F.L.A. Deli and European Restaurant, 2805 Proctor Road, 941-217-5710

Gloomy days call for comfort food, and as Eta bears down on the region later this week, Hungarian cuisine might offer an intriguing option. Heavy on dairy, meat and vegetables in its rich stews and soups, the Central European nation’s cuisine seems tailor-made to sustain the masses huddled indoors, whether for bitter cold or torrential downpours. And at F.L.A. Deli on Proctor and Swift, purveyors of Hungarian cuisine and grocery items, the food satisfies the two most important tenets of the “comfort” label: filling and inexpensive.

The chicken paprikash with homemade noodles ($10.75) comes heaped on a plate and doused in the rich paprika-spiced gravy that forms the basis of many Hungarian dishes like goulash. A chicken leg quarter, so tender the bones fall out as though they were never attached, shares the space with traditional nokedli, chewy, amorphous egg noodles that offer the perfect starch for an otherwise protein-rich meal. The orange gravy, savory and humbly spiced, has a hint of sour from the sour cream mixed in.

When combined with the homely interior of the deli’s sit-down area—a hodgepodge of bric-a-brac and European flags—the chicken paprikash stands to nourish those forced indoors by the howling wind and rain of Florida’s storm season.

F.L.A. Deli and European Restaurant, 2805 Proctor Road, 941-217-5710

Click here for more information.