budapest dining
Mar 10 '10
How About Some Czech, Mate?
Among the many reasons why I am a Very Special Person is that (drumroll) I actually like Czech food. No, I'm not making a joke at the expense of Central Europe's most scoffed-at cuisine. Maybe it's because I lived...
Feb 24 '10
Apropó is... Apropos
As reported on these pages all too often, Budapest is awash with high-priced, high-concept restaurants that fail to live up to their own hype once the oversized plate of undersized food lands on the pristine white tablecloth. And while...
Feb 17 '10
Come Back and Share Your Horror Stories of Gluttonous Thursday 2010, Assuming You Make it Out Alive
So if you're a regular restaurant-goer in Hungary you probably know that tomorrow marks the 2010 installment of Torkos Csütörtök, or "Gluttonous Thursday," when éttermek around the country lop 50% of the prices of regular menu items. Unlike in previous...
Feb 09 '10
Why Are Budapest's Best Chinese Restaurants Always Halfway to Hunan?
We've got a lot of tasty stuff coming up over the next few days, but before we get to that let me quickly follow up on my recent post bemoaning the distance you have to travel from central Budapest...
Feb 03 '10
Why Are Budapest's Only Vietnamese Restaurants Halfway to Hoi An?
While I've never met an Asian cuisine I didn't like, I've long had an extremely soft spot for Vietnamese. Indeed, just the other night I cooked up a big pot of cà ri gà, or chicken curry with sweet...
Dec 08 '09
Most! a Most Welcome Addition to the Budapest Restaurant Scene
According to one of my colleagues over at the drink-focused Pestiside.hu, the recently-opened Most! is a most welcome addition to the Budapest bar scene. Good news! And it gets better, because in my view it's an equally welcome addition...
Nov 19 '09
Óóóóóóó No! (II): Il Ristorante is Illin'
In other oh-no news from Budapest's Ó utca, I've just made my second - and for the time being, last - visit to Il Ristorante, which opened sometime earlier this year in the sleekish space previously occupied by the...
Nov 19 '09
Óóóóóóó No! (I) Adiós for Artesano?
As we said on Tuesday, we're back in business, but some others aren't. Seeming among the restaurants that have recently thrown in the towel are Artisano, the sweet little Spanish joint on District VI's Ó utca we profiled in...
Nov 17 '09
We're Open Again for Business, Unlike Donatella's Kitchen
Holy smokes sorry for leaving you waiting so long for another post, like some sort of Hungarian restaurant where the waiters stand around talking to each other while your overcooked goose sits in the kitchen getting cold. Anyway, the...
Oct 27 '09
Cracking the De Fincsi Code at the "Historic" Leonardo Pizzeria
It has been a pleasure, over the years, to watch the short, picturesque District VIII street - Krúdy Gyula, named after the writer known as the "Hungarian Proust" - transform from a rutty, pockmarked side-street, to the macadam, chic...
Oct 16 '09
Sushi Sei: Say What?
On display at the recently opened Sushi Sei Sushi Bar in District VII are enormous, glistening pieces of yellowtail, being cut and rolled expertly into huge hand-rolls. There are also fat udon noodles in a savory made-to-order soup. In...
Sep 30 '09
Back to the Future at the (Red) Star of City Park
There are a lot of reasons to go to Pántlika, which sits behind Petőfi Csarnok in the Városliget. Foremost is that the weather is changing, and the City Park in the Zugló section of Budapest actually gets nicer as...
Sep 17 '09
Budget Budapest: All Hail the New King of Szerb-Burgers
It is pleasing to write - during this period of culinary constriction - that there are a few recently opened budget establishments worth your attention, especially if you like grilled meats. One of them, the Burekkirály (Burek King), on...
Aug 14 '09
First Look: The Emporio Armani Caffé
It's been so long since I first saw the "coming soon" signs for the long-promised Emporio Armani Caffé (follow link for contact details and user info) that I was slightly startled when a friend told me it had finally...
Aug 12 '09
So a Dirty Politician Walks Into a District VI Pub...
Just a heads up to let you know that the wishes of at least one commenter irritated at our non-coverage of the ongoing controversy over the draconian new closing time rules for restaurants and bars in District VI have...
Aug 04 '09
Will a Cute Little French-Italian Restaurant Really Open in the Cutest Space on the Cutest Block in Downtown Pest?
Amid all the ongoing signs of distress and de-evolution in the local restaurant scene is one sign of potential progress. While strolling through District V a few weeks back we saw a sign on this storefront which said ITT!...
Aug 04 '09
Closing Time: Sour Ending for Dolce Osteria
Another month, another round of Budapest restaurant closings. Note that the below bits of bad news may not be entirely fresh, 100% true, or even bad! Also note that you can add to this list or leave your consolations...
Jul 30 '09
Today's Exciting Korean Group Food Porn Brought to You by Arirang
I was just sitting down to write a review of District III Korean restaurant Arirang (follow link for contact details and user feedback) when something occurred to me: I don't know anything about Korean food. Okay, sure, I've eaten...
Jul 21 '09
Építészpince's Garden is Built to Please
It is hard not to be predisposed to enjoy Építészpince (follow link for contact details and user feedback). What's not to like? The "Architects' Basement," which occupies a part of the headquarters of the Magyar Építész Kamara (Chamber of...
Jul 17 '09
Special Lunch Specials: World's Most Tender Chicken Versus World's Most Elegant Főzelek @ Csalogány 26
Our last check-in with Csalogány 26 (follow link for contact details and user feedback) occurred after someone had trashed the restaurant's service at lunch. Back then we found the service just fine, and the specials on offer just delicious....
Jul 10 '09
Special Lunch Specials: Salad with Shrimp and Sea Bass with Veggies, Ft 1,200 @ Central Kávéház
We're back! I'd apologize for the lack of posting, but will be dishing out enough juicy tidbits over the coming days to more than make up for it. While there are some longer, multi-visit reviews and other items pending,...
Jun 12 '09
Dolce Osteria is Sweet!
Customary apologies for taking my sweet time between reviews, but I'm currently stuck on the idea that restaurants should be visited more than once before being subjected to a big write-up. So before getting started, I will saw that...
Jun 12 '09
Closing Time: Last Sate for Nusantara as White Heaven Goes to Hell
Before we return to writing about restaurants that are newly-born, or at least alive, time for our regular look at ones that are dead or dying. If you know of any that we don't, clue us in by leaving...
May 29 '09
Is Stand Bistro the Budapest Restaurant We've All Been Sitting Around Waiting For?
As I argued a while back, Hungary's ongoing - or at least looming - "restaurant apocalypse" may not be such a bad thing, as there is plenty of dead wood in the national eatery trade that deserves to be...
May 21 '09
Can Nobu Swim Where Óceán Sank?
Back on Monday we promised that we would soon be publishing "some seriously meaty restaurant news" about Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest. Here it is: We've gotten confirmation from the hotel's general manager, Marcus van der Wal, that a binding...
May 13 '09
New M. Menu Offers Venison Stew, Stewing Vegetarians
People are always asking why we are fans of M. (link to previous stories), Budapest's crazy-aunt-in-the-attic Hungarian/International bistro. Here's yet another reason: on the current menu, the mains are led off by a "vegetarian surprise," and no matter how...
May 08 '09
Is There Anything Closer to a New York Pizza Parlor in Budapest Than This? Fuhgeddaboudit!
Even though I grew up going to family events with people who could have walked straight off the set of the Godfather - Grandma D'Amato warming the escarole pie on the radiator while Uncle Rocky teased Cousin Johnny about...
Apr 29 '09
Rumor Mill: Tom-George to Become "Gaetano-Giorgio"; Donatella to Take on Kitchen at New York Palace
While we haven't yet been able to confirm it with the appropriate authorities, it looks like commenter Peter is on to something in saying that longtime international-luxury dining leader Tom-George is going to emerge from its current round of...
Apr 24 '09
Okay, Yes, Costes is Among the Best
With just a few irregular contributors and no real official budget to speak of, this editor is not going to apologize for failing to review every new or notable restaurant in Budapest. But if I was going to act...
Apr 22 '09
Closing Time: Papaya Squashed as BP Restaurant Biz Firms Slightly
With all the talk of a coming restaurant closing apocalypse, we'd been expecting to write mass obituaries for dead eateries. Oddly, however, the only such death we can report right now is that of the Papaya Japán Étterem, which...
Apr 20 '09
Go Ahead and Get "Trapped" at Silenus
It is easy to approach the Silenus Pub (follow link for contact details) with negative preconceptions, given its location on the outskirts of Budapest's top tourist rip-off district. Okay, Petőfi Sándor utca may be the poor tourist hustler's Váci...
Apr 15 '09
Does a Better Budapest Really Need the Best of Belgium?
One of the most common conversations that seems to take place among Budapesters keen on international cuisine is the seemingly random distribution of different national "kitchens" around the capital. Why are there a half-dozen Indian restaurants in a relatively...
Apr 03 '09
Trattoria Toscana to Liquidate L'Enoteca
As the ongoing recession bites further into the local gastronomy trade, it is interesting to see how different players are responding to the challenge. Some seem to be grimly holding on, hoping the whole thing will quickly blow over....
Mar 20 '09
Smiling Through the Hungarian Restaurant Closing Apocalypse
If you live in Hungary, you don't need to read the newspapers to know that an increasing number of restaurants in the country are either closing down, or in obvious financial distress. Indeed, when I went looking yesterday for...
Mar 18 '09
Grandmasters of Wine (II): Why Every Hungarian Waiter Should Have Lunch at the Kempinski
Monday's post about the Bortársaság's "Wine Academy" reminded me to follow up on a related story I've been sitting on for a while. Back in January, I heard that the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest had just finished putting the...
Mar 11 '09
Business Daily Fails to Get to Bottom of Ukrainian Restaurant "Invasion"
Ukrainian investors are swooping on the Hungarian luxury dining scene, reports Világgazdaság, although factual evidence of this trend is almost as shady as the unnamed businessmen themselves. In addition to the mid-to-high-end eateries on Liszt Ferenc tér that we know...
Mar 05 '09
Budapest Finally Gets an African Oasis
I have to admit that I was so excited to discover Savannah Africa, a cavernous new restaurant-café-nightclub near Teréz körút, that I immediately blew my cover as a food reviewer, and thus can't promise that your experience will be...
Mar 05 '09
Restaurant Critic from UK Telegraph Misses Telegram on Local Restaurant Closings
The UK Telegraph had an upbeat piece yesterday about the "new breed" of high-end restaurants in Budapest, Prague and Bucharest. Included among the four reviews of BP luxury dining spots was this: There's no question of getting unfashionable goulash at...
Feb 24 '09
Closing Time (II): Our Eerily Prescient Warning About a Catastrophic Fusion Meltdown
Now that this site is a couple of years old, it's fun to look back to see how our predictions have panned out. Back in August 2007, when we saw that a restaurant called "Fusion" was about to be...
Feb 24 '09
Closing Time (I): Lou-Lou Aimed for the Michelin Stars, Fell to Earth
Last March I wrote a piece entitled "For Now, Lou-Lou (and Hungary) Will Have to Settle for the Top 33" about how a high-end Budapest restaurant that had been openly pining for a Michelin "star" would have to console...
Feb 02 '09
Oh, Great - Now I Get to Give Culinaris Even More Money...
While most of the restaurant news in Budapest so far this year has involved places closing down, there has been at least one notable opening: the "luncheonette" attached to the Culinaris gourmet shop which opened late last summer near...
Jan 29 '09
Rumor Mill: New Dawn for Arcade, Tax Holiday for Chez Daniel
It's no surprise that the increasingly turbulent economic situation (i.e. utter economic collapse) in Hungary has left many Budapest diners wondering what the impact will be on the local restaurant scene. In short: not so good! At the same...
Jan 13 '09
A New Golden Age for Aranyszarvas?
Like food itself, restaurant reviews are perishable, meaning that after a certain period of time they always go off. In some cases, though, a review can remain valid for years. Back in the summer of 1998, for example, a...
Jan 08 '09
A Genuine Transylvanian Love Story Turns to Horror in Final Scene
For a city with so many Hungarians originating from Erdély (Transylvania) there are precious few restaurants in Budapest specializing in the hearty fare from that region. And if you have been to Transylvania, you know just how good the...
Dec 30 '08
Thai Game on Teréz Körút
The restaurant now known as Buddha Coffee & Bar (follow link for contact details and user feedback) has been through any number of names and guises over the years. It began way back when selling funny grilled sandwiches called...
Dec 22 '08
The Babel About Budapest (II): Blog Blab Mixed on Babel Delikát
Regular readers may have noticed a flurry of recent comments on this site from folks who claim I and my co-authors don't know anything about food, and are thus unqualified to review restaurants. (You can "enjoy" some of the...
Dec 22 '08
The Babel About Budapest (I): Is the Hungarian Capital Really the Cheapest in Europe?
Posting has recently been light, in part because we've felt a little too poor to go out. But maybe we shouldn't be! According to this recent post on cafebabel.com - which bills itself as "The European Magazine" - a night...
Dec 12 '08
Luxury, Lost
Usually I like to end the week here with something nice for readers to chew over. But unfortunately today is not one of those days, as I have the distinct displeasure of reporting that longtime Chew "Top 33" member...
Dec 09 '08
Mmmmm. M. is Back
The restaurant known only as M. (follow link for contact details and user feedback) and its tiny District VII storefront made a quiet splash when it opened seven years ago, earning a following with its inventive comfort food, frequently...
Nov 26 '08
Another Villány Winemaker Comes to Budapest
If three makes a trend, then now it is official: Villány has come to Budapest. Joining Bock Bisztró (partially owned by winemaker József Bock) and Andante Borpatika (partially owned by winemaker Zsolt Tiffan), the Polgár Pince also opened its...
Nov 21 '08
Yes, We Have No Hungarian Restaurants
Overheard late the other night at a pub in Buda: Young Hungarian Guy (with a German-speaking friend, poring over a Budapest map): "Can you recommend a few places downtown for my friend to get good Hungarian food - and not...
Nov 18 '08
Budget Budapest: Tacos Locos
If I owned a restaurant, I am not sure I would put the cans and packages of my ingredients in the street display window. It is sort of like saying, "you could actually make this stuff at home, if...
Nov 07 '08
I Have a Hunch this is the Best Hotel Brunch in Hungary
It is currently around 3:00 p.m on a Friday, which means that lots of local foodies are right now busy pondering where to go out for dinner over the weekend. But a smaller subset of these avid eaters will...
Nov 06 '08
Near Miss in Int'l Design Battle May Re-Ignite Tom-George "Clone Wars"
Via ingatlanmenedzser.hu we hear that the king of Budapest's high-design "eat and be seen" dining scene - Tom-George - recently made the semi-finals in a prestigious international competition in Barcelona. Unfortunately, the challenge in the Catalonian capital wasn't a...
Nov 05 '08
An Olympic Achievement in Culinary Invention
The two most recent restaurant reviews I've written on this site - of glamorous Japanese dining spot Kyoto and the more humble Chinese eatery Wang Mester Konyhája - were both very positive, but prefaced with lots of grumbling about...
Oct 29 '08
A Critical Look at the First Critical Hungarian-Language Restaurant Guide
We know, we know. We're late again bringing you our take on an important development in the Hungarian restaurant scene. The Étterem és bor kalauz (Restaurant and Wine Guide), published by Alexandra press and written by Tamás Molnár B. and...
Oct 27 '08
Master Wang Masters the Top 33
As I wrote in my review last week of Kyoto, posting has been light as of late in part because of a general sense of "blahs" about the local dining scene I have recently been experiencing. Another reason is...
Oct 20 '08
No Real Reason to Say No to Kyoto
Regular readers will notice that this site has of late been pretty bereft of proper restaurant reviews. There are a few reasons for this, but the biggest is that the chief editor - that would be me - has...
Oct 07 '08
Páva Fluffs Up Its Fall Feathers
The last time we checked in with long-time "Top 33" A-lister Páva (follow link for contact details and user feedback), our writer enjoyed her free PR lunch at the "Peacock" so much she said she would have gladly paid...
Oct 03 '08
The Perfect Imperfect Budget Thai Relaxation Combo
It could all just be a result of the recent weather, but my experience at the Parázs Presszó, run by a Thai-Hungarian couple in District VI (click for contact details and user feedback) was comparable to seeing familiar landmarks...
Sep 26 '08
Breakfast of Champions: The Két Szerecsen Bundáskenyér / Bécsi Virsli Combo
Among the restaurants that have been on our "Top 33" list for a long time without a proper review is District VI bistro Két Szerecsen (follow link for contact details and user feedback). That will have to wait, as...
Sep 25 '08
Some Blessed Ice Cream at the Basilica
With the sun having just popped its head over the clouds and the long and grim winter already on the horizon, now's a good time to pop out for a nice tasty ice cream. If that logic makes sense...
Sep 22 '08
Hunt Continues for Elusive Killer Serb in Budapest
Today's earlier review of a supposedly great Balkan restaurant up in Szentendre has left me feeling really hungry for food from the meat-mad lands just south of Hungary, and pondering this question: with Serbia so close, and so many...
Sep 19 '08
Culinaris Opens Third Gourmet Store; Putting Final Touches on "Second Fastest" Restaurant in Budapest
Anyone who knows anything much about fancy food in Budapest will already know about Culinaris (click link for contact details and user feedback), the locally-owned chain of gourmet food stores that began with humble roots in District VI before...
Sep 17 '08
A Tepid Taste of Transylvania
For some reason I never noticed the Hargita Grill Café (follow link for contact details and user feedback) but with its shiny sign outside now featuring pictures of its food, it's hard not to notice. I checked this place...
Sep 12 '08
Hungarian Diners Breathlessly Await Arrival of German Mall Seafood Joint
Hungary's first Nordsee restaurant will open in Budapest's WestEnd mall within a few weeks, reports Index.hu. The German company has been rumored to enter Hungary for two years, and the company confirmed the upcoming opening, but did not reveal more...
Aug 04 '08
A Kosher Slice that Won't Make the Classical Pizza Gods Angry
Kosher pizza has a terrible reputation, a gastronomic fact I was unaware of when I first had a savory slice at Cari Mama Pizzeria (follow link for contact details and user feedback) two years ago. But while I've discovered...
Aug 01 '08
Budapest Burgerwar: We May Have a Loser!
Since we've just published a review of what may well end up to be the winner of the Budapest Burgerwar™, it seems fitting to pair it with a review of a burger that has a good change of coming...
Aug 01 '08
Budapest Burgerwar: We May Have a Winner!
Nothin' but the Blues, a one-time hot-spot on Krúdy Gyula in District VIII, was moribund for years before being renovated and re-opened sometime recently under new management. Despite having lived within a block, I had not ventured into the...
Jul 30 '08
Budapest Burgerwar: The Farger Brutál Burger
Even when not pitted against others in a savage competition like the Budapest Burgerwar™, restaurateurs often give dishes with lots of animal protein names that make them not only big, but big and mean. The local burgermeister which seems...
Jul 29 '08
Closing Time: Third Time No Charm for Papageno
We'll close out our most recent round of eatery obituaries with what must be one of the saddest and strangest restaurant deaths we've ever witnessed, either in Budapest or anywhere else. It's sad because, at one point in its...
Jul 28 '08
Closing Time: Two Blocks Too Small for Two Indian Restaurants in District VI; Three for Three in District V
As the neighborhood immediately east of Teréz körút near Oktogon in Budapest District VI proves too small for two different Brazilian restaurants, a similar shakeout recently took place involving two Indian restaurants within 100 meters of each other across...
Jul 28 '08
Closing Time: Two Blocks Too Small for Two Brazilian Restaurants in District VI
While times seem to be tough for North American themed-restaurants in District V, a more nuanced situation faces the different groups trying to operate Brazilian restaurants in District VI. Yes, that's right - as of a few weeks ago,...
Jul 28 '08
Closing Time: Cursed District V Location Results in Boston Massacre
While we're on the topic of American-themed restaurants in Budapest biting the dust, it seems that the Boston Bár Restaurant, which we reviewed back in May of last year, has also closed down. As with many such cases, we...
Jul 25 '08
Closing Time: The Final Curtain for Sinatra
We close out the week with some slightly sad, but not entirely unexpected, local restaurant news. While taking a stroll through District V the other day, we noticed that the Sinatra Restaurant & Café, which last year opened in...
Jul 25 '08
Budapest Burgerwar: The Claro Texas Burger
It may sound cruel to say so, but with just a few exceptions, all the burgers I've eaten as part of the Budapest Burgerwar™ have been not just inferior to the average American restaurant burger, but something akin to...
Jul 23 '08
Budapest Asian Invasion: Service Charge Burn Nearly Ruins Spicy Fun at HanKukGuan
Here is a technical term we don't get to employ too often when writing about dining in Budapest: fun. The fun factor is dismally low at most local eateries, as the surprises usually come in the unpleasant form of...
Jul 18 '08
Asian Invasion New Distraction from Burgerwar Quagmire
You know what today is? It's the first anniversary (plus two days) of the launch of our still-unresolved Budapest Burgerwar™. As we've readily conceded several times, this war has turned out to be much longer - and, to judge...
Jul 18 '08
Budapest Burgerwar: The Goa Brie-Shitake Burger
With the Budapest Burgerwar™ now being joined with the Budapest Asian Invasion™ to form a massive, two-front campaign to eat as much foreign food as possible in the Hungarian capital, it's only natural that our next burger up is...
Jul 15 '08
Budget Budapest: The Polo Pub Söröző
Every now and again it actually happens that you stumble into a place that reminds you that there are still hidden gems in this city, places you hesitate to publicize because you want to keep them to yourself for...
Jul 14 '08
Russian Firm to Open American-style Italian Restaurants in Hungary
How's this for globalization: According to business portal napi.hu, the Moscow-based Rosinter restaurant group is going to bring its Il Patio Italian restaurant chain to Hungary, starting with a 400 square-meter location on József körút opposite Corvin köz. And...
Jul 10 '08
An Expensive PR Lunch I'd Actually Pay For
I generally avoid attending events held for the press for the sole purpose of having nice articles published - not only because they are manufactured, but also because they tend to be boring. I’d much rather eat with my...
Jul 08 '08
Budapest Burgerwar: The Inter-Continental Corso Burger
As I recently explained, our desire to bring the now almost year-old Budapest Burgerwar™ to its long-overdue conclusion has meant putting aside all the "lizard meat" burgers and other burgers of indeterminate animal origin now widely available in Budapest...
Jul 01 '08
What's Cooking in Donatella's Kitchen?
[Editor's Note: In the spirit of full transparency, I would like to disclose that I have had a long-running "feud" with one of the investors behind this restaurant: Peter Freed, who is also the driving force behind the annual...
Jun 26 '08
Maligán Borétterem Falls Just Short of Own Hype
After singing the praises of József Szentesi's wines and budget restaurant, a visit to Maligán (follow link for contact details and user feedback), the restaurant he owns and used to run, was long overdue. He no longer runs it...
Jun 13 '08
French-Hungarian Bistro Offers Head-Turning "Down Under" Wine Dinner on Monday
So while I was being wowed at Artisano on Wednesday, who should walk by but Lajos Tisza of the nearby Café Bouchon, carrying a bag of very home-made-looking sausages, for a "trial" of the menu he was putting together for...
Jun 11 '08
Artesano Too Astonishing to Wait for a Proper Review
One of my biggest faults as a restaurant critic is that I always end up waiting forever to publish reviews of places I've been to, in part due to simple laziness and incompetence, but also because I keep thinking...
Jun 05 '08
Gold Bisztró Lunch Menu Takes Gold For Value - And Quality
When we first met eccentric wine-pusher József Szentesi, we were so taken with him and his wines that we promised to write gushing reviews of his other business ventures. While the long-awaited lowdown on the Maligán Borétterem (and its...
Jun 02 '08
Time Traveling at the Baross Étterem, Breakfast Included
Food-wise there is no real good argument for the Baross Étterem (follow link for contact details and user feedback). It is your standard Hungarian fare, with no bells and whistles, unless you count those on the departing trains of...
May 29 '08
Badacsony Overshadows Buda in Pre-Festival PR War
With two competing wine festivals running in Budapest this weekend, wine lovers face a difficult choice. Thanks to the fairly useless, no doubt government-funded website (although at least it is in English) and the even less helpful member of...
May 27 '08
Budapest Burgerwar: The Pampas Angus Burger
Since the day this site was launched, I've wanted to do a full review of the Pampas Argentine Steakhouse, which for just as long has been sitting pretty on our "Top 33" list of better Budapest restaurants. I don't...
May 27 '08
Feeling Diner: Homesickness Should Never Feel Like This
The first thing I noticed about the Feeling Diner, a new themed restaurant on Király utca in a bustling part of District VII, is the overly-bright sterility of the place. If an expensive private hospital ever wanted a 50’s-themed...
May 20 '08
How Not to Die of Food Allergies in a Hungarian Restaurant
These days, most restaurants in Hungary of the sort normally frequented by tourists either have foreign-language menus or at least one staffer who can speak a language other than Hungarian. Still, there are some things that probably require a more...
May 19 '08
Long Wait for Stylish Sit-down Turkish Continues at Café Kara
Three hundred and twenty four years after the Ottomans were booted out of Buda, the Turks are back in force in the Hungarian capital - at least when it comes to food. On any given avenue in Pest, you're...
May 07 '08
Bar Ladino Brings Service With a Smile to Jewish Quarter Dining/Drinking
If you have ever been short-changed, chewed-out by, or deemed beneath the attention of the bar staff at Ellátó and always seem to end a night out at Sark Presszó then a nearby alternative like Bar Ladino is very...
May 07 '08
Historic Budapest Restaurant Treats Tourists Just Like Locals
Any Budapest expat who thinks foreigners are the only customers treated like vermin by restaurant wait staff should learn Hungarian and read blogs like ilovebp* (*if only it wasn't the way it is). The short of a long post is...
May 06 '08
Good Golly These Gofri Are Yummy!
Food lines in Budapest are pretty much a thing of the past, unless you are talking about the one which regularly snakes down Kossuth utca outside the portal of a window at the Jégbüfé (follow link for contact details,...
Apr 29 '08
Reading the Entrails of Some Freshly Dead (and Undead) Budapest Restaurants
Once again it's looking like time for a quick tour of some of the carnage that seems to be building up in Budapest's local dining scene. As with our last visit to the land of the restaurant dead, the...
Apr 25 '08
Prices Not Only Thing High at Budapest's Latest Gimmick Restaurant
Not already burned out on Budapest restaurants where the prices are sky-high and the food plays third fiddle to high design and high concept? Good news, because I've just found a recently-opened eatery that elevates the local form-over-function and...
Apr 09 '08
Budapest's First UK-Style Gastropub, or Just a Smoky Kocsma with Square Plates and High Prices?
I know I sound like a broken record, but it never ceases to amaze me what "trend slaves" Budapest restaurateurs are. Given the choice between simple good eats and some highfalutin' new concept, décor or foreign cuisine, most seem...
