Budapest - Marxim Pizzeria

Marxim
Originally uploaded by amyehawthorne.

Tucked in a little corner, just steps away from Moszkva Ter and the towering Mammut mall complex, is this crazy little pizzeria called Marxim. I was fortunate enough to discover it as a student in 1999. I could swear that, at that time, much of the graffiti was authentic. However, I've seen it re-painted and re-marked up at least twice since then and there are now signs urging patrons not to write on the walls. Maybe that's why it's no longer a haunt for Buda's young punk kids, or maybe the ever-increasing number of tourists just pushed them out. Fortunately, the place was always pretty campy, so the increase in tourists hasn't changed much outside the clientele.


Monkey at Marxim
Originally uploaded by amyehawthorne.

All the pizzas have great names - most are jokes or puns relating to Communist leaders - and great, strange (to Americans) ingredients. My favorite is called "Sado-Masochism" in Hungarian and "Pussy Pussy Monica & Bill" in English and is covered in hot peppers, onions, and salami. The interesting thing is that your pizza doesn't arrive with red sauce on it. Instead, you get a little vial to add as little or as much as you like on top, on the side, wherever. And that sauce is GOOD. It had been two years since I'd had the Marxim pizza and the only reason I didn't yell out "God god, This is the best freakin pizza on Earth" after my first bite was that I was still chewing.

I love Marxim for the pizza, but it's also the site of one of my more typical Hungarian stories. A group of us were sitting in a table on the right hand side (the picture above shows the whole seating area - it's just two rows of booths with no solid barriers). We noticed that we didn't have an ashtray, so we asked the waiter. He responded that we were sitting in the no-smoking section. We were understandably bummed, and a little bit shocked. A few minutes went by and then the same waiter returned with an ashtray and even lit my friend's cigarette for her.
Now, this story illustrates one of two things - I'm still not sure which. It's possible that the waiter was lying the first time, which illustrates the very Hungarian trait of surly service. Or, and I tend to believe this one, Marxim really was supposed to enforce a no-smoking section but our kind waiter took pity on us. That is totally Hungarian for so many reasons. Either way, I love Marxim.


Monkey on Marxim Window
Originally uploaded by amyehawthorne.