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Kinor David
Budapest's largest kosher restaurant, 'David's Harp' is a cut above the usual and serves dinner as well. There are special fish dishes and Israeli treats as well. Pay in advance for Friday dinner and Saturday lunch.
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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.
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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.
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La Fontaine
La Fontaine 'The Fountain' is a Parisian-style 'café-théâtre', with more of the former than the latter. The relatively simple brasserie food is good, especially the leg of lamb and the steak frîtes . There is also a much wider choice of fish dishes than one would normally find in such a restaurant.
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Le Jardin de Paris
A regular haunt of staff from the French Institute across the road (who should know la cuisine française ), 'The Parisian Garden' is housed in Kapisztory House, a wonderful old townhouse abutting an ancient castle wall. The back garden ablaze in fairy lights is enchanting in summer. Try the homemade pâtés and the brasserie-style steak and chips.
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Lehel Csarnok
One of Pest's more interesting traditional markets, Lehel Csarnok is housed in a hideous boat-like structure designed by László Rajk, son of the communist minister of the interior executed for 'Titoism' in 1949. This is apparently his revenge.
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Leroy Café
Like the other branches of this ever-expanding chain, including a Pest branch (VI Liszt Ferenc tér 10), this café-restaurant serves international cuisine that is not especially inspired but is of a certain standard - and there just when you've ordered one too many pints of Dreher. Pasta dishes are always good blotter. The large terrace fills up (and stays that way) very early in the warm weather.
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Lou Lou
One of the most popular places with expatriate français in Budapest is this bistro with excellent daily specials. Two signature dishes are the marinated grilled breast of duck with orange and Arabica coffee sauce and the rack of lamb with garlic and haricots verts .
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Lukács
This elegant café is dressed up in the finest of old-world style - all mirrors and gold and soft piano music (on weekday evenings) with a nonsmoking section too. The selection of cakes is small but good; try the creamy Lukács szelet (Lukács slice).
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Magdalena Merlo
This restaurant, conveniently catty-cornered from the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy, serves an odd mix of Hungarian and Italian dishes. What's more, since it was the Svejk (from Jaroslav Hašek's satirical novel The Good Soldier Svejk ) for many years it has retained a page of 'nostalgic' Czech and Slovak dishes for those who can't let go of the memories.
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Maharaja
This Óbuda institution was the first Indian restaurant to open in Budapest. It specialises in northern Indian dishes and has never been the best in town, but it does manage some mean samosas. It recently opened a branch called City Maharaja (VII Csengery utca 24) in Pest's Erzsébetváros.
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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.
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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.
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Marcello
Popular with students from the nearby university since it was founded some 15 years ago, this father-and-son-owned operation just down the road from XI Gellért tér offers reliable Italian fare at affordable prices. The salad bar is good value and the lasagne almost legendary in these parts.
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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.
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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 .
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Marxim
A short walk (very logically) from Moscow Sq, this odd place is a hangout for teens who have added a layer of their own graffiti to the communist memorabilia and kitsch. OK, we all know Stalin szuksz , but it's still a curiosity for those who appreciate the Gulag, Lenin and Red October pizzas and the campy Stalinist décor.
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Mennyei Ízek
That's 'Celestial Tastes' to you… This little Korean-Chinese hole in the wall serves excellent and very cheap dishes such as spicy pork with eggplant and lots of the hot pickled cabbage called kimchi . It's a great place for refuelling en route to/from Aquincum.
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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.
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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.
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Momotaro Ramen
This is a favourite pit stop for noodles - especially the soup variety - when pálinka had been a-flowing the night before. But it's also good for dumplings and more substantial dishes, including the odd Szechuan one.
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Mongolian Barbecue
One of those places where you choose the raw ingredients and legions of cooks stir-fry it for you. The difference here is that the cost includes as much beer and wine as you can drink. During summer there's also seating in an attractive, tree-filled courtyard. Not gourmet, but if you're hungry, thirsty and broke, it's a good solution.
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Mosselen
This pleasant pub-restaurant in Újlipótváros serves Belgian (and some Hungarian) specialities, including its namesake, mussels, and has a wide selection of Belgian beers, including some of the fruit-flavoured ones. A beer tasting of six is available, and there is a good snacks menu.
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Művész
Almost opposite the State Opera House, the 'Artist', here since 1898, is a more interesting place to people-watch than most cafés (especially from the terrace), though its cakes are not what they used to be, with the exception of the almás torta (apple cake).
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Múzeum
The place to come if you want to dine in style. It's a café-restaurant that is still going strong after more than a century at the same location near the National Museum. The food is excellent and reliable if not particularly inventive and there is a good-value, three-course set menu available noon to .
