Category: Restaurants

Bors GasztroBár review

Posted on by Budablogger

Yesterday I was out walking together with a group of tourists. Our walk together ended in Szimpla Budapest and since I had some spare time before my next program I though I’d grab something to eat. I kept walking in Kacinzcy utca, and suddenly on my right side I saw something that woke my interest… Bors GasztroBár. As I looked in the window it looked interesting and luckily there were quite empty as I went inside to check out this restaurant/bistro or whatever you’d call it.

I went inside Bors GasztroBár, looked at the menu and got a bit insecure. I am not so much of a gourmet (see: Mak Bistro and LaciPecsenye) so I normally prefer my food to be very straight forward with no special spices and ingredients added to them. Still, my curiosity for new tastes have grown recently, so I thought I’d grab the chance to taste something new. On the inside a smiling guys shouts out welcome (later I realised that the person saying hello is one of the two master chefs in the GasztroBár named György Rethling). I looked at the different dishes on the menu and without taking any big risk I ordered a Hungarian Dream sandwich with salami, pepper (paprika), smoked cheese and tomato on the inside. I accompanied my order with a celery cream soup and a ginger sambucus (elderberry) “juice” to drink. The soup was finished in 1 minute so I had barely found my seat before György shouted my name and told me that the soup was finished.

Inside the restaurant you will find different articles about the restaurant and some gastro magazines. In one of the articles the writer said that the quality of the soups are so high that you would gladly pay 2000 HUF for them in a normal Budapest restaurant. I think I agree. The celery cream soup was a perfect starter and I almost felt sad that I did not order a taste of all the soups, just to check them out. But, I will have to return some other time to do that.

The sandwich was served a few minutes after I finished my soup and it tasted just the way it was supposed to. After eating the soup and the sandwich I was kind of full, but since they had some deserts available on the menu I simply had to try at least one of them. I decided to go for a cheese cake with blueberry jam. Since this is a gourmet place they added some black pepper to bring forth the sweetness of the cake. The cheese cake was a success as well, though I would probably try something else if I returned as this did not become my new favorite.

Cheese cake in Bors GasztroBar

Still, the atmosphere, the kindness and great service, the “fantastic choice” comments as I ordered the different things from the menu, and not to forget the prices, makes this a place I already look forward to return to sometime in the near future. I ate a delicious soup, a large sandwich, ate a large cheese cake and drank 0,4 liter of homemade soft drink for only 1750 HUF… that is nothing. If I had skipped the dessert the price would have been only 1240 HUF which is cheaper than a Whopper menu in Burger King, and ten times better!

It might be that many people who visit Szimpla Kert somehow drop by Bors GasztroBar for a bite of food before or after the ruin pub, but making the ruin pub the main attraction. In the near future I somehow predict that people will go to Kacinczy utca because of Bors GasztroBar, and as a bonus to the program they will pay a visit to Szimpla afterwards.

Go visit Bors GasztroBár and meet the enthusiastic chef and owners Tamas Lipher and György Rethling and enjoy a meal in one of the most promising and trendy places in Budapest at the moment!

Ps: Sorry about the bad quality of the photos. Somehow I did not expect ending up in such a great place, so I only had my middle class mobile phone to make pictures with!

Bors GasztroBar seen from the outside

Bors GasztroBar information:

Opening times: Monday-Saturday from 11.30-21.00
Address: Kazinczy utca 10, 1075 Budapest
Telephone: +36/ 70 935 3263, +36/70 701 3656

Pizza Eataliano Budapest review

Posted on by Budablogger

A couple of days ago I visited the most central Pizza Eataliano in Budapest, located only a few hundred metres from the Christmas market at Vörösmarty square. We decided to eat our lunch there with my wife and son and entered the restaurant and enjoyed our meal in total peace as there were nearly no other guests around.

I have been to other Pizza Eataliano restaurant before in Budapest, and I also visited quite a lot of them before they turned into Pizza Eataliano (earlier this Italian restaurant chain in Budapest was named Pizza Marzano). In the Pizza Marzano days this chain was not at all a favorite, and I rather avoided the place.

I am not sure what happened to the chain with the name change, but something have taken place, because the quality is for sure better now than before. With my wife we ate pizza and she had some grilled pork with mushroom sauce as a main course. For dessert we had chocolate cake, panna cotta and some vanilla ice.

My remembrance told me that the pizza in Pizza Eataliano is a bit better than in most other Italian restaurants in Budapest. It was true. The tomato sauce used has a better taste, and that serves as the basic for a good pizza. The ingredients worked out fine and I enjoyed my pizza. If I take into the consideration that my 27cm pizza cost 2000 HUF that is quite expensive compared to most place in Budapest, but still with such a central location, nice interior and good quality, the price is not to bad after all. My wife truly enjoyed her main course, and as she has a crush on everything that has to do with mushrooms at the moment, she really enjoyed the mushroom sauce served next to the grilled pork fillets. Her main course cost 2800 HUF. The dessert was a mixture of chocolate cake, panna cotta and a vanilia ice. This costed 1000 HUF. All in all, without drinks, the price was 5800 HUF.

Kitchen in Pizza Eataliano

As I mentioned earlier the interior of the restaurant is very nice and modern. The toilets are clean and nice and this is for sure a safe place to come with family and friends to eat some Italian food while walking around in the center of Budapest. One of the challenges of the restaurant is though the location. It is good, but still the normal tourist never walk by this place as it is a bit hidden away behind two corners. Most tourists who look for Italian food while walking in downtown Budapest normally drop by La Cucina instead, and this is a very popular place. Which is the best?

Dessert in Pizza Eataliano

La Cucina has a great cuisine and a much more authentic Italian atmosphere. The decorations, the table clothes and atmosphere is better. The prices are quite similar, so if I had to choose as a tourist, I would probably dine in La Cucina instead of Pizza Eataliano. But, if you want to try something else and maybe eat your lunch or dinner in a more peaceful environment, or maybe have a business meeting with something to eat, then Pizza Eataliano is more suited for such activities than La Cucina.

What about the other Pizza Eataliano restaurants?
I have not eaten in all Pizza Eataliano restaurant in Budapest (there are 4 or 5 of them), but in general the menues are very much the same, prices are the same and the ingredients are the same. Therefore if you see a Pizza Eataliano sign that is a safe haven for those wanting to eat some pizza, a salad or some typical easy main course. You can eat lasagne as well in Pizza Eataliano, but a general problem in most restaurants is that they are totally unable to make good and tasty lasagne, and the same is the problem in Pizza Eatliano (meaning: skip that).

Pizza Eataliano restaurants in Budapest

Budapest, V. Vécsey utca 5.
Budapest, VI. Andrássy út 41.
Budapest, I. Batthyány tér 6.
Budapest, V. Dorottya utca 6.

Caffe Gian Mario Budapest – a short review

Posted on by Budapest Guide

Yesterday we paid a visit to Caffe Gian Mario, an Italian restaurant in Budapest, located quite near Nyugati Pályaudvar and restaurants such as Sir Lancelo, Wasabi and La Pampa. The restaurant looks like nothing special from the outside, but somehow the restaurant has managed to be located at third place on the TripAdvisor list of restaurants in Budapest, and that is why we dropped by to see what’s going on at Caffe Gian Mario.

The first impression arriving makes me ask myself a question; is this really the place? It looks so nothing special (see picture below). We sit down, order a starter and a pizza and two bottles of Pepsi. The starter was nice, the pizza was good, but nothing super special, making it better than everywhere else in Budapest. In the end we wanted to order a dessert, but unfortunately almost all desserts were sold out, so we ended up buying some Italian cottage cheese dessert inside some biscuit with chocolate around. We got it at once, so guess they just took it out of the fridge. It was okay in taste, but nothing we would order again.

All in all we were full and well satisfied as we left Caffe Gian Mario, but it is not a place we would especially recommend from now on to others, and it is not a place we will return to later… there are to many good restaurants in Budapest for us to return to this once more.

If you are a on a budget though this restaurant is a quite good one. For two bottles of Pepsi, a starter, a pizza and a dessert the final price was around 3800 HUF.

This is the way Caffe Gian Mario looks from the outside

Paprika Hungarian restaurant review

Posted on by Budablogger

Paprika Vendéglő, or Paprika, is a cozy and nice Hungarian restaurant located not far from the Heroes Square and the City Park in Budapest. The restaurant does not look to special from the outside, but on the inside they have a very nice and traditional Hungarian interior. During the warmer months of the year the restaurant also has a nice terrace outside the main entrance where you can sit and enjoy the meals while viewing cars passing by (quite amusing in fact).

Paprika is well known among both locals and internationals, and here you can get traditional Hungarian extreme portions, meaning that you will in most cases not be in need of starter, main course and dessert… the main course is more than enough by itself. On the menu you can find Hungarian goulash soup, fish soup, grilled goose liver, wiener schnitzel and lots of other courses, which will give you a good introduction to the Hungarian kitchen. They also have some fish dishes and dishes specially prepared for vegetarians, so everyone should be able to find something after their taste as they visit Paprika restaurant in Budapest.

Prices at Paprika

The price level at Paprika is not bad at all, and almost all courses cost less than 4000 HUF. A dinner for two, of course depending on the amount of drinks you order, should cost somewhere between 6000-10,000 HUF. Here comes some price examples from the menu at Paprika:

Goulash soup: 1050 HUF
Spicy chicken slices with pasta: 1850 HUF
Wiener Schnitzel with french fries: 2200 HUF
Grilled rumpsteak Lyon style with French fries: 2900 HUF
Creamy Mushroom tagliatelle: 1700 HUF
Cottage cheese dumplings: 790 HUF
Coca Cola (0,2L): 310 HUF
Dréher 0.5l (draught beer): 600 HUF

Appetizer/starter in Paprika restaurant

It might be a bonus and it might be a minus in Paprika, but it is a reality that most Hungarian restaurants trying to create an authentic atmosphere also includes live gipsy music. This is not the fact in Paprika, and you are here able to enjoy your meal in peaceful quietness, only disturbed by your own and the voices of the other guests. After visiting quite some restaurants with gipsy music this is in the eyes of Budablogger a big PLUS!

Restaurant on the inside

Do not expect gourmet food as you come to Paprika, because then you will be disappointed. Expect instead traditional Hungarian food, large portions, good service and nice prices… and hopefully you will be satisfied! Feel free to share your own thoughts on the restaurants using the comments field at the bottom of this page.

To get to Paprika you can travel with the yellow metro to the stop Heroes square. As you look towards the Heroes square and have Andrassy ut behind you, start walking to the right and follow Dozsa Gyorgy ut for a while, until you finally reach Paprika after 3-4 minutes.

Paprika restaurant information

Dozsa Gyorgy ut 72, Budapest 1071
Tlf: +36-20-294-79-44
Opening times: 12.00-23.00

Sugar Budapest review

Posted on by Budablogger

Not long ago I visited the Chocolate and Sweets festival in Budapest, and there I visited a stand made by the people from Sugar Budapest, also known as Sugarshop. Yesterday I visited Sugar as well, and now I know where to go throughout the entire year when there is no Chocolate and Sweets festival, because in Sugar Budapest you kind of have the chocolate festival feeling throughout the entire year!

Sugar is located in the end of Paulay Ede Utca, next to a quite famous restaurant in Budapest named Két szerecsen. It is located in a street parallel to the Kiraly street and the Andrassy avenue, so a very popular area of Budapest. The interior and everything is about sugar when you visit the place, so do not miss out on the toilets which have a cool look and your kids will for sure love it. The place is not only popular among kids, but among women who love sweets. During our visit to Sugar (I went with my wife of course) at least 75% of the visitors eating where girls/women, and they all seemed to love it.

Sugar consists of a Sugarshop where you can buy candy in loose weight, lollipops and other cool sweets. In Hungary this is exceptional, but if you visit other countries in Europe the Sugarshop is not so special anymore. But, when you move towards the confectionery/cafe area and start looking at the cakes it gets special. Here you will find cakes formed as hamburgers, Coca Cola jars, chocolate bars and much more. You will find standard cakes such as brownies and cheese cakes, but you will also find special cakes which you will not find anywhere else in Budapest. Take a look at the pictures, and you will understand what I am thinking about!

I ordered a plate with cheese cake, some strawberry shake (very small) and a macaron. My wife had some porridge with brownies on the top. We ordered a hot chocolate to the “meal” and the service was perfect and the food got on our table within a few minutes.

Cheese cake menu in Sugar Budapest

The cheese cake tasted just the way it should, and the strawberry shake was wonderful. But, the macaron! Well, I have a feeling that I can not blame Sugar for this, but I have tried to enjoy macarons several time since its breakthrough a while ago, but it still tastes like crap. Anyone really like this stuff? Join the debate on Facebook or write a comment to this article if you have a meaning on the subject! So I did not enjoy the macaron, but that is not Sugar’s fault, but the concept of macarons themselves!

The hot chocolate was nice and all in all I do look forward to visit the place again sometime in the future, to try some of the other cakes I did not get to eat yesterday. It was so much interesting on the menu, that this is a place you need to visit a few times to get to taste everything that sounds good.

Lots of candies in Sugarshop Budapest

So, when you are coming to Budapest, or if you already live in Budapest… do not miss out on Sugar Budapest, it is a kind of an attraction in itself and it will for sure be a hit among your children and your wife or girlfriend will also enjoy the place. My wife for sure did! Now you can enjoy some more pictures from Sugar Budapest so that you can prepare yourself for your visit. Beneath the pictures you will find the full address of the shop/confectionery.

Porridge with brownies – yammi!
Cool and creative cakes in Sugar
They have quite some muffins in Sugar Budapest as well!

Sugar Budapest

Address: 1061 Budapest, Paulay Ede utca 48
Opening times: 12.00-22.00 (Monday), 10.00-22.00 (Tuesday-Sunday)
Tlf: +36 1 321 6796

Best Trofea Grill restaurant in Budapest

Posted on by Budablogger

Before you come to Budapest you probably don’t know to much about the different restaurants in Budapest and you wonder where to go to grab some good pieces to eat. One of the most popular restaurants in Budapest is Trófea Grill, but to be right, it is not really one restaurant, but a restaurant chain with currently six restaurants in Budapest. If you divide the restaurants into categories you can divide it the following way based on ownership:

Trófea Grill 1:
Visegrádi Utca (Visegrádi utca 50/a), Margit Krt (Margit körút 2), Király Utca (Király Utca 30-32)

Trófea Grill 2:
Mexikói út (Erzsébet királyné útja 5), Óbuda (Laktanya u. 3-5.), Újbuda (Szerémi út 7)

The restaurants mostly look the same and they have the same principle meaning that for a set price you can eat and drink as much as you’d like. The prices vary between 3200-5500 HUF (3800-5500 for Trófea Grill restaurants in category 1), depending on what time of the day you’d like to visit the restaurants, but if you consider the amount of food and drinks you get for the price, it isn’t really that high no matter when you go. What also describes the popularity of the Trófea Grill restaurants very well is the fact that it is packed not only with tourists, but also with locals. The chain is especially popular for birthday parties as they offer free birthday cake to the one celebrating their birthday, so do not be surprised if you hear a happy birthday song on the loudspeakers as you grab something to eat in one of the six Trófea Grill restaurants. Most tourists end up in the restaurants listed in category 1, but if you wonder where to go, you should keep on reading, because here comes the part giving you my own personal favorite restaurants.

The best Trófea Grill restaurant!

Since this article is written by Budablogger it is only portraying his views and thoughts, so you might disagree when I here write down my thoughts on which is the best Trófea Grill restaurant in Budapest. There are many things that must be taken into consideration before you can make such a statement, but when deciding which Trófea Grill restaurant is the best in Budapest the most important factors where: Location, cuisine, atmosphere and the restaurant itself.

If location is important, then the three central restaurants located in Visegrádi Utca, Margit Körút and Király Utca are natural winners. If it is a matter of cuisine the restaurants at Mexikói út, Visegrádi utca and Margit Körút are the winners. They have a good selection of food you can get fried in front of your eyes, they always have a good selection of traditional Hungarian courses and they serve 100% orange juice and so on (which for example Trófea Grill Óbuda does not). All restaurants have a good atmosphere, but the restaurant in Visegrádi Utca is not at all as nicely looking as the one by the Margit Körút, which looks very modern, just like the one in Király Utca. Unfortunately the restaurant in Király Utca lacks some of the great courses served in the other restaurants, and that is why I always pick other Trófea Grill restaurants to the one in Király Utca. The Trófea Grill in Újbuda is good, but last time I visited that one they only had very special Hungarian courses, which most Hungarians would be skeptical to eat (Pacalpörkölt or Tripe stew), and with several such courses next to one another it was in fact hard to find something to eat among the already prepared courses.

Cakes at Trófea Grill

I could keep going for a long time, but if I have to pronounce a winner my personal favorite would be the Trófea Grill restaurant by the Margaret Bridge (Margit körút), closely followed by the Trófea Grill restaurant in Erzsébet Királyné utca (Mexikói út). If I have to choose what Trófea Grill restaurant I would not return to at all it would probably be the one in Király Utca and the Újbuda Trófea Grill.

Many tourists get invitations to the Trófea Grill restaurant in Király Utca while walking on Deák Tér, and as they end up there they totally enjoy it and often return later, as they are so satisfied and fall in love with the restaurant. It was the same for me first time I visited a Trófea Grill restaurant.

This article has though been written not after visiting the restaurants once or twice, but after visiting the restaurants at least 25 times. And after that many visits you get favorites among the six restaurants, and as I also mentioned, some restaurants I’d rather not return to if I have the chance to influence the decision about what Trófea Grill restaurant to visit.

Best Trófea Grill in Budapest – Margit Körút

Tejivo Budapest review

Posted on by Budablogger

Located next to McDonalds on the Erzsebet square (Deak Ferenc square) Tejivo has a perfect location and it has since its opening turned into a big success, and currently it is a super trendy place to hang out for a bite to eat and something to drink in Budapest. Budablogger likes to be trendy so off he went to Tejivo to check what is going on.

Tejivo is a Hungarian word which means Milkdrinker in English. That is perfect, because I am a big milkdrinker… a very positive start. As we got there it was packed with people (I guess it is space for 30 guests on the inside, 35 at the most) and about 10 people on the outside. To get something to eat I had to get into line and wait for the five people in front of me to place their orders. A few minutes later the line was even longer and there were at least 7-8 people standing in line to get something to eat and drink. Why is this so trendy, and is it worth standing in line?

In Tejivo you can get different things to eat; sandwiches with ham, salami, cheese, then you will find different yoghurts, toasts, sweet porridge and some sweet desserts. In addition they have cocoa, home made ice tea, milk shakes and some other drinks.

We wanted to try as much as possible as we first visited the place, so we drank a cocoa and an ice tea, and we ate toast, sandwich with mangalica (special Hungarian pig) ham and a sweet porridge. The toast was served warm, while the sandwich and the porridge was cold. My wife wanted some hot porridge, so on request they placed it in the microwave and then it became hot in a few seconds. The porridge, the sandwich and the toast all tasted well, and especially the porridge had a special taste to it, almost lemon taste, which made it both special and good. The mangalica ham was delicious and the toast was fine. The home made ice tea tasted like at home when I made hot tea, add some sugar and put it in the fridge, so nothing special. The cocoa gave a little surprise, because normally when you go out to eat you get hot cocoa, but in Tejivo you get it served in a cold way. The taste was nice, but I would probably have preferred it served warm instead.

The price for all of this was 1700 HUF, and then I forgot to tell the fact that we also ate a cocoa roll. What made it all cheaper was the fact that they have quite some menus reducing the price, and as we bought some of the standard menus we saved some money doing so.

Tejivo is trendy, but I guess I am not going to be very trendy in the future. It is nice to have been there, and I am glad that I tasted it all, but it did not steal my heart forcing me to return back again in the near future. Of course it is nice knowing about this place in central Budapest where you can get a tasty sandwich and bring it with you if you are in a hurry, but I will probably go try something new in the future instead of returning to Tejivo. But, I know lots of others who will do exactly the opposite; instead of finding a new place they will rather return to Tejivo, so I am not worried that Tejivo will end up like most other shops and bars that have opened at the same place (they all ended in bankruptcy).

If you are in Budapest and want a light meal, check out Tejivo!

Tejivo seen from the outside

Tejivo Budapest

Sütő utca 2, 1052 Budapest
Opening times: 7.30 – 22.00

Chicken paprika with noodles recipe

Posted on by Budablogger

Chicken paprika is a very traditional Hungarian course, and it is something you can get served in lots of Hungarian restaurants in Budapest and you will also be served it quite regularly if you visit a Hungarian family in their own home and they will cook for you there. The basics of the Chicken paprika is very similar to the Goulash soup basics, but there are some major differences which you will find as soon as you study both the goulash soup and the chicken paprika recipe.

Chicken paprika is normally served together with noodle (often called dumplings), and as you combine these you will get a tasty lunch/dinner which will make your stomach full for quite a while, at least if you eat a lot of the noodles. First comes the ingredients, and afterwards I will tell you how to prepare this stuff!

Chicken paprika recipe for four persons

4 pieces of chicken leg
2 onions
1,5 tablespoons with sweet red paprika (powder)
1 tomato
1 white paprika (sweet)
170-200ml sour cream
2 tablespoons flour
some oil

How to prepare it?
Chop the onions into small pieces and put them in a pan together with the oil. Fry them until they get almost brownish. Remove the pan from the heat and add the sweet red paprika. Mix them, and add some salt and pepper as you do this. Put it back on the heat and add some water to make the food simmer. If the water turns into steam and disappears, add more water so that the ingredients will not get burned. You can now add the chicken, the tomato and the white paprika. If you have some „erös pista” (strong Hungarian paprika) or some „pörkölt cream” or similar stuff, you can add that as well at this point. Keep it on the heat until the chicken is tender and tasty. Add water if needed, just make sure nothing gets burned!

While doing this add the sour cream to a bowl. Add some flour first to the sour cream, stir it, and then add the rest. Make sure it is soft and nice. Before you add this to the pan, add some of the gravy for the pan to the sour cream mixture (do this twice).

You can now add the sour cream mixture to the pan with the rest of the ingredients. Let it simmer for some minutes, and then the Chicken paprika is finished.

Dumplings / Noodles:

2 eggs
about 350 gram flour
salt
water

How to prepare it?
Put 2,5-3 litres of water into a large bowl and put some salt in the water. Make sure the water is boiling. In another bowl you should add the eggs, the flour and the salt and add water. The dough should be quite thick, not at all watery. Later you can use a knife and cut it into smaller pieces and put them into the boiling water. If they get dissolved in the water or do not stick together, the dough is to watery. As the pieces of dough come to the surface of the water, the dumplings are finished and can be served together with the chicken paprika.

Chicken paprika made by Budablogger!

How did it succeed for Budablogger?

I used this recipe as I created Chicken paprika for the first time in my life. My father in law makes the best Chicken paprika in the world, so I thought my own would be a big disappointment to myself as I made it, but somehow I was quite satisfied. It tasted well, even my family liked it. The hardest thing was to get the dumplings perfect, but training makes master, so next time I try, it will get even better. Go for it, and write a comment to share how it went for you as you made Chicken paprika in your own kitchen!

What's up in Gerbeaud?

What’s up in Gerbeaud?

Posted on by Budapest Guide

Onyx recently received the news that the Via Michelin star they received last year, still remains at Vörösmarty Square in 2012. Congratulations! But, for someone it has been a hard nut to understand how a great restaurant as Onyx could share building with something as average as Gerbeaud. This question troubled visitors, locals and tourists, for many years until some quite major changes took place some years ago. Gerbeaud received new owners who made some heavy changes to the confectionery. The interior and the classic design is still the same, but the menu has changed. The cakes have changed, the prices have changed and most important, the quality has changed!

Delicious cake in Gerbeaud

Some years ago you could eat a mixture of three cakes in Gerbeaud, named the Gerbeaud Variete costing something like 1100 HUF. This was also the average price for the different cakes available at the confectionery. If you visit Gerbeaud today the cheapest you will find on the list of cakes costs 1850 HUF. A cup of coffee costs more than 1000 HUF as well, and they automatically add 15% service to the bill, so it is simply impossible to leave Gerbeaud after eating a cake and drinking some coffee paying less than 3000 HUF. But, the quality is so much better than earlier, that visitors probably pay twice as much, just to get the quality. Or maybe not?

Chestnut in Gerbeaud

Gerbeaud was long time known to be the best place in Budapest for cakes. New York Confectionery, Ruzswurm and other confectioneries also fight for the status as the best confectionery in Budapest, but what is the reality? Which one is the best? What we know for sure is that Gerbeaud just took a big step in the right direction, and the current quality and the amazing look on the cakes and the plates as they serve them (just as on the pictures), makes you want to grab som cake, even if you are not really a cake person!

 

Great restaurants near St. Stephens Basilica

Posted on by Budablogger

I just spoke with a lawyer friend of mine who loves dining outside and who has visited most of the famous restaurants in Budapest. During our chat I wondered if he could tell me about his favorite restaurants in Budapest, and though hesitating and wondering why I was curious about them, he finally told me his favorite restaurants. Well, maybe not his 100% favorite restaurants, but at least what he said to be his favorite restaurants in the vicinity of the St. Stephens Basilica in Budapest, the beautiful church which is the largest church in Budapest and the third largest in all of Hungary. If you visit any of the restaurants mentioned here, make sure not to miss out on the church, it is a real beauty!

It is worth knowing that this area by the St. Stephens Basilica is a very modern area with lots of rich people walking around, dropping by for a lunch menu in one of the many great restaurants in the area and it has some of the most famous restaurants of Budapest. Maybe that is why my friend Laci enjoys this area and its restaurants so much.

Great restaurants near St. Stephens Basilica

Laci told me that this is not a ranking list, but all five restaurants mentioned are his favorites, though they all have a different profile matching the different daily moods and with different style.

Onyx

1051 Budapest, Vörösmarty tér 7-8.
Of course Onyx is on the list of the best restaurants in Budapest. Onyx would be on the list, even if the list was not only about restaurants near St. Stephens Basilica. This is one of two restaurants in Budapest with a Michelin star and currently considered to be the number one restaurant in Budapest of all, in all categories. The location is also perfect, at the Vörösmarty Square in the end of Vaci Utca (shopping street of Budapest)

Dió

1051 Budapest, Sas u. 4
Dió is a very modern restaurant with Hungarian food at its best, and they have some very interesting dinner menus with 3-4-5 courses prepared for its visitors. You can also order ala carte, but it is worth trying one of the menus. If you come during lunch time they have some tasty lunch menus at a nice price level. The restaurant is only 1 minute on foot from the main entrance of St. Stephens Basilica.

Cafe Kör

1051 Budapest, Sas utca 17
Cafe Kör has for a long time been known as a very popular restaurant in Budapest, and it is mostly hard to find a free table here at any time of the day. They only accept payment in cash (no VISA) and the cuisine is somewhat reformed Hungarian, though the menu keeps on changing all the time. Cafe Kör is in the same street as Dió and also one minute on foot from the St. Stephens Basilica.

Laci! Konyha!

1051 Budapest, Sas u. 11
Brand new restaurant in the center of Budapest. Two master chefs joined together in this project where you can eat delicious menus made up by the chefs themselves, constantly changing. The prices are probably better than on the three earlier mentioned restaurants, and praise keeps coming to the chefs and to everyone working in this new Budapest restaurant. Expect large plates with quite small stuff in the middle.

Tom George / TG Italiano

1054 Budapest, Október 6. utca 8
Tom George has for a long time been known as one of the best Italian restaurants in Budapest and also one of the most expensive. While the earlier mentioned restaurants are in the vicinity of the St. Stephens Basilica, the same is true for Tom George, but from the terrace of this restaurant you can in fact look directly at the church, a big bonus. The restaurant has large indoor and outdoor area, so you will mostly find a free table here whenever you come during opening time.

Now you probably know more about what restaurants to visit when you walk in the area near St. Stephens Basilica. I hope the advices of Laci, my good friend, could help you. There are lots of great hotels located in the same area, some of them ranked among the best four and five star hotels in Budapest, so especially if you live in for example Four Seasons Hotel Gresham, Sofitel or InterContinental all these restaurants are only a few blocks and a few minutes away from the reception at your hotel.

We hope you have liked this article and recommend that you come back to our Budapest blog later, as we will come up with more articles about great restaurants and other Budapest top lists in the future!