2024-03-18 | TRAVEL GUIDE
Believe it or not, Budapest has to offer not only fine dining experience, but dining at several Michelin Star restaurants. The first restaurant to receive a Michelin Star was Costes Restaurant in 2010, followed by three other restaurants which managed to join in this prestigious group of first class dining restaurants. We’ve made a brief selection of Michelin Star restaurants in Budapest for your refined culinary taste. And to pair this exquisite experience, rent a limousine and book a room in one of the best downtown hotels in Budapest. It is an experience happening once in a lifetime (and more if you’re lucky), so make sure to treat yourself well.
Costes Restaurant started back in 2007, when the place was completely transformed by its owners. Before the grand reopening, the owners found Europe’s best suppliers, the staff underwent rigorous training in France, while the chef’s innovative methods guarantee perfect results. Stylish and elegant, Costes Restaurant is all about forgetting the outside world for a couple of hours. Having no dress code, the place has a laid back atmosphere with minimalist, modern interior, well paired with amazing pieces of silverware and crystal-ware, where the hungry guests can enjoy top quality international cuisine with Hungarian touches. This restaurant is most recommend for celebrating special events or to impress business partners.
In March 2010, Costes Restaurant received a star in the ‘Main Cities of Europe’ Michelin Guide, becoming the first Hungarian restaurant to receive such an honor and only the second in the Central European region. Costes continues to win local and international awards to this day. The service is friendly and impeccable, while the dishes are prepared with the finest and freshest ingredients. The menu is constantly changing, in line with the seasonal changes. The restaurant is widely heard of because of its excellent wine selection too. There are over 300 types of wine from Hungary and all around the world, so you are guaranteed to come across a real treasure as well.
Sharing the same roof as the world popular Gerbeaud confectionery, Onyx has a secure spot among the elite, fine dining restaurants of Budapest. Serving Hungarian and international cuisine, the Onyx restaurant prides in its quality domestic ingredients and spectacular Hungarian wine selections. The highly skilled chefs here create a real gastronomic journey for every enthusiast, showcasing international flavors and redesigned Hungarian cuisine. As a result of its hard work, this restaurant has gained a reputation as one of Budapest’s top choices when it comes to fine dining. Luring with its more than stylish interior design and ultra-elegant furniture, this restaurant is guaranteed to please even the most delicate tastes.
The restaurant is a proud owner of a Michelin Star since 2011, as the first place that joined Costes in this prestigious achievement, with the acknowledgement of the Gault & Millau. In all, this is an amazingly successful fusion restaurant with award-winning chefs in the very heart of Budapest.
Conveniently located close to the Basilica, the Borkonyha Restaurant got a Michelin Star in March, 2014. The interior of the restaurant is interestingly composed of beige and dark brown tones, inviting the visitors with its cozy atmosphere. Being one of the favorite places in downtown Budapest, the restaurant has a truly unique setting with a laid-back French bistro feeling, a Hungarian family restaurant, and a wine shop and bar, all paired with subtly attentive, friendly and informal service. The relatively short menu offers high quality food made with the freshest ingredients, rotated by the seasons’ change, by the talented hands of the chef, Ákos Sárközy, who draws inspiration from Transylvanian cuisine, while incorporating Spanish, French and Italian culinary twists, and whose efforts were rewarded with a star by the French restaurant guide.
The Borkonyha Wine restaurant also offers a pretty impressive collection of over 200 types of Hungarian wines from small and large wineries, ordered by the bottle or glass. For those wishing to dine outdoors, there’s a nice terrace as well.
In the autumn of 2014, Tanti Restaurant in Buda joined Budapest’s restaurant map with a new concept and the potential of becoming a master of reinvented Hungarian dishes. The name Tanti is actually a reference to the Hungarian word ‘tánti”, translated as an aunt with the best cooking. With its mouthwateringly designed fusion food and unusually paired tastes, the restaurant promptly became an important elite point on Budapest’s gastro map. Tanti’s opened its gates in September 2014 and managed to accomplish a quick success by proving to have astonishing results. These efforts were crowned by the restaurant’s winning a place in the 34th Michelin Guide, thus becoming Budapest’s fourth Michelin Star restaurant.
The Tanti restaurant offers a truly pleasant and nice atmosphere in the effort to shape your fine dining experience. This prestigious recognition of Tanti’s quick achievements, where not even a year passed when the restaurant got its international recognition in the Michelin Guide, was best verbalized by the editor Rebecca Burr as “great cooking and simple artistry”. This is a very stylish and modern restaurant, where the kitchen delivers clean and fresh flavors, showing a real understanding of its ingredients.
Budapest is one of the cities that mesmerize with wonderful architecture, rich history and art and true spirit by the locals showcased through the art of socializing and dining culture. If you happen to find yourself one day in this European jewel of a city, make sure to sink in all of its pleasures, from the top tourist places in Budapest to the best jazz clubs in Budapest. But while you are at it, make sure to experience the more luxurious side of the city before getting to Budapest airport. Bon appetite!