Hidden Costs in the Hungarian Menu

Condiments
Expect to pay extra for condiments in most restaurants. If you ask for mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, butter, sour cream etc. in a restaurant, you often are charged extra for these items. This is often true even in an expensive restaurant, and always in a fast food restaurant. It's always a shock to Americans to be charged for ketchup with their fries and salad dressing with their salad in McDonald's--but get used to it if you are in Hungary.

Sides
In many (not all) typical Hungarian restaurants, you pay extra for your side order even if the waiter asks "Would you like rice of potatoes with that?" In some restaurants, the wait staff can be a bit pushy about insisting that you pair a particular side with a particular meat entree, but don't let this sway you if you know what you want. I often ask for a salad with my meat entree instead of the suggested potatoes or rice. The waiter may raise his eyebrows and frown, but that doesn't change the fact that I prefer a salad!

Bread
In a few restaurants you may be charged for bread they bring to the table even if you don't ask for it, but the charge is usually very low. If you know you won't eat it, just tell them "no thank you" when they bring it.