-
Aranyszarvas
Set in an old 18th-century inn at the foot of Castle Hill, Aranyszarvas (Golden Stag) serves - what else but game dishes. There's piano music Thursday to Saturday evening and, in summer, the covered outside terrace serving grills is tops.
-
Bagolyvár
With reworked Hungarian classics that make it a winner, the 'Owl's Castle' attracts the Budapest cognoscenti, who leave its sister restaurant next door, Gundel, to the expense-account brigade. It's staffed entirely by women - kitchen, at table, front of house. (We don't know either.)
-
Café Pierrot
This very stylish and long-established café-cum-bar-cum-restaurant is one of the very few places to be recommended on Castle Hill. The décor is, well - what else? - clownish and there's live piano music every night. The food is Hungo-hybrid and quite good, and the staff is exceptionally friendly.
-
Carmel Pince
Decidedly not kosher - signs outside will warn you of that fact in six living languages - but the 'Carmel Cellar' has authentic Ashkenazi specialities such as gefilte fish, matzo -ball soup and a cholent almost as good as the one Aunt Goldie used to make. There's live klezmer music on Thursday evening. A three-course tourist menu is available daily from noon to .
-
Csülök Csárda
The rough-and-ready 'Pork Knuckle Inn' serves just that and other country specialities in enormous quantities in a cellar restaurant. Slide into one of the wooden booths and order a plate to share before you board your train at the nearby Keleti station.
-
Fatál
This place serves massive Hungarian meals on fatal (wooden platters) or in iron cauldrons in three rustic rooms. And follow the rules: bring your appetite and its friends; avoid the noisy backroom; and book in advance.
-
Firkász
Set up by former journalists (the name means 'hack' in Hungarian), Firkász is a retro Hungarian restaurant with lovely old mementos on the walls, excellent home cooking and a great wine list. And you can't beat the location in Újlipótváros. Would that they were all like this…
-
Főzelék Faló
Some people say that this étkezde , which keeps relatively extended hours, is the best in town. It's very convenient to the bars of Liszt Ferenc tér and the music academy, but is always busy and it seems like there's never a place to sit down.
-
Frici Papa Kifőzdéje
'Papa Frank's Canteen' is larger and more modern than most étkezde . Excellent főzelék dishes are available.
-
Fülemüle
This quaint Hungarian restaurant that looks like time stood still just before WWII is quite a find in deepest Józsefváros and well worth the search. Dishes mingle Hungarian and international tastes with some old-style Jewish favourites.
-
Advertisement
-
Holly
This very popular new étkezde is an excellent place for lunch or an early evening meal. There are daily specials and the menu changes every week.
-
Íz-É Faloda
The 'Drink-Eat Snack Bar' is a clean, modern and very cheap self-service place in the Fény utca market next to the Mammut shopping mall. It has excellent főzelék dishes.
-
Kacsa
Kacsa (duck) is a place to go quackers, though you need not restrict yourself to just dishes with a bill. It's a fairly elegant place, with art on the walls and piano music in the evening, so dress appropriately. They dish up fresh ingredients, but stuffy service and pricey wines.
-
Kádár
In the heart of the Jewish district, Kádár is probably the most popular and authentic étkezde in town. It closes most of the month of August.
-
Károlyi Étterem
This place beckons not so much for the food (though it is decent enough) but for its location in the renovated Károly Palace (Károlyi Palota) near ELTE university. It has a wonderful terrace in the palace courtyard open in the warmer months and the menu has lots of options for vegetarians.
-
Kárpátia
A veritable palace of fin-de-siècle design dating back 120 years that has to be seen to be believed, the 'Carpathia' serves almost modern Hungarian and Transylvanian specialities in both its restaurant and cheaper pub, and there is a lovely covered garden terrace. This is the place to hear authentic csárdás Gypsy music.
-
Kéhli
A rustic but stylish place in Óbuda, Kéhli has some of the best traditional Hungarian food in town. In fact one of Hungary's best-loved writers, the novelist Gyula Krúdy (1878-1933), who lived in nearby Dugovits Titusz tér, moonlighted as a restaurant critic and enjoyed Kéhli's bone marrow on toast as a starter (better than it sounds!) so much he included it in one of his novels.
-
Kisbuda Gyöngye
Kisbuda Gyöngye is a favourite and traditional yet elegant Hungarian restaurant in Óbuda; the antique-strewn dining room and attentive service manage to create a fin-de-siècle atmosphere. Try the excellent goose-liver dishes and more pedestrian things like csirke paprikás (chicken paprika). There is a resident, determined fiddler to aid the digestion.
-
Kisharang
The central 'Little Bell' is an étkezde popular with students and staff of the nearby Central European University. The daily specials are something to look forward to and the retro décor is fun.
-
Maligán
No-one but no-one takes their wine as seriously as the folk at Maligán, a fabulous cellar wine restaurant in Óbuda. It's become a firm favourite, and nothing is more enjoyable than eating course after course of extremely well-prepared modern Hungarian cuisine with 4cL of excellent wine recommended by the waiter-sommelier. Try the tenderloin of mangalica (a form of pork) roasted with morel sauce or sirloin of grey cattle with onion duck-liver ragout.
-
Advertisement
-
Malomtó
The 'Mill Lake' is a welcome arrival, with up-to-date, fresh décor and an inspired menu of modern Hungarian and international - especially game and seafood - dishes, many with an Asian spin. But its major draw is its unique position on the edge of a tiny lake filled with water lilies and croaking green frogs; a seat on the terrace in the warmer months is not just recommended it's mandatory.
-
Maros Söröző
This brasserie just northwest of Déli train station serves some of the best (and most generous) Slovakian dishes in town. Try the sztrapacska (potato dumplings) with smoked ham or the beef in red wine with noodles which, of course, must be washed down with Zlatý Bažant (Golden Pheasant) draught beer.
-
Marquis de Salade
This is a serious hybrid of a place, with dishes from Russia and Azerbaijan as well as Hungary. There are lots of quality vegetarian choices, too, in the basement restaurant. And, by the way, it's not just about salade .
-
Menza
This upmarket Hungarian restaurant on Budapest's most lively square takes its name from the Hungarian word for a drab school canteen - though it is anything but. Book a table; it's fabulously stylish and always packed with diners who come for the simple but perfectly cooked Hungarian classics with a modern spin. Weekday two-course set lunches are very cheap.
-
Mokka
It's 'ethno-cuisine' here, with a mishmash of dishes; you'll need a map to read the menu. But we love the space and the great African decor, plus there's a good wine list. The three-course set menu, including wine, is very good value.
