Arán Bakery

Arán, which means "bread" in Old Irish, is a craft bakery in Budapest's hip Jewish Quarter run by Kinga and Attila Pécsi. The couple spent a decade living in Ireland and it was there that Kinga mastered her baking skills. Arán lives up to its moniker: the whole wheat, rye, and white breads are all wonderful, imparting the signature, slightly sour taste of long-fermented sourdough. On Fridays, they also make kalács, a sweet roll similar to a challah.

Bread is the specialty, but the morning pastries are also good, especially the light and moist and sugary cinnamon bun, which is impossible to stop eating (and the first thing they run out of). There's also cruffin, a half-croissant, half-muffin concoction, and all sorts of savory filled pastries. Unfortunately, Arán doesn't make Hungarian classics like túrós batyu (cottage-cheese bun) and kakaós csiga (chocolate roll).

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