats. It's best at a bar mleczny, where it's cheap and filling. Generations of Polish workers and students have survived on this.

And amazing salads, combinations we would never have thought of. Beet and apple. Apple and horseradish. Beet and horseradish. Lettuce with cream.... So-called "Russian salad," which is like potato salad but with more vegetables in it.

Once when I was tired and sad, a Polish colleague took me home to his mother, who made me what they simply called vegetable soup. It was milk based, with lovely cubed bits of potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, peas, .... Heaven.

Thanks for the memories, Harold.

Edit to add: Chłodnik! I forgot chłodnik! Actually, I think I got chłodnik and barszcz confused. Chłodnik is a cold soup, often based on beet broth, with cream or sour cream and herbs, often with a hard boiled egg. Barszcz is served hot, with or without cream, egg, etc. Sorry - it's been a long time since I've been there. But I do miss the food....

If you look at their menu, you'll see bigos, which is a form of sausage.

Bigos is not a form of sausage it's a cabbage and sauerkraut stew which will contain sausage and various meats. It's the national dish of Poland and absolutely delicious.