Not far from St Stephen’s Basilica the Italian restaurant Il Basilico can be found. It has a nice terrace outside on warmer days and a somewhat Italian atmosphere on the inside. What about the food?
I visited Il Basilico recently and we ordered a Bruschetta (starter), a pizza with ham and mushroom and a lasagne (main course) and for dessert a Panna Cotta and a Millefoglie. We sat down on the inside (it is cold in Budapest in January) and the waiter politely came and asked all the normal questions. Food was served quickly, but while waiting we had some time to take a closer look at the interior. It had an Italian feeling to it, but it was not a 100% Italian feeling, and if I had to choose an Italian restaurant in Budapest based on interior, I would probably never choose Il Basilico. But again, what about the food?
- Il Basilico – Bruschetta: An okay starter, but nothing special
The Bruschetta turned out to be a fine starter. It didn’t really taste anything special (worth remembering), but it was okay. I love pizza so I ordered the Prosciutto e Funghi pizza, while my wife tried the Lasagne. Il Basilico wants to be an Italian restaurant and therefore the pizza is served in a traditional Italian way; thin bottom and quite strong tomato sauce feeling. I am picky when it comes to pizza and I must admit that visiting Italy I did not really enjoy the pizzas I ate there either, so I guess I might be the problem myself (not Il Basilico). Personally I have many places in Budapest where I’d rather eat a pizza than in Il Basilico.
- Pizza in Il Basilico in Budapest
The lasagne often turns out to be a great challenge in restaurants. Often it only taste tomatoes, so we were both skeptical before tasting. Surprisingly the lasagne was good and my wife enjoyed it to the last bite.
We were both full after eating our main courses, but even though you are full, there is still space for dessert. We ordered a Panna Cotta with raspberrysauce and a Millefoglia. The Panna Cotta tasted the way it is supposed to taste… the Millefoglia became the surprise of the day. It first looked like whipped cream, but upon tasting it reminded me of cottage cheese. It was a giant portion, so after tasting and eating both desserts no space was left for anything.
The final bill was about 7000 HUF and that also included two drinks.
- I would gladly eat this dessert once more!
Il Basilico information
Address: 1065 Budapest, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út 31.
Telephone: +36 30 280 2400
Website: http://www.facebook.com/ilbasilicobudapest
