restaurant news
Jan 25 '10
Costes announced as "Restaurant of the Year" winner for 2009
Costes was declared the "Restaurant of the Year" for 2009 by the dining website Dining Guide, which organized the contest for the fifth time. The winner of the award was decided by a 36-member jury. The kitchen of the Ráday...
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...
Jun 19 '09
Maltese Café Chain Expands to Budapest as Budapest Curry-Wallah Decamps to Malta
Even though the global recession has probably taken a bite out of restaurant revenues in every country around the world, in all of these markets there are no doubt some in the business who think the picture is much...
May 29 '09
It's Official: Hungarians Are Loving McDonald's!
Just a few days after we published this report suggesting hard times at McDonald's in Hungary, we get another report which suggests the opposite is true. According to this piece in daily Népszabadság, execs of local parent firm McDonald's...
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 18 '09
Kempinski Offers Tastes of South Germany, Down Under
We're going to be publishing some seriously meaty restaurant news regarding the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest within the next day or so. But as an appetizer, we are going to serve up a quick item about some interesting treats...
May 12 '09
Who Says You Can't Get Rich Running a Hungarian Restaurant?
At least if it's in Florida: Hungarian restaurant owner lists home for $1.899M Zoltan Debreczeni has listed for sale a four-bedroom, four-bath home at 1210 95th St. in Bay Harbor Islands for $1.899 million. The 2,024-square-foot house, which was built...
May 07 '09
Reeling from Recession, Local Restaurants Brace for Potentially Fatal Tax Hikes
Although the mounting problems in the Hungarian restaurant trade are well documented on this site, portal Origo has taken the time to subject the industry's woes to a massive feature on Tuesday. In addition to the old news that Hungarians...
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 08 '09
World's Most Exclusive Hungarian Restaurant for Sale
Despite all the misery facing the entire restaurant sector, we haven't gotten wind of many restaurants being put on the block by their owners. But one such prospective sale that we have heard of is worth a mention. According...
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...
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...
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 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...
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 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...
May 05 '08
Refugee Restaurant Owner Gets "Takeout" Order from Hungarian Immigration Authorities
The curry at the budget foodies' paradise Bangla Büfé on Akácfa utca in District VII is still fast and tasty, but without the renowned Bangladeshi chef known as Mimmo, who was recently spooned a bit of unwanted curry by...
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...
Mar 06 '08
Sins of Gluttonous Thursday (I): Restaurant Patrons Poisoned as Hungarian Health Authorities Found Out to Lunch
So it was a month ago today that hundreds of restaurants around Hungary observed the annual promotion known as Torkos Csütörtök, or "Gluttonous Thursday", in which diners get 50% off their meal tabs, and the repercussions are still being felt...
Feb 18 '08
Agonies of Historic Budapest Coffeehouse Offer Bitter Taste of Local Hospitality Business
If you've ever thought it would be great to own a historic old café in Budapest - or any business in the country - the following story may put the notion out of your mind forever. According to a recent...
Feb 15 '08
Thank God for Tacos, But Thank Mo for Arriba Taqueria
If you're in the restaurant review racket, pretty much the worst 10 words a friend can call up and tell you are "Hey, I've just opened my new place - come on over!" If the place turns out to...
Sep 05 '07
Foreigners Blamed for Cranky Hungarian Waiter Crisis
Whenever foreigners go out to eat in Hungary, it's almost guaranteed that at some stage the topic will turn to what is widely seen as a woeful lack of restaurant service culture in this country. Indeed, so bad is the...
Aug 23 '07
It's Official: Asian Fusion Now Totally Passé in Budapest
We've always been pretty suspicious of restaurants in Budapest that try to ape the whole Asian-fusion thing that was so popular out west a few years back. With one or two notable exceptions - Goa is the only one...
Aug 21 '07
Segal Walks Away
The good news is that our recent decision to open up a "recently-closed" tag for stories about restaurants that have thrown in the towel seems to have been prescient. The bad news is that we are now attaching it...
Jul 18 '07
Budapest Animals Escape the Heat with Tasty Icy Treats; Humans Not So Much
If you're currently in Budapest, we don't need to tell you that the city is in the midst of a brutal heat wave. But here are two hőhullám (and food) related items you might not have heard. One is...
Jun 08 '07
Ciao Budapest (V): Why Did L'Aranceto Wither and Die?
We don't normally write about Budapest restaurants you can't actually eat at, but since it's "Italy Week" the demise of one somewhat notable local Italian eatery seems worth a mention, and maybe a bit of quick analysis. The ex-eatery...
Apr 18 '07
How to Discipline a Bad Hungarian Chef Without the Unpleasant Jail Time
As you may have heard, a 52-year-old man from Tárnok burst into Hungarian culinary history on Sunday after he shot the chef of a District XXII restaurant in the eye because he didn't like his meal. This being Hungary, the...
Apr 17 '07
New Management Says Business As Usual At Káli Art Inn
You may have lamented Hungary's most tasteful B&B throwing in the towel as we did last December, but the winter doom and gloom was short-lived because the celebrated Káli Inn is back, albeit under new management from the start...
Apr 10 '07
The Dreary Luxury of the Dunapark Kávéház
"Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury," Coco Chanel once said. The great French designer was also quoted as saying about luxury that it not the opposite of poverty, but the "opposite of vulgarity." Unfortunately, both quotes...
Mar 21 '07
Klassz Outclasses Crass Hit-and-Run Critics
This site prides itself on usually being the first to write (at least in English) about recently-opened restaurants in Budapest. But we take even more pride in doing a good, thorough job when passing judgment on notable new establishments....
Jan 15 '07
Let’s get ready to plov!
According to a well-informed source writing at Index’s "Hova érdemes menni vacsorázni Pesten?" (Where to eat in Budapest?) messageboard, an Uzbek restaurant is set to open in Pesthidegkút, a Budapest suburb not exactly known for its fine dining. This same...
Dec 19 '06
Hungary's Most Tasteful B&B Throws in the Towel
Some sad news to report from the Hungarian hospitality sector. On Friday we received an email from the proprietors of the Káli Art Inn, a small and wonderful hotel/resort/art colony near Lake Balaton, saying that, after eight years of...
Oct 18 '06
Rumored New Budapest Restaurants So Hip They Don't Even Exist
We've just received the following note from the editor of a glossy magazine published in a certain well-known glossy European capital looking for some rather intriguing information on the Budapest dining scene. (Address and first and last paragraph omitted.) See...
Oct 18 '06
Momo Adds Shanghai Twang with Special New Menu
Because of the hybrid Chinese-Japanese nature of its name and primary offering, Momotaro Ramen often seems to lack Kínai "cred." Maybe because of this - though probably not - our District V Asian regular recently added a new special...
Oct 12 '06
Callas Takes Break From Opera, Plays It Cooler Than Tom George
The increasing "tomgeorgification" of the Budapest dining scene continues to cause concern, so it was with some trepidation that we stepped into Callas, the latest trendy café-restaurant-bar to open in Budapest - as of yesterday. The opera themed name...
Oct 09 '06
Reported Pizzeria Blaze Just A Flash In The Pan
Hungary's strange advertising laws - or maybe they are just customs - seem to prohibit a newspaper from mentioning the name of a business even if something totally newsworthy happens to it, like a raging inferno, for example. So when...
Sep 29 '06
Are Hungarian Restaurants Really as Bad as Some Hungarians Think?
As rare as it is to see a scathing restaurant review published in English in the local press - restaurants, after all, are primary sources of advertising revenue - it's rarer still to see a full-bore attack on Hungarian restaurant...
Sep 27 '06
Rumor Mill: Bíboros on the Block
If anyone's in the market for a nice Hungarian/international restaurant with a decent location, a recently-renovated interior, some super river views and a vaguely sacrilegious Hungarian pun name, we may have just the thing for you. From two different sources...
Sep 15 '06
A Degree in Nutrition and Ancient Amharic Would Also Be a Plus...
Finding staffers with the appropriate skills can be a struggle for even the most ordinary sorts of restaurants. But for eateries with more specialized needs it can be murder. Just consider the following help wanted notice recently posted in the...
