eating out | thehub.hu | guide to budapest

Nyugati ter 6 [map]
Szent István körút 20 [map]
Pest, V, Nyugati tér (M3, T4/6)
Cuisine > Italian

Rating: 6.5/10

It's ok.

Food: 6.5/10
Service: 6.5/10
Atmosphere: 6.5/10
Value for money: 6.5/10

Andy Sz.

Ötpacsirta utca 2 [map]
Pest, VIII, Kálvin tér (M3, T47/49), 2 min
Cuisine > Hungarian

Rating: 8.0/10

It's hard to deny the aesthetic charm of Épitész Pince. The courtyard, entangled with ivy and surrounded by marble busts and Romanesque colonnades, is worth a peek even if you're not going to sit down for a beer. You might as well though, given that prices are surprisingly reasonable, and never have I nursed an unenjoyable beer while surrounded by ivy and Romanesque colonnades. The crowd, too, is impressive. Pick a season (cough, not winter) and the sprawl of tables is packed with a student-dominated clientele. Come colder months, however, tables are piled high in the corner and gastronomic pursuits are directed indoors.


Inside, both view and ambiance head south. At times deserted, at times dominated by real live architects doing real live business, Épitész Pince is hard to count on for a lively evening out. With popularity waning with the temperature and an interior design that feels more Liszt Ferenc knock-off than its exterior would suggest, indoor dining might not seem the brightest prospect.

The waitstaff, however, are as friendly as they come and more than make up for the drab decoration. Even with almost-every-other-monthly appearances, I am still greeted, "Egy korsó Borostyán, ugye?". Yes, you've remembered, Good Sir. And for that I am honored. But you're here for the food, after all. Skim the menu and you'll find the fare to be traditionally Hungarian with a smattering of a surprisingly creative poultry and pork options. Portions are generous, well prepared, with mains hovering between 1500 and 2000Ft.

Vámház körút 8 [map]
Pest, V, Kálvin tér (M3, T47/49), 3 min
Cuisine > International

Hankering for pizza? On a psychedelic trip to the moon? Have a hard-to-please group of friends all wanting to agree on someplace to eat? You’ve found your spot (but only if it's all three)!

The unassuming sign and facade that boasts of 990Ft (4€) pizza, leaves you ill-prepared for the world you're about to step into. You’re approaching another dimension. What lies within these walls is stupefying!

Unicornis appears to be the result of what happens when a few friends from opposite ends of the spectrum get together to run a restaurant. Probably their only bond is a penchant for LSD or magic mushrooms, which leaves them in no position to agree on anything!

The décor is analogous to what a 14-year-old fan of Dungeons and Dragons might do for their school art project. Styrofoam pockmarks the perimeter and is meant to look like a crumbling façade, in between white 'pillars' that stop mid-wall. A fire-breathing dragon and yes, of course, a unicorn, gallivant amidst a psychedelic space-scape beyond. The Neverending Story meets Flash Gordon but with zero budget and traditional Hungarian table booths.

Oh, and it’s not unlikely that you’ll hear 1990’s hit “Ice Ice Baby” followed by Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time” to complete the oddest restaurant atmosphere in town.

What got me through the door of Unicornis in the first place was the cheap pizza, and it’s certainly the way to go if you're short on cash. You might assume that 990Ft only gets you a margarita, but you'd be mistaken, my friend. There are about two full pages of speciality pizzas, all a full 32 centimeters, all included in that same great price.

In keeping with the surroundings, there are some odd toppings too. The Barbecue pizza includes BBQ sauce, bacon, gyros(!), corn, onion, and peppers. It gets better. How about spicy sauce, Vienna sausage (hot dogs), bacon, corn, hot peppers, and fried eggs? While certainly not the most authentic pizza I’ve had in Budapest, it certainly wasn't the worst either. And psychedelic space beggars can't be choosers!

The rest of the menu is haphazard, to say the least. Yogurt, pickles and turkey legs make their way into various loose translations of the “burrito”. There’s a “wok” section, some Indian options, salads, and of course Hungarian specialities. They also have a vegetarian selection which goes beyond fried cheese and salad, with heartier options such as the veggie risotto.

Unicornis is absolutely not the place to impress on a first, second, third or any date! Likewise, bring your parents here, and it'll only confirm their suspicions that you're not eating properly. But if you're hungry at that end of town, with 1000Ft in your pocket, and in need of a giggle, Unicornis delivers. It delivers you into a mythological world where a boy who needs some food can find a restaurant that needs a hero.

It's easy to develop a lazy routine as a foreigner in Hungary. You get to know a few places that you like and you just keep on going back for familiar grub, at a familiar spot in a familiar restaurant. But those who earn an average Hungarian wage aren't hitting up sit-down restaurants every night; their bankroll simply wouldn't allow it. So, every so often, when in Budapest, why not do as the Budapesters do?

Kis Pozsonyi
Pannónia utca 2 [map]
Pest, XIII, Jászai Mari tér (T4/6), 1 min
Cuisine > Hungarian, Fast food

Rating: 7.6/10

For weeks I watched a little hole in the wall get transformed into one of these canteen eateries. While the construction was taking place, I fumbled to fathom what might be going in here. Once opened, I was still unsure what Kis Pozsonyi was exactly. The intimacy of the unassuming space was perplexing. Do people eat in this little place? After much internal struggle, I mustered up the courage, and decided to be the intruder on true Hungarian eating culture.

The first couple of times I ate here, I went for soup, sometimes, főzelék, sometimes an additional meat portion. The major selling point: it's cheap. Almost insanely cheap. I grabbed a quick főzelék and a beer, and realized that the more expensive of my two items was the beer, with my check totaling just over 400 forint. That's another selling point, they've got beer—230 for a pohár and 380 for a korsó of Dreher. The rest of the menu is similar fare, Hungarian staple foods all warming in stainless steel trays.

For one thing, at high lunch-traffic time, you can't move in the place. You might have to take a couple of walks around the block before some elbow space frees at one of the maybe ten chairs. Presumably, this is when most of the food gets devoured here, so get there early for the best selection, though they're open 'til 8pm daily.

The people that come here are of all sorts. I've seen cute girls scamper in the door, construction workers just off the job, a flock of French women, and eagerly hungry 30-something males popping in for a quick bite. The fact that it’s family-owned and operated adds to its allure.

It wasn't until after snagging their last leg of duck one day that I came to a stark realization. This must be the little brother to Pozsonyi Kisvendéglő, which I reviewed with much acclaim not long ago. The taste of the duck, along with the red cabbage (accompanied by fries, a simple soup and a beer—a mountain of food for under 1200 forint) was strikingly similar as the restaurant's big brother, which helped me finally put two and two together. Though the smiling chef decal in the window—which the big Pozsonyi shares—should have given it away to me.

Kis Pozsonyi has quickly become my place to go for a quick meal, one that's inexpensive, tasty enough, always reliable, and saves me having to contemplate cooking.

Food: 6.5/10
Service: 8/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Value for money: 9/10

Lecsó
Szent István körút 10 [map]
Pest, XIII, Jászai Mari tér (T4/6), 1 min
Cuisine > Hungarian, Fast food

Rating: 5.1/10

Lecsó (named after the Hungarian stew) feels like walking into a bathroom where they serve Hungarian fast-food, thanks to the fresh tile everywhere. The puzzled-looking women behind the troughs of food are robotic in everything from their insincere "szia" to their green look as they spoon out your food. Maybe it's because Lecsó is the new kid on the block, and boy can you tell it. It's big, two floors, and rarely filled with people, except maybe at lunchtime.

Sure there's plenty to choose from, Hungarian soups, goulash, assorted deep friend meats, even desserts and salads, but the employees don't even seem to know what any of it is. Perhaps most off-putting: people watch you eat. The bored ladies have no trivial small talk or menial tasks to tend to, so they stare, silently. Eat here and you'll know how monkeys in cages feel.

The food is not particularly inspiring either; insipid, in fact. Worse still, it’s insanely expensive. On one of my few trips into the place, they managed to con me out of 1070 forint for a dry piece of breaded chicken and a bowl of unidentifiable főzelék! It could have been white beans, maybe potato, who knows?

Oh and a side of rice is 290 forint! Rice? 290 forint!?! Highway robbery!

The only time it might be acceptable to think about eating in Lecsó is from 8 to 10 in the evening, when the food is half price (and still too expensive at that). At least there's no risk of it losing its flavour!

Food: 5/10
Service: 6.5/10
Atmosphere: 5/10
Value for money: 4/10

Both restaurants are a quick jaunt from Jászai Mari tér. Just walk away from the Danube down the körút and Lecsó is on the left. Kis Pozsonyi is on the left a bit further down, on the corner of Pannónia utca, immediately before Vig Színház.
Letcho, Lecho, Lecso
Jacob P.

Radnóti Miklós utca 38 [map]
Pest, XIII, Jászai Mari tér (T4/6), 4 min
Cuisine > Hungarian

Pozsonyi Kisvendéglő has character and plenty of it, but it's not overly boastful and doesn't scream, "HEY! We're a happening Hungarian restaurant." However, the ivy growing on the restaurant's facade is inviting, as are the always-packed tables located outside during the warmer months.

Located on the corner of it's namesake street in the 13th district, Pozsonyi Kisvendéglő holds a special place in my heart. Sure, Pozsonyi út has a quaint allure with it's numerous shoe-box-sized watering holes, cafes, book shops, homey Hungarian craft stores, and plenty of cute geriatric couples walking arm in arm, but that's not the main reason. It's one of the first places where I finally felt like Budapest was my home. It is restaurants like this which are neighborhood staples, and Pozsonyi Kisvendéglő is just that.

Without a doubt, have the duck. I can't stress it enough. HAVE THE DUCK! Quack, quack, quack. Just keep thinking of that bit in The Mighty Ducks as you step in, and don't you forget it, as you browse the lengthy, book-like menu. If you insist on reading it all - just have the duck - you can take a waltz through Hungarian gastronomy but you'll definitely be asking your waitress for a little longer: "Egy pillanat!"

Around 1600 forint gets you half of a fried duck and hearty flavorful sides of red cabbage and smashed potatoes. There's so much food on the plate that if you can finish, you should consider shooting for the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

If you're not looking to have to have someone roll you out of the place, or if you're not even willing to spend the measly 1500 for a killer meal, have no fear. The babgulyásleves (bean goulash soup, or "Mr. Bean Soup" as it's translated in the menu) is certainly a meal in itself; chunks of succulent beef, just the right amount of beans, plenty of potatoes and carrots all in a tasty broth, and for under 800 forint. There's also enough similarly priced dishes to fill you up without draining your billfold.


Pozsonyi Kisvendéglő is a spot that you could easily visit once a week, every week. It's also a place to bring friends for their first Hungarian meal or a place for a last hurrah before leaving Budapest, but most importantly, it's a place for really heartwarming, inexpensive Hungarian food. All of this makes Pozsonyi feel like some place you can call your own, even if plenty of others do as well.

Teréz körút 25 [map]
Pest, VI, Oktogon (T4/6, M1), 2 min
Cuisine > Mexican

Rating: 7.3/10

Budapest is in no way at a loss for globalized fast food chains. McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, you name it. There's just one thing missing from my book of American fast food staples: Mexican. When the deep reaches of your stomach and the sensors in your brain are telling you that you haven't had a Mexican fix in a while, then Arriba Taqueria is your place in Budapest.

Arriba is in no way a Mexican fast food joint a la Taco Bell. Not even close, and that's probably a good thing. You can't get a taco for pennies, there's no grade D meat involved, in fact, Arriba's the stronger choice (not that you have one—there's no TB in sight). Arriba's closer cousins are the American burrito chains, Qdoba and Chipotle.

You come in, there's a menu board, you pick which burrito, quesadilla, or taco you want, the friendly (yes, friendly! and helpful! in Budapest! eureka!) staff grabs your tortilla shell and shuffles it down the line where toppings galore await your go-ahead to be piled high in your tortilla, then it's wrapped, tossed in a basket with a few chips and you're on your merry way. However, by few chips, I literally mean a few, like 3. I think they could stand to throw in at least enough to sop up the leftover pico de gallo and beans that spill out of your bulging burrito.Due to the plethora of ingredients involved though, there's no shortage of flavor going on and that's how a good burrito should be. Chorizo, pollo, carne asada, carnitas, machaca, even a vegetarian option; the fillings and options are plentiful. One of the only things you should be wary of when making your selections at Arriba: it can get a bit pricey rather quickly if you snag a burrito and, say, opt for another item, such as the much needed extra chips, a fresh squeezed orange juice, or an imported Mexican beer. All in all though, the menu boasts of a vast, tasty selection and you can even swing by in the AM for a breakfast burrito.

Arriba's great for other things as well. Their bathroom is so mod, you'll feel like you're peeing in 2010. They have free WiFi, so you can enjoy your quesadilla while Skype-ing with friends and show them that Mexican food really does exist in Budapest. It's nice to find out that their business practices stand up as well. Arriba's packaging is largely biodegradable and re-usable, and they even use Fair Trade coffee.

Though the decor is predictable, it follows suit with what certainly feels like a chain restaurant, but when it comes to this style of Americanized Mexican food, I think that's what we've come to expect. With that said, the crowd that Arriba draws in follows suit as well. It's a place where it's not hard to spot an overweight, over-loud American yelling, "Yo! Grab me the hot sauce!" But would you really want it any other way?

Akácfa utca 40 [map]
Pest, VII, Király utca (T4/6), 5 min
Cuisine > Bengali/Bangladeshi

Rating: 8.0/10

Állatkerti körút, Városliget [map]
Pest, XIV, Széchenyi Fürdő (M1), 1 min
Cuisine > Hungarian

Rating: 4/10

‘Lángos! The thick, deep fried dough slice, like a fresh donut but bigger, served with assorted toppings. Sour cream! Cheese! Ham! Garlic! Nutella! (Not all at the same time!) I love lángos! Let’s get a lángos!’

In my experience, that’s a typical reaction to this very Hungarian fast food, available all over the place for people on a budget who aren’t particularly bothered about their waistline. Personally, I’d always found it to be a somewhat problematic, arduous snack, but I hadn’t eaten one in over a year. Was my memory playing tricks on me? Have I just had bad láng-i? I couldn’t be sure, so to check, I headed over to the fringes of the city park.

As with most lángos stands, this one is an unremarkable hut, the equivalent of a roadside burger bar. It has a little window for the cash/food exchange - like a bank till, passport control, or the place in prisons where you get your wallet back after you’ve been released (I imagine).

Deciding against a plain lump of deep-fried dough (300 ft) I plump for a ‘sajtos-tejfölös’ (sour cream with grated cheese, 500 ft) - a combination of hot and cold, dry and wet - the big hitter of Hungarian deep fried dough toppings. After I pay, the little old lady disappears from view for a couple of minutes, before coming back with a lángos in the shape of a big greasy heart. It's cute, if very bad for that particular organ. I turn away from the window, sit down on a plastic chair, and begin to tuck in.

Now, as far as I’m concerned, eating lángos is like an epic journey - one which I can comfortably divide into five sections. The first is the sensation of yummy joy. Hot and fresh, with dough that melts on your tongue, I always wonder why I don’t eat these more often. I love lángos! They’re great! What was I thinking?


A couple of bites later, we’re into stage two and the lángos becomes a funny problem. How the hell am I going to get through this, I think. Then I put it down for a second. After a bit, perhaps when the grease from the dough starts to seep through the napkin and into the table, the journey enters its third stage - the lángos isn’t funny any more, it’s just a problem. Taking a swig from a bottle of water or rubbing the oil from my hands, lips and wrists should help. Another brief hiatus...

Usually at this point, the lángos seems to have grown in size - which means we’ve entered the fourth stage. Here, the rugged surface takes on a different character... it’s now an enormous piece of terrain I can never possibly hope to cross. I’m like Joe Simpson in Touching the Void, a man who spent days dragging himself over a glacier with a broken leg. I gingerly nibble at the edge, hot and exhausted.

A few bites later, and I’m into the fifth and final stage - the stand off. The lángos looks at me, all warmth gone, just a cold unforgiving mass of cheese, sour cream and dough. I stare back, irritated. It stares at me, unflinching. I stare back. It stares at me. Etc. With this particular lángos, I ended up throwing it to the birds. They gobbled it up, and got their beaks and faces all greasy.

I should add that not everyone feels the same way. Being Hungarian seems to help - I know people who eat lángos for breakfast, and in fact, two acquaintances of mine were planning on making their fortune by introducing them to Australia. I've also heard about wonderful, fresh ones with bacon in the middle, available at the car crash of a building, Lehel Csarnok. Whatever your opinon though, there does always seem to be the same sticking point and that is that they're far too heavy. So if you haven't tried one yet, do. Just make sure you share it. With six friends.

Food: 4/10
Service: 4/10
Atmosphere: 4/10
Value for money: 4/10

Andy T.

Klauzal tér 9 [map]
Pest Centre, VII, Deak ter (M3), 8 min
Cuisine > Hungarian

Rating: 9.4/10

Ráday utca 22 [map]
Pest South, IX, Kalvin ter (M3), 5 min
Cuisine > Italian American
Tel. 216-1412; 218-9382

Rating: 6.0/10

“...we dont have to drive it honey, we can park it out in back, and have a party in your pink cadillac.” (Bruce Springsteen). If you do have a party in Pink Cadillac, it’ll probably be a pizza party, or a pasta party, but it’s unlikely to be that memorable, not for the food anyway.

Table after table; parasol after parasol; menu after menu... woe betide the hapless tourist who returns from Budapest with nothing but memories of Váci utca, Liszt Ferenc tér and Ráday utca. There’s a holiday atmosphere, certainly, but the city’s tourist spots come with an obvious catch: you get watered-down Budapest at pumped-up prices.

Pink Cadillac has plenty of outdoor seating and the interior is fairly airy too, with much of the facade opening up for the summer. We took a table by the wall. After a few waiterless minutes, we thought we’d hit the button on the little box next to the table. (Note to manager - please change the text to read: “Hit the button if you want to piss the waiters off!”)

But I was briefly prepared to forgive the underwhelming service. A couple of strips of pizza bread with garlic butter were a pleasant enough, free appetizer while the pizza itself looked pretty appealing: no skimping on the olives and a fair amount of chicken too. However, the fusion of toppings didn’t add up to very much, getting through the doughy base became a war of attrition and no one offered me any pepper either.

The Spaghetti Frutti di Mari was distinctly lacking in great shakes too: two very small prawns left the twirls of processed seafood to dominate. Tiring of my pizza, I swapped it for the pasta for a while. Then I swapped back.

So, what of the venue? It’s ok. Modern, cleanish, with all the character of a modern, cleanish non-Italian pizza joint. The bonnet of a Cadillac coming through the wall doesn't do a lot for me, apart from giving some credence to the name. (Personally, I think they missed a trick in failing to involve Elvis, Springsteen, or Clint Eastwood.)

If this doesn't sound like your bag of mild Americana or there are no tables that take your fancy, you could always go next door to Paris, Texas, where you'll find exactly the same menu at exactly the same price, and another slightly cosier variant of mild Americana. Either way, if you’re on Ráday and you want a pizza, you could do worse and you could pay more. On the other hand, if you're looking for above-average cuisine, take a drive in a different neighbourhood.

Food: 6/10
Service: 6/10
Atmosphere: 6/10
Value for money: 6/10

Walk up Ráday utca from Kalvin tér and Pink Cadillac is on the left. They also do take-away. Raday, Caddilac, Cadilac, Cadillack, Caddilack
Andy Sz.

Kodály körönd [map]
Pest Centre, VI, Kodály körönd (M1), 0 min
Cuisine>Hungarian

Rating: 7.2/10 (Overall)

Paulay Ede u. 53 [map]
Pest Centre, VII, Király utca (T4/6), 3 min
Tel. 061 351 1243
Cuisine>Vegetarian

Rating: 7.1/10

Batthyány tér 5 [map]
Buda, II, Batthyány tér (M2, T18), 2 min
Cuisine > Hungarian

Rating: 5.7/10

If I were a bank manager, and a customer dropped by to ask me for a loan to start up his bizarre chain of 24-HOUR pancake stores, I’d raise an eyebrow.

Maybe I’m too English to be thinking about túrós palacsintá at 2 am, or perhaps I don't quite get the Hungarian passion for pancakes. Either way, the unqualified success of Nagyi Palacsintázója strikes me as more than a little surprising.

There are four branches of ‘Grandma’s Pancakes’ in the city, as well as a ridiculously popular pancake boat (!) which opens during the summer. This simple dish seems to have enormous power to cut across generational boundaries - the first thing I notice when I walk into the Batthyány tér branch is that the customers really do range from eight to eighty.

The second thing I realise is that all the grandmothers are on the wrong side of the counter. Granny’s Pancakes!… it brings to mind a rustic kitchen… a sweet old lady bending over a bowl of pancake batter… an adorable squirrel running along the windowsill… birdsong floating in through an open window. In Batthyány the ‘grandmothers’ all seem to be about twenty and wear football shirts.

The third thing I lay eyes on are the five not-very-rustic microwaves, piled on top of one another behind the cash register. This is the real disappointment here; there's something soggy, rubbery and intrinsically depressing about a pre-prepared version. The temperature of the savoury pancakes is also wildly inconsistent; it's hard to shake the niggling feeling that 'Grandma' might be feeding you something which will give you food poisoning.

So far then, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Nagyi Palacsintázója sounds just a little bit crep-ey. Which begs the question... how can it be so popular?

Well, at approximately 220 ft for a palacsintá or 350 ft for a jacket potato (not in a pancake) there's no denying that it's cheap. The sweet pancakes are not at all bad and what's more, it feels authentically Hungarian - in a lot of countries Nagymama's might be considered unusual, and possibly even, daring. Not only are they brave enough to open all hours, there's also a menu which seems rather experimental. It isn't everywhere, after all, that you can buy Milanoi palacsintá, a dish which basically adds up to pasta... in a pancake.

Food: 5/10
Service: 5/10
Atmosphere: 6/10
Value for money: 6.5/10

Take the red line to Batthyány. Go out onto the square and Nagymama's is near the market hall, next to Pizza Marzano. Other branches are here.
Granny's pancakes, Nagmama palacsinta, najmama, palachinta, palacinta, palascinta, pancak.
Andy T.

Fortuna utca 3 [map]
Buda, I, Disz tér (B10/110), 2 min
Tel. 212 5880
Cuisine>Hungarian

Rating: 5.8/10

I rarely consider the Vár (the Castle District) as a destination for anything other than wandering around. Why? Because it's the safe bit of Budapest - it's kind of obvious what you're going to get: pretty Budapest on a plate. A relatively expensive plate. However, there are quite a few restaurants up there, so I thought I'd mingle with the middle-aged tourist crowd for one night only.

Pest-Buda Vendéglő is indeed pretty. We peered in through the window before going in and it looked pleasantly traditional. The sound of the gypsy violin was nice enough too. My sister was in town and, handing in our coats at the reception, it felt a notch above what I was used to. A small but intriguing menu was also priced a notch higher than usual.

Pondering the menu, however, was not straightforward. Why? Because of the Russians on the next table over. The violinist had moved away from his pianist and began to serenade them, something that they clearly weren't too keen on. Hmmm, the rabbit looks quite nice; (in reality it's tasty but a little dry.) The violinist persists. Chicken with strawberries sounds interesting; (in reality the strawberries are jellied and not so interesting.) Oh, I see, he's going to bother them until they tip him. But the Russians are not for turning.

And so, as we ate our starters, we awaited the inevitable. The soup-du-jour was a nice but fairly standard potato soup, while my sister's breadcrumbed pancake filled with pate was twice as expensive but tasty, and in fact, a little too filling. The violinist emerged from over my sister's shoulder. At least he wasn't playing Danny Boy any more - that famed gypsy-folk ballad. We sat uncomfortably amused, thinking "How much to get rid of him for good?" 1000Ft proved to be enough but the rest of the meal was spent contemplating it. The final challenge lay in paying the actual bill: no credit cards accepted.

In retrospect, the whole soap opera was mildly entertaining and the food wasn't bad but I would prefer to decide which 'entertainment' I pay for rather than having it thrust upon me. My suspicion that the Vár isn't the most likely to produce any real gems is now that bit stronger, and I'll be sticking to the more down-to-earth Budapest for the foreseeable future.

Food: 8/10
Service: 5/10
Atmosphere: 5/10
Value for money: 5/10
Vendeglo
Andy Sz.

Kertesz u. 39 [map]
Pest Centre, VII, Király utca (T4/6), 3 min
Tel. 061 321 7477
Cuisine>Vegetarian

Rating: 8.3/10

You don't need to have been in Hungary for a long time to feel like you've had your fill of frowning barmaids, sour-faced supermarket staff and shirty waiters. The customer isn’t always right, rather, he’s standing in the way, wittering on about something or other.

That’s why a place like the Hummus bar is so refreshing. The staff greet you with a smile, they hand out free tea and are always friendly, no matter what language you find in common. It's instantly likeable; the Milky Bar kid of Budapest restaurants.

Since opening two years ago, it has managed to build up a pretty dedicated following. They're popular enough to have added a second establishment off Bajcsy-Zsilinsky, next to Beckett's, and it's no surprise that people keep going back. The seating area is pleasant, a delivery service is offered and the food is inexpensive and reliable. As long as you like hummus.

If you don’t, you’re in the wrong place. Hummus plates, hummus mushrooms, hummus and chip pita, falafel pitas… with hummus; unsurprisingly, it dominates the menu. And, while everything may be centred around one main ingredient, to its credit, the choice doesn't feel limited. They even claim to have the best hummus and falafel in the city, a statement proudly emblazoned across the top of the menu. But is that accurate?

Well, as far as hummus is concerned, I'll take their word for it. However, when it comes to falafel, it feels like a bold boast, given the amount of gyros shops and Turkish canteens dotted around the map. In my experience, their falafel pitas stand out for a different reason. They're so generously packed (with salad, onions, sauce, falafel and hummus) that it's pretty hard not to end up with food on your hands, face, shoes and all over the table. That's something to bear in mind perhaps, before you come here on a first date, but nevertheless, the Hummus bar is still warmly recommended.

Food: 8/10
Service: 9.5/10
Atmosphere: 7.5/10
Value for money: 8/10
humus bar, humus bra, hummus shop, hummus restaurant, hummus nightmare, hamas
From the 4, 6 tram stop at Király utca walk towards Deák tér for two minutes, turning left onto Kertesz, opposite Liszt Ferenc tér. It's on the left hand side opposite Szimpla.

Andy T.

Andrássy út 76 [map]
Pest Centre, VI, between Vörösmarty utca and Kodály körönd (M1), 1 min
Cuisine > Italian

Rating: 7.9/10

The pizza has been stolen. Just look around Budapest and you’ll find Pizza Huts, Pizza Marzanos (the thinly disguised Pizza Express) and lots of pizza slices from quick-fire window hatches; all of which are about as Italian as my aunt.

For other pizzas that have surrendered their nationality, there’s the atmospheric, commie-style Marxim, the super-cheap, edible-if-you’re-hungry Den Haag and the dough-heavy Darshan. Even in my flat, you may well find the charred remains of a distinctly Germanicized Doktor Oetker frozen cardboard pizza-wannabe. But where are the bona fide Italian pizzas?

Only a cynic or a rival restaurant would doubt Millenium da Pippo’s Italian credentials. The waiter’s Italian. The pizzaiolo’s Italian. The house wines are Italian (and perfectly drinkable). The photos of the Ferraris and the unidentified relative in the Juventus jumper are most definitely Italian. The tiles on the wall are... left over from the restaurant’s former metro-themed incarnation. Still, they do nothing to upset a comfortable, intimate, relaxed feel.

The menu, in Italian and Hungarian, is the right way round and scanning through all the pizzas and pastas will take you a while. English menus, and indeed, the wine list, are available if you ask. There are also some meat and fish options, if you want to be a bit less predictable, but the prices do creep up.

Eating out, I usually find myself going for the pasta-avoidance tactic, no doubt a symptom of too often finding that I could have made the same thing myself, for a fraction of the price. There is, however, no need to doubt Pippo's range of fresh pastas. The Ravioli Mamma reminds me that my reliance on pasta as a safety net is bordering on the sacreligious.

For pizzas you get what you pay for. The bases were thin and light, and didn’t require a knife fight to cut, which justified prices that are a shade more than many of the city’s alternatives. I decided on the Pizza Buffon (team-mates Totti and Del Piero are also on the menu), which had quite a busy topping but was oddly under-priced. The answer was in the artichokes, which might been more expensive and more flavoursome had they been fresh! The more modest-looking but pricier Pizza Pippo, on the other hand, with parma ham and basil, was much closer to the mark.

Not without flaws, Pippo still leaves room for some competition. However, after a few months of unconsciously munching through various pizza pretenders, it's a welcome reminder of what pizza, and pasta for that matter, ought to be.

Food: 8/10
Service: 7.5/10
Atmosphere: 8.5/10
Value for money: 7.5/10

Only a short walk from Oktogon along Andrássy, in a Hősök tere direction, Millenium da Pippo is small but easy to find on the left side of the road. Alternatively, walking down from Kodály körönd, the nearest metro stop, it's on the right.
pipo, milennium, millennium, de
Andy Sz.

Luther utca 1/b [map]
Pest Centre, VIII, Blaha Lujza tér (M2), 5 min
Cuisine > Chinese
Tel. 061 314 1080

Rating: 8.0/10

A few years ago, my friend Akio was transferred here from a smallish city on the coast of Japan. Budapest isn't the easiest place to settle, especially for a fifty-year-old man who can't speak the language, misses home comforts, and doesn't particularly like Hungarian food. He actually takes a pretty dim view of Asian cuisine in the city too, which is why once a month, the whole family pile into the car and drive across to Vienna for a meal.

I think I’ve only ever heard him speak enthusiastically about one restaurant in Hungary and that’s Lan Zhou, a Chinese place off Rákóczi. It’s been around for years, long enough in fact, to give birth to a sister establishment across the water in Buda. While it might not be fancy, it is certainly a cut above any of Budapest's mostly dreadful Kinai büfés.

Lan Zhou always strikes me as extremely laid-back. The grizzled waiters look like nothing would faze them, the kitchen staff spend an awful lot of time sitting around outside the kitchen, and you rarely need a reservation. The menu is extensive and authentic, right down to the sometimes hairy meat selection - gizzard, heart, lungs and ears - which all sound like key ingredients of Pedigree Chum.

At this point, a word of warning might be in order... although it's been translated, the menu can still be puzzling, and certain dishes should be approached with caution. Pork 'stripes' for example are not, as you might expect, strips of pork. Instead, take away the first and last letters of the word, and you'll end up with this.

Once you're over that hurdle, there's plenty to enjoy. Lan Zhou has excellent noodle soups, the dumplings (420 ft) are delicious and there's a huge variety of main courses. When it comes to recommendations it's difficult to know where to start, but the 'Chinese mince with eggplants' (1300 ft), is excellent. Taking friends and putting together your own banquet is advised; the more the merrier.

Lan Zhou stands out then, without seeming to make very much effort. It's unpretentious, the food is consistently good and it really is value for money. Which brings me on to Akio's two favourite things; first, the bill, because it's always much less than he imagines. And, the other thing is the location, because it's in Blaha, not Austria.

Food: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Atmosphere: 7.5/10
Value for money: 8.5/10

Vigyázó Ferenc utca 4 [map]
Pest Centre, V, (M1/2/3), 7 min
Cuisine > Indian
Tel. 061 269 1625

Rating: 7.6/10

If the gentleman I sometimes see standing out on the corner of Deák tér is any indication, Hungarians don’t much enjoy getting approached in the street by a clipboard-wielding Hare Krishna. More often than not his ‘Gouranga!’ is met with a mumbled apology and a wide berth.

These representatives are actually collecting money for the poor (not something you see enough of in this city). It's typical of their food-for-life program, a commitment to providing hot, fresh vegetarian meals, wherever that may be. Personally, I’ve eaten a lot of Hare Krishna food - it seems that every major city has a restaurant, like a religious equivalent of the Hard Rock Café. A Hare Rock Café, if you like. But how does Budapest’s version shape up?

Well, it’s a basement restaurant, located between Central European University and the river, down a battered flight of stairs with a hazardously low ceiling. Like a surprising amount of Hare Krishna places, it takes the name of Govinda and has adopted a buffet-style set up. There is, refreshingly, quite a lot of traffic between the kitchen and the counter and unlike the majority of Budapest canteens, microwaves are nowhere to be seen. The food is usually fresh and hot.

Expect a pretty good selection too. At any one time, there will probably be two layered pasta or vegetable dishes (a bargain at 650 forint), soup, főzelék, pakorak, and puri, a North Indian bread. And, as you might imagine from a place that won Budapest curry chef of the year in 2005, there’s at least a couple of pots of (not-very-spicy) curry. Getting a half portion of each is recommended.

So, at around 1000 forint or less for a main course, Govinda's is cheap, tasty and healthy, just what you would expect. However, for me, the restaurant really comes into its own in the summer, when you can order the food to take out, then wander over to the Danube and watch the sun slip out of sight. Gouranga, indeed.

Food: 7.5/10
Service: 8/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Value for money: 8/10

From Deak, walk towards the river on József Attila utcá until you reach Roosevelt Tér. Turn right, then walk past the big hotel until you reach Vigyázó Ferenc u. Turn right again, and it's on the left hand side of the street.
Hare Krishna, Govinda, Indian Budapest, Vegetarian Indian, Govindas
Andy T.

Margit körút 105 [map]
Buda, II, Moszkva tér (M2, T4/6), 1 min
Cuisine > Hungarian

Rating: 5.1/10

A butcher's shop might not be the first thing that springs to mind when you consider dining out. (Although calling it dining may be pushing it a bit.)

Standing at what can’t really be described as a table - it’s more of a shelf - I'm eating my sausage in what can’t really be described as a civilised manner. I’m reduced to ripping off juicy pieces with my fingers because I didn’t see the plastic cutlery over at the counter. My nearest neighbour’s shelf etiquette is rather more developed, as he makes good use of his pen-knife.

Getting my food in the first place should have been simple enough, since I'd been tipped off about the procedure: you make your choice, take the slip, pay at the till behind you, and then go back to collect your food. However, in reality, it meant reciting the words "sült kolbász" several times, until I realised that the man at the counter understood "sült kolbász" perfectly well and now wanted to know if I was eating in or not. Sausages are something I prefer not to know too much about so I had absolutely no intention of ending up with the more adventurous hurka, available in three varieties: blood (véres), liver (májas) and lung (tüdős.)

There are plenty of other meat options - not too much for the vegetarian - and side dishes are a little limited: bread, mustard and strange looking pickles (savanyúság). The latter are highly recommended if only for the sake of digestion. On this occasion, due to my poor performance at the counter, I had to resort to the bar across the road for the stodgy food antidote and Hungarian cure-all, a shot of Unicum.

Food: 4/10
Service: 4/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Value for money: 5.5/10

From Moszkva tér metro or tram stop, walk across the main road and it's there on the corner.
hentes, hentesüzlet, hentesáru, hentesbolt, butcher's, butcher, húsbolt, hús, hus
Andy Sz.

Dob utca 3 [map]
Tel. 061 352 8515
Pest Centre, VII, Deák tér (M1/2/3), 4 min
Cuisine > Hungarian

Rating: 6.1/10

Deciding on a name for something is a tricky business. Bars or restaurants it seems, can go one of three ways; you might end up with something cool and memorable, like the Viper Room in LA. Alternatively, you could choose a name which is mediocre or just plain rubbish, for example, Budapest’s own confusingly-titled Café Factory (... so, it's a factory which produces cafes, right?!...).

The third option would be to use a name which raises a few questions, like Green's, a no-frills Hungarian restaurant on Dob utca... who is this Green? Does Green's really belong to someone named Green? Is that apostrophe a mistake? Do they just serve a lot of greens?

To some extent, these questions are answered quite quickly inside, as soon as you notice that the seating area is bathed in soft, very green lights. This gives the restaurant an otherworldly feel - it’s like eating in an underground dungeon in some fantastic land. Nothing else here is quite so striking; they offer fairly standard Hungarian dishes.

Like many places in this country, the menu can feel like a bit of a minefield, especially for the health conscious. Deep fried chicken stuffed with camembert and topped with thick, fatty bacon is fairly typical. Of course, Green's also has perennial favourites – goulash, lecsó, brassoi – as well as hearty (and messy) soups in bread.

Although there isn’t an awful lot to make it stand out, the food is filling and inexpensive (between 1000 and 2000 Ft for a main course). With a convenient location, just around the corner from the Synagogue, it’s worth dropping in once. Just for the lights.

Food: 5.5/10
Service: 5.5/10
Atmosphere: 6.5/10
Value for money: 7/10

From Deák, head towards the Synagogue and Astoria. Before you get there, turn left at the Subway sandwich shop onto Dob. Green's is on the right. Look for the (green) doorway.

Andy T.
greens pub the green pub green pub