As some might know we help our guests reserve tables in Budapest restaurants. This is a free service we offer, and more and more people use this help. In March we helped quite a lot of people, and the three most popular restaurants based on our amount of table reservations were the following:
1) Sir Lancelot
2) Mátyás Pince
3) Trófea Grill
In April it seems as if the list might change a bit, but there are still many days left in this month, so time will show!
As we mentioned in our article called “Nice eating in Budapest” we visited the restaurant Baraka last Saturday. The restataurant is located near the Heroes Square, and is by many considered one of the best restaurants in Budapest. It is though a problem that we do not really enjoy the too upper-class restaurants, because often they only serve too special food always containing some kind of ingredient that I do not like. Eating at Baraka I did not really manage to eat by mashed potatoes, but except from that it was okay. Baraka looked great on the inside, and I know many people who have been there who praised it, so I guess I am the problem, and not the restaurant! (pictures from Baraka can be found at our Baraka page).
Surfing around I also noticed something that might be useful information! Rosinter Magyarország is the company responsible for the Il Patio, Planet Sushi and the T.G.I Fridays restaurants in Budapest. And, they are prolonging the Torkos Csütörtök with something they call: Torkos Hétfő, which means that you can eat at half price in these restaurants every Monday. It is though important to know that it is not half price on everything, but they have a special menu with different meals you can buy at half price. They do not necessarily give that menu to you as you arrive, so if you are interested ask the waiter!
Yesterday it was Torkos Csütörtök, and as I mentioned before, we were out to enjoy it. Unfortunately I was only able to visit two restaurants (time did not allow more), but that was both fun, interesting and gave some new experiences.
Lunch at SpoonAt noon we entered into Spoon with my wife and ate our lunch there. We ate Caesar Salad and an Angus Steak, and for dessert we ate Brownie a’ la Spoon and Cinnamon flavoured apple rings in pastry coat with homemade nut ice cream. It was nice to sit in a restaurant were you can watch the castle as you eat. Even more interesting was to watch the castle as you pee (worth a try). Not many restaurants in Budapest give you that possibility.
The food at Spoon was really good, but I felt as if the portions were to small, compared to the price (of course it was cheap yesterday, but knowing that it would cost twice as much on a normal day it felt to expensive, for too little). The desserts were the highlight of our stay, and the floating chocolate inside the Brownie was really good!
Dinner at Il PatioWe had not planned to eat dinner outside, but some appointments were cancelled and suddenly we had some free hours. Most restaurants were packed yesterday, but we decided to visit Il Patio at Deak Square, and eat there, if they had a free table for us. They had!
My wife was not really hungry, so she only ate a starter. They waiter told us it would not be much, but she insisted on eating only that, as she did not feel hungry. She ordered Focaccia alla Cipolla e Bacon, which looked as some kind of a pizza, only very, very thin! And in fact she got so much, that the starter became even to much for here! Nice start!
As I have been in Il Patio before eating a salad, I wanted to try a real italian pizza this time. That is why I ordered a Prosciutto e Funghi with cheezy crust. As the food came we ate it all up, and finishing it we were both full. Still I was thinking about how much this would cost, and knew that so far we had only used around 3000 forints (we had bought two drinks as well). That is why we ordered a Banana Split for dessert, and though we were both full, we both had some extra dessert space. It was very good! As payment time arrived the price should have been around 4500 Forint, but because of Torkos Csütörtök it was only 2473 Forint or something (Service Fee was added to the bill automaticly). Leaving the restaurant I though that it would be cheap anyway, but getting it for half price it felt as a robbery, though a legal one!
We enjoyed the day, and Saturday we will continue as Baraka is having “Torkos Csütörtök” for four days, ending Sunday.
Today we added a form to our table reservation page to make it even easier to book a table in your favorite restaurant in Budapest. Just fill in the needed forms, and you will normally receive a confirmation from us within 24 hours confirming that the table is waiting for you!
We hope this will make it even better for you, and easier for everyone! So, I guess it is just to look through our register of Budapest restaurant, and find out which one will be perfect when you come to Budapest!
The last week we have helped out with table reservations in several restaurants. The three most popular; Sir Lancelot, Trófea Grill and Rézkakas!
By the way:
Did you know that Robbie Williams, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robert Redford, David Bowie, Sylvester Stallone, David Copperfield, Mia Farrow and Jean-Claude van Damme all have visited the Robinson restaurant in the City Park? You can see a little picture from the restaurant above!
January 15 we wrote about Torkos csütörtök in Budapest and we have many people reading about it. Recently we have also tried to help some people with table reservations for the evening, but it seems as if Torkos csütörtök is a very good event for the restaurants, as a lot of them are fully booked, which means no free tables. That is why we just want to advice everyone who wants to visit a restaurant in Budapest on February 26 (Torkos csütörtök) to do it as soon as possible.
Below you can see a list showing some of the restaurants giving 50 % discount on all meals on February 26. Our complete article about Torkos csütörtök can be found here.
Some of the restaurants involved
220 éves Pinceétterem, 42nd Street Bistro & Bar, A38 Budapest, Albatrosz, Alabárdos, Alcatraz, Angus, Anonymus, Artesano, Apetito, Apostolok, Bagolyvár, Café Kör, Nosztalgia, Sir Brian, Il Patio, Spoon, Tabáni Terasz, Óceán bár & grill, Karpatia, Matyas Pince, Arany Barany, Kulacs, Rézkakas, Károlyi, Vörös Postakocsi, Belcanto, Chez Daniel
I first heard of this event some years ago, but for those who like to visit restaurants, it is a great thing! Torkos csütörtök (throaty Thursday) is the last day when you are allowed to eat meat before the big “fast” starts among the catholics, leading all the way to easter. Celebrating this restaurants around in Budapest give 50% discount on food and drinks on that day every year. The date may change, but it is always on a Thusday.
Torkos csütörtök 2009
February 26
There are lots of restaurants that join in on this great thing, and on the 26 February you can eat and drink for half price at for example: Belcanto, Ocean Bár & Grill, Alabárdos, Bagolyvár, Chez Daniel, Apetito, Apostolok, Chess, Gerbeaud, Corner, Károlyi, A38, Fridays, Sir Brian, Karpátia and several other restaurants.
So we encourage everyone to take advantage of the offer, and enjoy yourself on February 26.
List showing all restaurants (list is in Hungarian, but it should not cause to great problems)
Earlier this week we had the chance to visit Mátyás Pince to taste their food, and to listen to some gipsy music while we were eating. Our goal and what we wanted to discover, was whether this was a restaurant to recommend to tourists or not. And after eating there we have for sure found out.
Our starter was a Hungarian Goulash soup, and we must say; it for sure tasted like Goulash soup… Some people told us that they serve the Goulash soup with beans several places (and they normally do not like that), but here they did not, and we were able to really enjoy the soup.
After the soup we ordered two different main courses; Breast of Pullet Grilled with Fresh Spices of Garden, with Mixed Salad in Roquefort Dressing and Paprika Chicken Stew Szeged Style with Home Made Butter Dumplings. The first is not really Hungarian, but my wife wanted that, so no need to argue! I ate the Paprica Chicken and I was really satisfied with the taste of it.
In places like this they often have annoying gipsy music playing in the background, and sometimes the musicians put their violins almost into your ears, but we had no problem with the musicians or the volume here.
As a dessert we ate “rétes” with ice-cream; a nice ending of a “hungarian” evening!
Conclusion
We really got a taste of Hungary, and if you are looking for a place to eat Hungarian food this might be one that will meet your needs. The prices are high compared with many other places, so it will probably not be a place where we will come back all the time; but for the sake of tasting Hungary it was satisfying our needs!
Last week we had the joy of joining some of our guests to the Sir Lancelot restaurant in Budapest. It is a restaurant that will give you food and an experience you will not easily forget. Especially in the evening time (as it was when we were there) we could enjoy some small theatrical pieces and delicious food, in real medieval style.
The food is not typical Hungarian, but it is almost barbaric as everyone just takes what they want to eat from a big plate, and place it on their own small plate. But, that is the fun with the place, and we can definitely recommend this place to our visitors. The prices are higher than many other restaurants, but still not to expensive, so be sure to visit this place.
We recommend you to book a table beforehand at Sir Lancelot, so just send us an email with your name and a telephone number, and we will do it for you and your company!
A real Sir Lancelot Mug – and a tasty piece of meatA plate full of tasty food
We have just added a new restaurant to our register of restaurants in Budapest. The Pesti Lámpás is located between the Ferenciek Square and the Kalvin Square in the heart of Budapest, and is a little bit hidden away from the crowds of tourists.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is one of the best in Budapest, and you can enjoy your food outside in the backyard of the building, hidden from the noisy streets.
Read more about Pesti Lámpás at this page, and if you need a table reservation or want to read about other Budapest restaurants just surf around our pages.
As you arrive to Budapest one of your first desires is often to taste real, authentic, Hungarian food. A good portion of Stuffed Cabbage, a Goulash Soup, some Hungarian Pörkölt, a fish soup or a filled Crepe will all give you a small taste of Hungary. But, where can you go to taste these things?
In our list of restaurants four are especially made for those who would like to taste some Hungarian Food. Karpatia, Matyas Pince, Arany Barany and Gundel all offer you traditional Hungarian food, accompanied by gipsy music (in the evenings). In Mátyás Pince they also offer you a small folklore show every Wednesday and Thursday evening.
Are you starting to feel hungry? You have a lot to look forward to as you will hopefully soon visit Budapest!
