Eat in Budapest

According to their full-page advertisement in Budapest Time Out magazine, you’re supposed to fall in love with Budapest or with someone here.

But will you?

The place can be best described briefly as a caricature of Hungary’s trendy places, being one of them itself. After the success of the neighbor Déryné (a rather funny but peasant place with unmemorable food and full of hipsters) the owner decided to open a place just around the corner combining tapas bars’ portions, running sushi’s’ service methods and so called new European cuisine. The result? as I said before.

The service is funny: young boys and girls, one of them acting with gestures like in an ancient Greek theater playing for people up to 100 meters away to stay visible. Others are simply ignorant, but they’re polite if you manage to talk to them. They’re very badly organised as well.

Most scary about Mini (even more than some of its guests) is its wine list, with 300-400% uplift against retail prices.

Characteristics:	International, new European
Ambience:	Dark interior with modern elements styled in a Hungarian fashion. Visited by media people, entrepreneurs, yuppies but also by the wealthy Hungarian “pigneck” “alternative” entrepreneurs
Peer group (style):Â	Tom George, Interior: Donatella’s Kitchen meets Costes and running sushi bar.Cuisine: none
Peer group (quality):
P/V:	Outrageous
Meal price (HUF):	Tapas-size portions between HUF 400-HUF 2000
Food Score (0-10):
Service:	Amateurish, acting like on stage . Not attentive but polite.
Overall score:
Price weighted overall score
Pros:	Design and cocktails, live piano in the evening.
Cons:	Food, price, guests.
Outstanding:
Who goes:	Media people, entrepreneurs, yuppies but also by the wealthy Hungarian “pigneck” “alternative” entrepreneurs, similar to Tom George
Reservation:	Highly recommended for dinner

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I’d been complaining a lot about Budapest restaurants not having been keen to offer customers decent meals at affordable prices in these turbulent economic environment. I finally found a couple of good choices in different parts of the town which I now would like to share with you.

Csalogány 26 has probably been offering their daily lunch menu for some time but I never noticed (I paid full price in the evening). I recently tasted their pork medalion which was simply fantastic plus they have a house’s wine which was quite good as well (a  simple but acceptable cuvée  from Malatinszky’s of Villány) for only HUF 200/100 cl. Check out their weekly lunch menu here but note that it’s quite unreliable since items tend to change by when you get there.

In the east bank of river Danube, Borbíróság decided to give a 50% discount for those who download their voucher from their website. Borbíróság may not be the best restaurant in town but it has a cosy atmosphere and a decent wine cellar. It’s also ideally located for those visiting the Vásárcsarnok or work in the neighborhood but they’re tired of the usual suspects of Ráday utca.

Noir et L’Or has a business lunch menu for HUF 990 for 2 courses and that’s quite fair: food is simplistic but well made and fresh and the service is polite. The interior is a bit cheaper answer to Donatella’s Kitchen the opposite side of the road, but the golden putto heads are a little bit over the edge to my taste. But it’s not only the interior design: as Donatella’s getting more and more expensive, Noir et L’Or’s getting to be a more and more viable option to many. They also have some good, rare wines such as Ráspi Irsai Olivér and Máté cuvée for instance.

Their Sunday Gluttonous day with its 50% off offer is a good alternative to Sunday Brunches.

Being a highly ranked restaurant and located in the very center of the city, Onyx restaurant represents a more luxurious option. With their lunch menu however, Onyx targets those who would like to break their daily monotony by a 45 minutes lunch. If 2 courses+coffee wouldn’t be served within that time period, the lunch’s on the house!

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Here we are, the restaurant I most frequently visit but never have written about. In fact, I’ve become regular at Gold because of their very affordable lunch menu on weekdays. It’s a bit ironic that I’m thinking about having a break of it. The reason is twofold: first, it’s become very crowded lately and with the opening of new nearby office buildings I predict an increase in demand for table and consequently in price, followed by an inevitable fall of quality. Secondly, there are already signs of decline: the waiters have never been skilled or particularly keen to serve you (I’m told off every time) so I’m almost used to it, but the food’s quality’s become volatile too: it happened to me one weekend that the tuna salad which, according to the waiter was made of sliced fresh tuna during the week, became canned tuna by the end of it. I was also served bread which was dry on one side and fresh on the other. Why did I go back after such disappointments? The answer is simple:

They have a lunch menu which is the best value for the money in Buda, by far. Although the creativity in the kitchen’s a bit over the edge now (mixing Asian with Mediterranean but not in a very good way), their duck specialties are most often than not very good.

Of course I could complain a lot more: from using cheap, salted olive instead of marinated olive and so on, but you know what, it wouldn’t be fair. For HUF 1 500 you get 3 courses and if you’re lucky, at least one of them is way out of the league even of most more expensive places.

Characteristics:	Hungarian, International, Fusion
Ambience:	The “bistro”’s interior design is a bit of a chaos of modern wannabe trendy located quite literally in the middle of a Gym. You can actually check out sweating people playing squash whilst enjoying one of the best office launches of Budapest.
Peer group (style):Â	Interior: Donatella’s Kitchen but cheaper, Tom George but cheaper Cuisine: Babel
Peer group (quality):	Between Olimpia and Babel
P/V:	Excellent, an absolute best buy!
Meal price (HUF):	HUF 900 main course until 17.00. 3 course menu: HUF 1 300.
Food Score (0-10):
Service:	Awful
Overall score:
Price weighted overall score
Pros:	Often good materials, frequently changing innovative menu, unbelievable price/quality ratio, very good although small selection of (”terroir”) wines
Cons:	Location (it’s right in the middle of a gym, surrounded by squash courts), sometimes mediocre materials, service
Outstanding:	Rosé duck’s not just innovative but also very good, their shrimps are always fresh
Who goes:	Nearby office workers and people from the local gym
Reservation:	Not possible for lunch
Web:	http://www.goldcenter.hu
Menu:	http://www.goldcenter.hu/index.php?p=restaurant&s=restaurant_menu
Make a reservation:	Coming soon…

Now it’s official. There can be no doubt that Costes is de facto the best restaurant in Budapest and in the whole country.

Unfortunately Costes will close soon, or at least I’d bet heavily on this if I could. Much to my sadness, I must say, since Costes is by far the best restaurant in Hungary. Why? Let me see:

-         It runs a creative, trend-setting cuisine that has no peer in Hungary

-         It uses excellent materials, including a carefully made selection of Hungarian wines

-         It has a stylish, modern, although too smart atmosphere, good interior design

Anyone thinking about trying out Costes should consider the business lunch which is a more affordable option to Á la carte. The tasting menus are excellent and the food pairing’s almost perfect. 2 complaints I had: i) Chateau Kajmád Cabernet Sauvignon paired with a fish course was very strange. Ii) I’m not a local patriot or anything but offering Port Tawney for dessert…

I have no idea how Costes managed to bring here a Portuguese chef, indeed such a good one. Head Chef Miguel Rocha Vieira had previously worked in Maison Pic and prior to that, in El Bulli. It’s not that I know any of these but some of you may. The empresarios behind Costes are making the utmost to call the attention of Michelin Guide and GaultMillau’s, and Mr. Rocha Vieira’s keeping Costes on the right track if you ask me.

Here’s one of the Tasting Menus (my favorite, by wine pairing too), click to see them all:

Characteristics:	International
Ambience:	Elegant, stylish, modern and minimalist with good taste.
Peer group (style):Â	Babel Delicate, but more minimalist
Peer group (quality):	none
P/V:	Talking about the best restaurant of Hungary, it’s difficult to say that it’s overpriced. In international comparison, I’ve been to Michelin star restaurant in London which was slightly cheaper. For Hungarian middle-class, unaffordable.
Meal price (HUF):	HUF 900 main course.
Food Score (0-10):
Service:	Some are polite and casual, others too casual
Overall score:
Price weighted overall score
Pros:	Excellent food, polite service, good sommelier w/ one of the best wine lists in town. The business lunch is reasonably priced.
Cons:	Price, service a bit overplaying the role
Outstanding:	All
Who goes:	Businessmen, wealthy tourists
Reservation:	The restaurant is almost empty at lunchtime, in the evening reservation is recommended.
Web:	http://www.costes.hu/
Menu:	http://www.costes.hu/assets/Tastingmenu_en.pdf
Make a reservation:	Coming soon…

Announcement: from now on I’m using scale of 20 for scoring restaurants of Budapest based on a more standardised approach. The reason is threefold: i) to allow more differentiation between restaurants ii) for better international orientation and iii) for better domestic comparison. What does this mean? Now my system is more in line with Gault Millau’s system and consequently, more in line with “Étterem és Bor Kalauz”, possibly the only reliable printed restaurant guide to Hungary. However, I must emphasize that there are similarities as well as differences too so equal points do not necessarily mean identical judgment.

The new system will result in 3 scores:

1. Food score

2. Restaurant score

3. Price weighted restaurant score

1. Food score

The total of 20 points can add up as follows.

Material: the quality and freshness of ingredients has the second highest weight.

Technical skills:another important factor is how the materials are used in the preparation process. It’s easier to point out mistakes here than to appreciate outstanding performance.

Harmony and the big picture: It speaks for itself. This end result has slightly higher importance even than the materials.

Style: this relates to the exploration of a certain style of cooking or its reinterpretation. This part also incorporates the creativity factor. This has a relatively moderate contribution to the total points.

Reliability: although an important factor, it’s underweighted in the overall score.

2. Restaurant score

The overall restaurant score takes into consideration, besides the Food Score, the following aspects: service, wine list and ambience, the first two having equal weight, slightly more than the latter.

3. Price weighted restaurant score

You’d be surprised by this one. Although this factor will have a total effect of up to only 10% of the total final score, many value restaurants will outperform much more expensive restaurants when this factor is taken into account.

Please note that I’ll continue to visit and review restaurants recommended by reliable sources, so don’t expect reviews with scores less than 9, these will be the exceptions. And watch out because coming up soon: Gold Bistro and Costes! And Normafa Grill, but you’d better forget that.

Every restaurant that achieves 10 points in Price weighted restaurant points, is recommended for visit. However, I still suggest that you check out the price/value indicator of each restaurant!

No way I would have found this underground restaurant if it wasn’t for the blog sphere media hype when it opened. It’s still a must-go place for food enthusiasts although no more than a dozen people were occupying about 50% of the seats of this small family bistro during my stay there. The proximity of the busy Keleti Pályaudvar (Estern Train Station) and the nearby attractions of Dósza György út (still within a walking distance from Andrássy and Heros’ Square) wouldn’t help: the entrance stays unnoticed by most passers by and neither the exterior, nor the interior design will improve this.

The service is quick and casually simple and to my biggest surprise, instead of overpriced mineral water the serving of sparkling water is automatic and free. Believe me, in Hungary that’s something to be mentioned.

The guests  usually can chose between 2 starters, 3 main courses and 2 desserts. The 2 and 3 course menus are a bargain.

The chef uses good, fresh ingredients for all the food which vary between simplistic, home-made basic meals and elegantly dressed, complicated items, sometimes found on the very same plate in the same time.

Good quality material and reliability are the key strengths of this restaurant in this corner of Budapdest.

The price of food here is very funny. My lunch plus the parking fine I had to pay combined were still cheaper than most restaurants of similar quality, and the regular menu’s just above a Big Mac menu’s price.

Characteristics:	Hungarian, International
Ambience:	Family bistro, casual
Peer group (style):Â	M
Peer group (quality):	M, Gold Bistro (on better days)
P/V:	Good in the evening, Excellent during lunchtime
Meal price (HUF):	They offer almost 50% discount on already reasonably priced meals during lunchtime
Food Score (0-10):	10.5
Service:	Service staff is virtually invisible, not too informative, not well prepared, but calm and relatively polite
Overall score:	9.7
Price weighted overall score	10.7
Pros:	Good materials, sparkling tap water’s free
Cons:	Interior design and comfort, accessibility. Credit cards are not accepted!
Outstanding:	Frequently changing very short menu
Who goes:	Very mixed, including businessmen, students, office workers, couples
Reservation:	Needed for the evening, not possible for lunch

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M is a small cosy bistro in downtown Budapest overshadowed by the busy Liszt Ferenc square and Király utca, not to mention the establishments of Andrássy street. Located in the shadowy Kertész street on appr. 70 square meters and with a facade of 3 meters it’s completely undetectable and still visited by tourists. In spite of this it’s a quiet place run by food-enthusiast friends without any formal culinary education and visited by young students and artist as well as by French and Anglo-Saxonic tourists. With a capacity of around 35 people it’s often full but as opposed to Klassz on Andrássy street, here you can make a reservation. If you’re lucky you can experience one of their theme days like their Jewish weekend this fall.

The food is decent home-made style International and Hungarian made of perfectly fresh material. And this is one of the key aspects of M, the other one being the charming, friendly atmosphere created by the poor illumination and the handicraft wallpaper decoration covering the entire space. The prices are reasonable, even tourists on a budget will be satisfied with the bill.

They have a short wine selection of the lower-medium segment.

Characteristics:	Hungarian, International
Ambience:	Family bistro
Peer group (style):	Very unique. Not so smelly as a typical Hungarian bistro and the food is far better.
Peer group (quality):	LeRoy
P/V:	Good
Meal price (HUF):
Food Score (0-10):	6+
Service Score:	6+
Overall score:	6+
Pros:	Good food, Interior design, cosy atmosphere, small size
Cons:	Too small
Outstanding:
Who goes:	Young media people, artist, tourists, undergraduates

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In spite of a snobbish name, Bábel is a modestly snobbish place. It’s interior reflects the current modern trend in Budapest gastronomy widely used in places like Donatella’s Kitchen, Tom George and many more.

I went there for a business lunch and stayed there until 18.30 without noticing that the usiness lunch place close at 16.00 for two hours until reopening as a chic trendy restaurant at 18.00. Part of the crew were very polite and attentive but still I’m afraid we were only allowed to stay because we were drinking non stop.

The food was delicious, although the fois gras mousse with baby beetroot salad (EUR 9.8) had such a small portion of mousse that is outrageous even by high-end gastronomy standards. But it was amazingly light and fresh, although not to be compared with Ráspi’s fois gras mousse (I’ll post about it soon).

The filet of trout with cauliflower and pearl barly risotto (EUR 9.6) was not just wonderfully good looking but also very tasty: thin slices of fish perfectly firm (or soft, from another angle) and very well spiced, although many may think it had too much spicy on it (I’m not one of them).

Their wine recommendation (Chateau Kajmád Cabernet Sauvignon 2006) wasn’t the best especially considering that we picked a far more sophisticated St. Andrea Áldás Cuvée (2006) before. But it was alright, we finished off the whole Áldás cuvée and then just ordered glasses of Cabernet wihch they opened in front of our eyes (a major achievement in Hungarian hospitality).

The restaurant is perfectly located ta the end of váci street just 100 meters from FÅ‘vámtér ’s touristic market.

More information: http://www.babeldelicate.hu/

Characteristics:	Hungarian, fusion
Ambience:	Modern minimalist: dark trendy interior, clean forms
Peer group (style):	Csalogány 26, Klassz
Peer group (quality):	Almost as good as Csalogány 26
P/V:	Medium to very good (main courses during lunchtime)
Meal price (HUF):	1 800 - 3 700
Food Score (0-10):	7+/8-
Service Score:	6+
Overall score:	7+
Pros:	Food, cleanness of the place, location, friendly waiters
Cons:	Atmosphere a bit artificially polite, especially the waitresses who seemed a bit confused
Outstanding:	trout with cauliflower and pearl barly risotto
Who goes:	Local office workers, trendy tourists

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Let’s start with the facts: Csalogány 26 restaurant is ugly. Now, keep reading.

Ideally hidden from the tourist trails and businesses in one of the ugliest areas of the 1st district, Csalogány 26 mostly attracts people who would like to eat well. The slightly pretentious service is in contrast with the honestly ugly, although new interior. You wouldn’t guess from that that Csalogány 26 was recently chosen one of Hungary’s top 10 restaurants.

Their wine list suggests good taste and I’d say that you can pair relatively well with most items on the short and frequently changing menu. I scored at first: Ráspi’s Sauvignon Blanc from 2007 is truly amazing. About the wine, please see the full review and other here.

The shrimp carpaccio with wasabi and mango sauce was fresh and tiny. The service guys new exactly when was appropriate to offer more wine (we only ordered one glass each of us (2) but ended finishing off a whole bottle).

It was sort if interesting to see on a plasma screen how the chef was preparing my fish, which was btw wonderfully cooked, spiced and served.

The goat cheese cream was very tasty and lightweight but the plum ice cream didn’t taste plum at all.

The bread which is served abundantly during and in between courses was fresh and excellent.

I paid HUF 5 500 for the 3 courses and it was well worth it.

Advance booking is recommended.

It’s a top pick for everyone, but only because of the food. Location is poor, interior is ugly and service staff is mixed.

Characteristics:	Fusion
Ambience:	Budapest in the nineties - the worst of it
Peer group (style):Â	Arcade but better
Peer group (quality):
P/V:	Very good
Meal price (HUF):	3 course menu: HUF 5 500, 4 courses HUF 7 500,  8 courses HUF 9 500 Wine is priced reasonably
Food Score (0-10):	8-
Service Score:	6
Overall score:	7+
Pros:	Excellent, fresh food
Cons:	Location, interior design
Outstanding:
Who goes:	Businessmen, smartly dressed middle-aged and older couples

It’s been more than 2 years ago when I read the first acknowledgements about Momotaro Ramen which captured my imagination through its originality and good value aspects, according to the late matula.hu fanzine. 2 years used to be more than sufficient with Budapest standards to experience major degradation in food and service and general quality decrease in any restaurant in Budapest but I have good news: despite some minor faults Momotaro Ramen is still an authentic place to eat relatively quickly.

The interior remained unchanged since the socialist era and the service is a bit old-fashioned too (in Hungary it means harsh).

Portions are huge, the only disappointment was frozen sea-food mix used for the soup.

Due to its quality, location and affordability I’d recommend this place to tourists and locals, those who are looking for authenticity in eastern cuisine. 

 

Characteristics:	Lower-end restaurant Chinese-Japanese
Ambience:	An interesting mix of Chinese families, local intellectuals and yuppies, in a socialist/communist interior
Peer group (style):Â	Â
Peer group (quality):Â	Sushi Sei
P/V:	Very good
Meal price (HUF):	HUF 1500 - HUF 2 500
Food Score (0-10):	7-
Service Score:	6-
Overall score:	6+
Pros:	Authenticity, huge portions
Cons:	Some frozen seafood
Outstanding:	Monks Food
Who goes:	Local intellectuals, Chinese families, yuppies