I love Anthony's shows and am wondering if he has ever been to Hungary? The Romania episode is a downright classic and HILARIOUS!!! Makes me wonder if he has ever been to Budapest or Hungary period?

Hungarian food is wonderful. I should know. I grew up in a Hungarian -German family. Tony likes pancakes, well, you ain't had pancakes until you've had palascinta. Think you know goulash? There's a whole world of gulyas, porkolts and other Hungarian stews that will make you want to dive in head first. And, Tony, scrambled eggs and brains is a delicious breakfast. So is chicken feet soup and liver dumpling soup....Go to Hungary and ride horses with the Magyars.

Tony -
Been a fan of the show from the beginning and would also like to make a pitch for the country where I was born.

Considering how impressed you were in the London/Edinburgh episode about a people rediscovering their own cuisine (and realizing that it was good), I can tell you that something similar is happening in Hungary (though the comparison is not perfect as I will explain.)

During the Communist era, people either ate at home, or at the homes of relatives and friends. There was no restaurant culture to speak of. Even though many women were excellent cooks, a large proportion of traditional dishes had fallen into obscurity. (And no, it was not all "peasant food," as many of the dishes had been developed by well-known chefs in the pre-WWII era.)

When the tourists first came in the '90s, many restaurants were mediocre (or worse) tourist traps that often ripped-off the visitors in appalling fashion (such as the menus in English and German doubling the prices of the Hungarian.) There were some notable exceptions, of course, that alas, proved the rule.

In the past several years the food scene has improved tremendously as more locals are now regular restaurant-goers. Sure, there are a lot of just OK Italian-style places and such in Budapest, but by and large people stubbornly refuse to give up on the national cuisine, and a lot of places are doing an incredible job reviving it and perhaps also putting a new spin on the old dishes.

If this small country isn't enough to entice you, maybe consider something like a Hungary/Czech Republic/Poland episode or something to that effect, as I know similar things are happening in those countries.

Please don't let the Romania trip turn you off this whole region. I did think the episode was hilarious but also felt a bit sorry for some of the locals as I think Romania also has a lot of potential but is a few years behind the times compared to places like Hungary and Czech Republic.

Also, I should mention that pork is king over there.