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Discovering Hungarian Food — Our Favorite Budapest Restaurants!

If you’re planning a trip to Budapest Hungary and looking for the best Budapest restaurants, here are some of our absolute favorite restaurants and Hungarian food you MUST try if you visit Budapest!

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Our Favorite Budapest Restaurants

If you’ve only got a few days in Budapest, you want to make sure every meal is amazing! Here’s what you need to try in Budapest Hungary:

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Kürtoskalács

Kürtoskalács are a popular Hungarian pastry found at festivals and outdoor markets. They’re made from a sweet, yeast dough which is cut into long strips, then wrapped around a cylinder and rolled in sugar. It’s then baked over hot coals while being slathered with butter so the surface gets golden brown and the sugar caramelizes to forms a shiny, crispy crust.

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Seriously dying over this crunchy, caramelized, sugary crust!! I could eat one of these every single day!

You might not find Kürtoskalács in typical Budapest restaurants, but they are definitely traditional Hungarian food!

They also have them in Prague! They’re called Chimney Cakes, and you can even find them lined with Nutella and filled with ice cream!

Read more: Discovering Czech Food — Our Favorite Prague Restaurants!

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

You can also get them with different toppings like cinnamon, coconut, cocoa, and almonds. We loved the cinnamon one!!

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Cafe Ruszwurm

Cafe Ruszwurm is one of the oldest traditional cafes in Budapest. It’s also one of the best! It’s only a 2 minute walk from Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion so you should definitely not miss it.

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

They offer a wide range of tempting treats and pastries, like the traditional Hungarian Dobos torta pictured above. This soft cake is layered with chocolate buttercream and topped with caramel.

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

However, if you only get one thing, I highly, highly suggest you get the Ruszwurm Cream Cake. This cake is out of this world! A heavenly, light vanilla cream is sandwiched between two layers of decadent puff pastry, then topped with a dusting of powdered sugar. One of my favorite things we ate in Budapest. I am still dreaming about this cake!

Ruszwurm Cukrászda — This Budapest restaurant (cafe) offers traditional Hungarian food and pastries
Address: Budapest, Szentháromság utca 7, 1014 Hungary
www.ruszwurm.hu

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Pest-Buda Bistro

Pest-Buda Bistro is a traditional Hungarian restaurant, just a short walk from Matthais Church, and the perfect place to pop in for lunch after visiting Fisherman’s Bastion and the church.

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

I had the Chicken Paprikash, a typical Hungarian food featuring roast chicken in a creamy red pepper sauce with buttered, homemade noodles. Fabulous!

Pest-Buda Bistro — One of of our favorite Budapest restaurants with classic Hungarian food!
Address:Budapest, Fortuna utca 3, 1014 Hungary
www.pestbudabistro.hu/en/

Read More: Best Things To Do in Budapest Hungary

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Comme Chez Soi

Comme Chez Soi was one of our favorite meals in Budapest. The food was delicious and the service was out-of-this-world incredible. As soon as we sat down, we were immediately brought two complimentary glasses of champagne. After we ordered, they brought out a complimentary caprese appetizer while we waited for our food. We each ordered a bowl of tomato soup, and I got the Pasta Carbonara while Stephanie got the Spaghetti Bolognese. We could not stop eating.

After dinner they brought out a complimentary glass of dessert wine and THREE desserts! (Sorbet, a chocolate truffle, and a mini chocolate lava cake.) Finally, they served us a shot of limoncello. When the bill arrived, the whole meal (for both of us) was only about $41 US dollars. After we paid they brought us each a box of six Belgian chocolates.

It was incredible. They are a very small restaurant with only 8 tables, so be sure to make a reservation. We tried to go our first night (around 7pm) but were turned away. Fortunately we were able to make a reservation for our last night in Budapest and it was so worth the wait!! Definitely add Comme Chez Soi to your must list for Budapest!!

Comme Chez Soi — This Budapest restaurant is definitely worth making reservations for!
Address: Budapest, Aranykéz utca 2, 1051 Hungary
www.commechezsoi.hu

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Lángos

Lángos are a Hungarian specialty! It’s deep fried dough in the shape of a personal sized pizza. They’re a favorite street and festival food. They’re usually served with savory toppings, like garlic butter, cheese, and ham. But we were in the mood for something sweet, so I talked them into putting Nutella on ours. If we’d had more room I would’ve totally gotten a sweet and savory! Either way, this Hungarian treat is not to be missed in Budapest!

A classic Hungarian food!

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Gelarto Rosa

How gorgeous is this rose gelato??! Right at the corner of St. Stephen’s Basilica is Gelarto Rosa, serving up amazing authentic Italian gelato in the prettiest cones ever. It was so pretty everyone was taking pictures of their cones, not just crazy food bloggers! ;) People were even stopping on the street asking us if they could take pictures of our ice cream!! Crazy!!

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Not only is it pretty, the gelato is incredible!! They had flavors like vanilla bean, sea salt caramel, hazelnut, dark chocolate, and cookies and cream. They even have rose gelato macarons!! This was a lavender macaron with lavender gelato. Swoon!! There’s always a line, but it moves quickly and is well worth the wait. Truly a work of art!

Gelarto Rosa
Address: Budapest, Szent István tér 3, 1051 Hungary

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Pomo D’oro

One of my favorite things about Budapest was that it was truly a melting pot of cultures. We had our pick of authentic cuisines! I had some of the best pizza of my life at Pomo D’oro. The crust was thin and chewy. We got fresh mozzarella di Bufala and pepperoni. Be sure to ask for mozzarella di Bufala! I fell in love with it when we were in Italy a few years back, and this is some of the best I’ve had since. We split it, but could’ve easily eaten a whole pizza each. I would definitely go here again!

Trattoria Pomo D’oro — One of the best Budapest restaurants for traditional Italian cuisine
Address: Budapest, Arany János utca 9, 1051 Hungary
www.pomodorobudapest.com

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Hot Dog Cold Beer

Chips on a Stick!! How fun are these??! We saw everyone in Budapest walking around with these and had to try them for ourselves. They were delicious! What is it about food that makes it so much more fun to eat it off a stick??

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

They also had a fried snickers bar!! Too fun! This place is also very near St. Stephen’s Basilica. Stop by for a snack after going up to the top of the dome! :)

Hot Dog Cold Beer
Address: Budapest, Zrinyi 14, 1051 Hungary
http://www.hotdogcoldbeer.com

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Jack’s Burger

Just a couple doors down from Gelarto Rosa is Jack’s Burger. We walked by one day around lunch time and could not resist this saucy bacon cheeseburger on a brioche bun. It was fabulous!

Jack’s Burger — One of the best Budapest restaurants if you just need a good burger!
http://www.jacksburger.hu/en/

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Gringos Amigos

In the mood for Mexican? Gringos Amigos is kind of like a Chipotle, where you order your food at the counter and they assemble it in front of you. Homemade tortillas, pulled pork, roasted chicken, guacamole, everything is made fresh in store. How cute are the complimentary Aguas Frescas with the little sombreros?? I got a quesadilla and it was great! The pulled pork definitely had a unique (and good) flavor I’ve never had before. However you could totally get something similar at Chiptole or any Mexican restaurant so if you’ve got a limited time in Budapest, don’t make this a priority unless you’re a Mexican food fanatic. :)

Gringos Amigos — If you want a break from Hungarian food and need a Mexican fix!
Budapest, Alkotás utca 47, 1123 Hungary
gringosamigos.com

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

La Botte

Okay, Stephanie and I both love pizza so much, we went out for it twice while we were in Budapest! And because it’s just that darn good, we ordered the exact same thing at both places– Mozzarella di Bufala with Spicy Pepperoni. We’re not even sorry!

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

I LOVED the crust here. It was amazing. I may have even liked it better than Pomo D’oro. (Even though overall, out of the two, I preferred Pomo D’oro.) However, the spicy pepperoni was VERY spicy. Unfortunately it over-powered the subtle flavors of the mozzarella. I like spicy food, but in my opinion, this was too spicy to be enjoyable. However, I would TOTALLY go back here and get just a cheese pizza, a caprese pizza, or another topping. That crust is totally worth trying again!

Ristorante La Botte
Address: Budapest, Váci street 72, 1056 Hungary
www.labotte.hu

Read more: The BEST Pizza I’ve Ever Had (Of course it was in Italy!)

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Taverna Dionysos

A delicious authentic Greek experience. This is the cutest Greek cafe with a gorgeous view overlooking the Danube river. The food was delicious and the service was wonderful. We split a sampler platter so we could try a bite of everything. They brought us out a true Greek feast!! Of course we had to try dessert too. This restaurant was right by our hotel, and it was the perfect first meal of the trip.

Taverna Dionysos Étterem — One of the best Budapest restaurants for Greek food!
Address: Budapest, Belgrád rakpart 16, 1056 Hungary
www.taverna-dionysos.hu


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Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

Best Budapest Restaurants -- Hungarian Food

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39 Responses
  1. Fiona

    Hi there. Love these posts, thank you. Can anybody tell me where the best place to stay in Budapest is please? Any hotel recommendations?? 

  2. Linda Marcks

    My friend and I are going to Budapest in December, now after seeing all your food ideas I just can’t wait. I only wonder whether the ice cream will be available as it will be the winter time (I can only hope).

  3. Mags

    I’m so glad I found your page. We’re going to Budapest in March and can’t wait to try some of those foods. I’m salivating right now just thinking about them. 

  4. Jess

    Thank you so much for your amazing photos and descriptions! I am definitely making a reservation at that Italian restaurant you mentioned!

    How can a country be so cheap?!

  5. Henrik

    Lovely compilation :) next time you definitely should try Bors Gasztrobár (Kazinczy utca 10.), they have stuff like Nutella soup or Dobos torta’s cold soup version and some awesomely creative baguettes. Their Facebook is also very lively, although Hungarian.

  6. Niki

    Hi there!
    First, as a Hungarian, thanks for trying so many things in Budapest, as you know, some tourists tend to stick to McDonalds wherever they go, so they miss out on the local tastes. So good job ;)
    Just one comment from my side: you know that Hungarians never eat “lángos” with nutella? But I’m happy they tailor-made it for your taste!
    For whoever visits this page before travelling to Budapest, and has the time and is ready for some extra efforts, I highly recommend “Náncsi néni vendégl?je”, which is a traditional Hungarian-style restaurant. It is our favourite. And why the extra effort? Because it is very far from the centre, almost the last street of Buda. If you want to venture out and you have the time, book a table ahead and try.
    I wish everyone a nice time in Hungary (don’t forget the countryside either) :)

  7. Charlotte

    Dear Amanda,
    I read this post almost two years ago, and I remember thinking ‘woah that looks great’! Last week I visited Budapest, and beforehand I stumbled across this blog post again. I tried the gelato rose and the Kürtoskalács thanks to you!
    Thank you so much for all your great inspirational posts and beautiful pictures on your blog. I love your blog and hope to visit more places that you travel to as well.

  8. Adéla

    Hohooo! I am going to Budapest tonight. It is my first visit there and thank you for Gelaro rosa tip and for the spot when I can buy the chips – I have saw it on Pinterest and I wanted to get it.

  9. Barbara

    YUM!!
    We were in Budapest 3 years ago and I STILL remember the Chicken Paprikash that we ALSO had at Pest-Buda Bistro (soooo good that we went back two nights later and I ordered the same thing!). My favorite favorite city that we visited that summer!! Thanks for bringing back fun and yummy memories!

  10. Caroline

    Loved reading this!

    I am currently researching our options for a break later in the year. You’ve totally converted me to Budapest on the food alone.

    Thank you x

  11. Karen

    What a wonderful blog post. We have taken many of your recommendations whilst in Budapest and have loved the food here, and in particular the cakes at Ruszwurm! Thank you for sharing!

  12. Imogen

    This post was so useful when I was in Budapest! I wasn’t sure where to start but went to a few of these recommendations and they were all brilliant! Thanks you!!

  13. Kaitlyn

    I just got back from a trip to Eastern Europe! I had mapped out your suggestions for Budapest before hand and we ended up going to Ruszwurm, Pomo D’oro, and my personal favorite, Gerlarto Rosa! We also had Langos but in the Market Hall. Thank you so much for your suggestions!

  14. Kalina

    Your pictures from Budapest are great. I live in Budapest and i tell you there are a lot of more great places to eat, than the listed one. Luckily you, you had found the best ice cream though.

  15. Brooke Vlasich

    You can’t go wrong with plenty of pasta, gelato, and pastries! I’m salivating just looking at all the great delicious foods available in Budapest, and I only thought there was beautiful architecture.

  16. Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet

    Oh, it warms my heart to see this!! :) I’ve been to Budapest several times and it’s one of my most favorite cities. Absolutely beautiful pictures, thanks so much for sharing!

  17. Spencer @ Moo-Lolly-Bar

    I loved the food when I went there in 2005. I wish I could have had some of that delicious looking chocolate cake though!

  18. Andi

    I am all about the savory stuff and I think I have fallen in love with that chicken and what looks like spaetzle dish – delish! Did you see any currywurst or kebab?

  19. janice

    You’re killing me with all the food travel photos. I still haven’t stopped making the butter cakes! That cream cake looks SO GOOD!

  20. Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy

    Hi Amanda!

    Wow. I just love following all of your traveling experiences. Good for you for all the traveling you do…it’s so inspirational! There’s so many amazing places out there that I HAVE to visit and so many amazing places to eat…my mouth is watering just thinking about it. The Chicken Paprikash and Gelato definitely caught my eye ;) Carboholic over here. I really enjoy your blog and definitely look forward to following more of your traveling experiences!

    – Jennifer

  21. Lindsay

    Okay I am drooling all over my keyboard. At first I was like, Kürtoskalács, then I saw the Gelato roses, and then the chips on a stick. Good Lawd! DELICIOUS!!

  22. Martina

    Dear Amanda,

    you found a lot of great food places, but you really missed the best one :o) it a place called “For Sale” and they have an incredible goulash soup and I like it there :o) but it looks like you found enough special Hungarian food :o)

    regards
    Martina

  23. Sara

    Beautiful photos! Please tell us how you stay so thin eating all this delicious food! Do you try to stay within 1500-2000 calories per day? Love your blog :)

  24. Lana

    I love your posts about Budapest. It is a beautiful city, and I did not know much about it.
    The gelato is so beautiful. Unbelievable.
    Thank you,
    Lana

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Meet Kevin & Amanda

Kevin and Amanda

We love to travel and to eat! Here we share our favorite quick and easy recipes, plus travel tips and guides for our favorite places around the world. If you have any questions about what camera I use or how I edit my photos, check out my photography tutorials.

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