The capital of paprika, gulyás, ruin bars and grand coffee houses.
Budapest eats with paprika, lard and patience. The civic dish is gulyás, a thin paprika and beef soup, not the stew the rest of the world calls goulash. Pörkölt is the thicker paprika braise, paprikás csirke the version finished with sour cream, halászlé the river-fish soup along the Danube. The coffee house is older than the country in its modern shape: Gerbeaud since 1858 on Vörösmarty tér, Centrál since 1887 on Károlyi utca, the New York Café since 1894 inside the New York Palace, Művész since 1898 across from the Opera. Modern dining arrived in 2010 when Costes on Ráday became Hungary's first Michelin star, followed by Onyx, Borkonyha, Babel, Stand, Salt, Costes Downtown, Rumour and essência. The Jewish Quarter reinvented itself around the ruin bar after Szimpla Kert opened on Kazinczy utca in 2002.
Every restaurant, cafe, market and bar we cover in Budapest, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
The plates that define eating in Budapest.
A thin paprika-and-beef soup with cubed potatoes, onion, caraway and a knob of bacon fat to start it, ladled from a kettle. Hungary's civic dish, the thing the rest of the world miscalls goulash.
Where: Hungarikum Bisztró, Gettó Gulyás, Kispiac Bisztró, Menza Étterem
A thick paprika braise of cubed meat (beef, pork, veal, mutton) with onions and just enough liquid to cook it down to a glossy sauce. The serious version eaten in Hungarian homes, distinct from gulyás.
Where: Hungarikum Bisztró, Gettó Gulyás, Bock Bisztró, Kőleves Vendéglő
Chicken thighs braised with paprika and onions, finished with sour cream stirred in off the heat, served with nokedli (egg dumplings) to soak the sauce.
Where: Hungarikum Bisztró, Menza Étterem, Kispiac Bisztró, Bock Bisztró
Hungarian river-fish soup of carp, catfish or pike-perch, hot with paprika, the broth thickened only by the heads and bones. The signature Christmas Eve dish along the Danube and Tisza.
Where: Hungarikum Bisztró, Stand, Borkonyha Winekitchen, Bock Bisztró
Deep-fried flatbread the size of a small pizza, topped with sour cream, grated cheese and a clove of raw garlic rubbed across the dough. Street food gold across the Hungarian markets.
Where: Karaván Street Food, Központi Vásárcsarnok Lángos Counter, Retró Lángos Budapest
Hungarian chimney cake, a sweet yeasted dough wound around a wooden spit, brushed with butter and sugar, then rolled over coal until the sugar caramelises into a crisp shell.
Where: Karaván Street Food, Molnár's Kürtőskalács, Stika Bakery
A handful of the places we send friends to when they are in Budapest.
Szabina Szullo and Tamas Szell's Stand cooks two-Michelin-star modern Hungarian tasting menus from a Terezvaros room near Andrassy and Liszt Ferenc ter, Budapest.
Signature: Paprika fish soup with smoked carp tortellini, Tasting menu
Akos Sarkozi's Borkonyha behind St Stephen's Basilica on Sas utca holds one Michelin star and pours from a 200-bottle Hungarian wine list, downtown Budapest.
Signature: Mangalica pork belly, Foie gras
Babel in Lipotvaros holds one Michelin star and cooks Austro-Hungarian fine dining with Transylvanian roots over 8 and 13-course tastings near Vaci utca in Budapest.
Signature: 13-course tasting, Smoked sturgeon
Costes on Raday utca was the first restaurant in Hungary to earn a Michelin star in 2010 and still cooks a seven-course tasting in a Ferencvaros townhouse, Budapest.
Signature: Seven-course tasting, Foie gras
Costes Downtown sits in the Michelin Guide on the ground floor of the Prestige Hotel near Parliament, a calmer Lipotvaros sister kitchen to the original Costes, Budapest.
Signature: Modern European tasting, Sunday brunch
Szilard Toth's Salt holds one Michelin star on Kiralyi Pal utca, a quiet downtown room cooking 15-course tastings built around fermentation, fire and Hungarian terroir, Budapest.
Signature: 15-course dinner tasting, Fermented vegetable plate
The downtown Pest grid, Basilica, Parliament and the cluster of Michelin rooms on Sas utca, Vigyázó Ferenc and Steindl Imre.
Best for: Fine dining, Coffee houses, Wine bars
Andrássy út runs through it, with the Opera, Liszt Ferenc tér terraces and Nagymező utca's Pest Broadway lining the boulevard.
Best for: Bistros, Wine bars, Cafes
The Jewish Quarter, ruin bars, Mediterranean rooms and street food on Kazinczy, Dob, Akácfa and Wesselényi.
Best for: Ruin bars, Street food, Mediterranean
The Palace District north of Üllői út, with Bródy Sándor's wine cellars, Krúdy utca bistros and a slow gentrification.
Best for: Bistros, Wine cellars
The 9th holds the Great Market Hall on Vámház, the Bálna riverfront and Ráday utca's restaurant strip, including the original Costes.
Best for: Markets, Fine dining
The Castle Hill above Buda, with view restaurants in Fisherman's Bastion and Lánchíd-side rooms by the Chain Bridge.
Best for: Castle restaurants, View dining
Peak food season: May to September for outdoor markets, ruin-bar gardens and the Buda Castle festivals. September is the Budapest Wine Festival in the Castle. November to December is the Vörösmarty Christmas market.
Local dining hours: Lunch 12:00-14:30, Dinner 19:00-22:30. Kifozde lunch rooms shut by 15:00. Coffee houses open from 08:00, ruin bars from 18:00.
Tipping: Round up or add 10 percent if service is good. Many bills include a 12 to 15 percent service charge (szervízdíj) printed at the foot, in which case no extra tip is expected. Pay tips in cash where possible.
Peak food season in Budapest is May to September for outdoor markets, ruin-bar gardens and the Buda Castle festivals. September is the Budapest Wine Festival in the Castle. November to December is the Vörösmarty Christmas market.
Local dining hours: Lunch 12:00-14:30, Dinner 19:00-22:30. Kifozde lunch rooms shut by 15:00. Coffee houses open from 08:00, ruin bars from 18:00.
Round up or add 10 percent if service is good. Many bills include a 12 to 15 percent service charge (szervízdíj) printed at the foot, in which case no extra tip is expected. Pay tips in cash where possible.
If you only have one meal, eat Gulyás. It is the dish most associated with Budapest.