Eat in Budapest

In spite of the flags hanging above the entrance, Pomo d’Oro does not call any attention in the busy street of the Budapest banking district. From inside it has more character with lot of wood decoration, although it’s very dark at least during the day. But this is not something negative.

They’re proud to be the first to receive the plaque of patronage from the Italian Chef Association.

Review

Durint my sole visit to Pomo D’Oro the service crew was not bad: timing of foods was good although they did not pass my ice cube test (I like drinks with lot of ice so I always have to ask for it or for some extra and usually waiters simply forget about it). But this seems to be normal in Budapest because waiters in Budapest restaurants hardly ever do.

As usual in Italian restaurants in Budapest, starters are relatively expensive but the seafood carpaccio for instance is worth it: their octopus is really an exception in this price category.

Their tomato soup is incomparable to any other tomato soup I’ve ever had.

The main courses on the other hand are very good but not so outstanding. Their strive for good quality is visible, their materials are of good quality and after a single visit I can’t say anything negative about Pomo D’Oro. In my opinion it’s one of the 3 best Italian restaurants in Budapest.

My wife said on our first visit here that it’s like 2-3 interior designers had been working on this restaurant’s interior without seeing each others’ work during its progress. But I believe that if you were brave enough so the building from outside not having scared you away you’ll find everything else either nice or funny. Only one more thing about its appearance: I was much more relieved when I realized that the dozens of kilos of deer horns above each table were made from plastic.

The first restaurant of Italian Michelin-star chef Donatella Zampoli is a wannabe trendy, spacious restaurant still trying to find its target consumers few months after opening.

The service is very polite, sometimes overly, but some waiters are attentive and have a good sense of humor (yes, that’s a dangerous territory, but this time it worked well).

On Sundays it’s a family place with babies and kids, during the week it’s a trendy restaurant and in the evening it’s always full.

They’ve redesigned their menu few weeks ago, prior to that it was an Italian/Mediterranean fusion cuisine. They promised some changes, putting more summer-meals on the menu like salads and we expected price increase. They delivered the latter (10-15% on average) and they even taken some salads out, like the potato salads which my sister really loved. It’s still not expensive, indeed, they have the best value for money pizzas especially on the lower-end segment. And the meals are also well-priced to compete with the Le Roys and alike. At least the design suggests that they aim to conquer some of their customers, whilst also attracting tourist passing by and local residents. Yuppies also discovered the place quickly and I’m very curious what will be the main customer base of Donatella’s.

Their pizzas are simply fantastic; their pastas are good but sometimes disappointing because of the obvious use of frozen material.

The main courses are well seasoned and well created. And well prepared.

More information and details of the meals will follow soon.