2024-03-18 | TRAVEL GUIDE
Hungary has one of the best cuisines in Europe, so when in Budapest, make sure to enjoy traditional dishes as much as possible.
Our brief recommendation for you, the hungry traveler, is visiting the three best restaurants in Budapest where you can indulge in the local flavors and enrich your overall Hungarian experience.
Hence, call a yellow cab and book a room in one of the best downtown hotels in Budapest, and treat yourself with a proper vacation.
Located just around the corner from the St. Stephen Basilica, the Café Kör or 'Circle Café' is a long-standing favorite place in Budapest for lunch or dinner, but a great place for a light meal at any time, including breakfast, available till noon.
The staff and the service is friendly, welcoming and helpful.
They serve traditional Hungarian food out of the menu, and also have lots of daily specials to order, listed inside on a large piece of cardboard paper, bringing out the best of the traditional Hungarian cuisine.
The place radiates with a quaint atmosphere that resembles the bourgeois pre-war restaurant scenery of the city. In case you care to mingle with the Hungarian finance executives on weekdays, Café Kör is the "to see and be seen" spot. They serve a gigantic and beautifully juicy veal schnitzel, beef tenderloin "goulash style", Rossini beef tenderloin topped with foie gras, a true rival to any served anywhere in France, urging you to return here every week. Make sure to enjoy the courteous waitstaff, something you won’t see much of in Budapest. And yes, the “Gulácsi” dessert is a local tasty specialty to end your meal with. The service is very friendly, subtly attentive and English is spoken at the café. Café Kor is really a gem on the Pest side of the Danube, so make sure to stop by if you are traveling to Budapest.
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.
The restaurant’s moto and mission is “Quality gastronomy without compromises” and they have no problem to materialize this on a daily level. Here you can order a variety of salads, sandwiches, burgers and degustation menus of 4-6 courses (with or without wine pairing), along with a standard menu of starters, soups, main dishes, grill dishes and desserts. For special occasions like Easter, Christmas or Valentine’s Day, a festive menu is prepared, so make sure to book a table especially if you’re visiting in these periods.
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, attentive 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.
Conveniently placed at Sas Street, 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, paired with subtly attentive, friendly and informal service. The relatively short menu offers high quality food made with the freshest ingredients 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 on the street, where you can dine while people-watching. This wine kitchen restaurant is one of the finest in Budapest, so if you had a long year, feel free to pamper your taste buds a bit during your vacation.
Budapest has a truly remarkable dining culture, most praised for its power to build and strengthen the locals’ socialization. If you happen to plan a trip to Budapest, and you have a bit of budget to spare, try to check these amazing places. For the rest of your stay, however, we recommend you to get acquainted with all cheap places to eat in Budapest and get a taste of different cuisines. By all means, this is a good read while you’re in the airport shuttle and heading to your hotel in Budapest.