Category: Restaurants

Sugar Budapest review

Posted on by Budablogger

Not long ago I visited the Chocolate and Sweets festival in Budapest, and there I visited a stand made by the people from Sugar Budapest, also known as Sugarshop. Yesterday I visited Sugar as well, and now I know where to go throughout the entire year when there is no Chocolate and Sweets festival, because in Sugar Budapest you kind of have the chocolate festival feeling throughout the entire year!

Sugar is located in the end of Paulay Ede Utca, next to a quite famous restaurant in Budapest named Két szerecsen. It is located in a street parallel to the Kiraly street and the Andrassy avenue, so a very popular area of Budapest. The interior and everything is about sugar when you visit the place, so do not miss out on the toilets which have a cool look and your kids will for sure love it. The place is not only popular among kids, but among women who love sweets. During our visit to Sugar (I went with my wife of course) at least 75% of the visitors eating where girls/women, and they all seemed to love it.

Sugar consists of a Sugarshop where you can buy candy in loose weight, lollipops and other cool sweets. In Hungary this is exceptional, but if you visit other countries in Europe the Sugarshop is not so special anymore. But, when you move towards the confectionery/cafe area and start looking at the cakes it gets special. Here you will find cakes formed as hamburgers, Coca Cola jars, chocolate bars and much more. You will find standard cakes such as brownies and cheese cakes, but you will also find special cakes which you will not find anywhere else in Budapest. Take a look at the pictures, and you will understand what I am thinking about!

I ordered a plate with cheese cake, some strawberry shake (very small) and a macaron. My wife had some porridge with brownies on the top. We ordered a hot chocolate to the “meal” and the service was perfect and the food got on our table within a few minutes.

Cheese cake menu in Sugar Budapest

The cheese cake tasted just the way it should, and the strawberry shake was wonderful. But, the macaron! Well, I have a feeling that I can not blame Sugar for this, but I have tried to enjoy macarons several time since its breakthrough a while ago, but it still tastes like crap. Anyone really like this stuff? Join the debate on Facebook or write a comment to this article if you have a meaning on the subject! So I did not enjoy the macaron, but that is not Sugar’s fault, but the concept of macarons themselves!

The hot chocolate was nice and all in all I do look forward to visit the place again sometime in the future, to try some of the other cakes I did not get to eat yesterday. It was so much interesting on the menu, that this is a place you need to visit a few times to get to taste everything that sounds good.

Lots of candies in Sugarshop Budapest

So, when you are coming to Budapest, or if you already live in Budapest… do not miss out on Sugar Budapest, it is a kind of an attraction in itself and it will for sure be a hit among your children and your wife or girlfriend will also enjoy the place. My wife for sure did! Now you can enjoy some more pictures from Sugar Budapest so that you can prepare yourself for your visit. Beneath the pictures you will find the full address of the shop/confectionery.

Porridge with brownies – yammi!
Cool and creative cakes in Sugar
They have quite some muffins in Sugar Budapest as well!

Sugar Budapest

Address: 1061 Budapest, Paulay Ede utca 48
Opening times: 12.00-22.00 (Monday), 10.00-22.00 (Tuesday-Sunday)
Tlf: +36 1 321 6796

Best Trofea Grill restaurant in Budapest

Posted on by Budablogger

Before you come to Budapest you probably don’t know to much about the different restaurants in Budapest and you wonder where to go to grab some good pieces to eat. One of the most popular restaurants in Budapest is Trófea Grill, but to be right, it is not really one restaurant, but a restaurant chain with currently six restaurants in Budapest. If you divide the restaurants into categories you can divide it the following way based on ownership:

Trófea Grill 1:
Visegrádi Utca (Visegrádi utca 50/a), Margit Krt (Margit körút 2), Király Utca (Király Utca 30-32)

Trófea Grill 2:
Mexikói út (Erzsébet királyné útja 5), Óbuda (Laktanya u. 3-5.), Újbuda (Szerémi út 7)

The restaurants mostly look the same and they have the same principle meaning that for a set price you can eat and drink as much as you’d like. The prices vary between 3200-5500 HUF (3800-5500 for Trófea Grill restaurants in category 1), depending on what time of the day you’d like to visit the restaurants, but if you consider the amount of food and drinks you get for the price, it isn’t really that high no matter when you go. What also describes the popularity of the Trófea Grill restaurants very well is the fact that it is packed not only with tourists, but also with locals. The chain is especially popular for birthday parties as they offer free birthday cake to the one celebrating their birthday, so do not be surprised if you hear a happy birthday song on the loudspeakers as you grab something to eat in one of the six Trófea Grill restaurants. Most tourists end up in the restaurants listed in category 1, but if you wonder where to go, you should keep on reading, because here comes the part giving you my own personal favorite restaurants.

The best Trófea Grill restaurant!

Since this article is written by Budablogger it is only portraying his views and thoughts, so you might disagree when I here write down my thoughts on which is the best Trófea Grill restaurant in Budapest. There are many things that must be taken into consideration before you can make such a statement, but when deciding which Trófea Grill restaurant is the best in Budapest the most important factors where: Location, cuisine, atmosphere and the restaurant itself.

If location is important, then the three central restaurants located in Visegrádi Utca, Margit Körút and Király Utca are natural winners. If it is a matter of cuisine the restaurants at Mexikói út, Visegrádi utca and Margit Körút are the winners. They have a good selection of food you can get fried in front of your eyes, they always have a good selection of traditional Hungarian courses and they serve 100% orange juice and so on (which for example Trófea Grill Óbuda does not). All restaurants have a good atmosphere, but the restaurant in Visegrádi Utca is not at all as nicely looking as the one by the Margit Körút, which looks very modern, just like the one in Király Utca. Unfortunately the restaurant in Király Utca lacks some of the great courses served in the other restaurants, and that is why I always pick other Trófea Grill restaurants to the one in Király Utca. The Trófea Grill in Újbuda is good, but last time I visited that one they only had very special Hungarian courses, which most Hungarians would be skeptical to eat (Pacalpörkölt or Tripe stew), and with several such courses next to one another it was in fact hard to find something to eat among the already prepared courses.

Cakes at Trófea Grill

I could keep going for a long time, but if I have to pronounce a winner my personal favorite would be the Trófea Grill restaurant by the Margaret Bridge (Margit körút), closely followed by the Trófea Grill restaurant in Erzsébet Királyné utca (Mexikói út). If I have to choose what Trófea Grill restaurant I would not return to at all it would probably be the one in Király Utca and the Újbuda Trófea Grill.

Many tourists get invitations to the Trófea Grill restaurant in Király Utca while walking on Deák Tér, and as they end up there they totally enjoy it and often return later, as they are so satisfied and fall in love with the restaurant. It was the same for me first time I visited a Trófea Grill restaurant.

This article has though been written not after visiting the restaurants once or twice, but after visiting the restaurants at least 25 times. And after that many visits you get favorites among the six restaurants, and as I also mentioned, some restaurants I’d rather not return to if I have the chance to influence the decision about what Trófea Grill restaurant to visit.

Best Trófea Grill in Budapest – Margit Körút

Tejivo Budapest review

Posted on by Budablogger

Located next to McDonalds on the Erzsebet square (Deak Ferenc square) Tejivo has a perfect location and it has since its opening turned into a big success, and currently it is a super trendy place to hang out for a bite to eat and something to drink in Budapest. Budablogger likes to be trendy so off he went to Tejivo to check what is going on.

Tejivo is a Hungarian word which means Milkdrinker in English. That is perfect, because I am a big milkdrinker… a very positive start. As we got there it was packed with people (I guess it is space for 30 guests on the inside, 35 at the most) and about 10 people on the outside. To get something to eat I had to get into line and wait for the five people in front of me to place their orders. A few minutes later the line was even longer and there were at least 7-8 people standing in line to get something to eat and drink. Why is this so trendy, and is it worth standing in line?

In Tejivo you can get different things to eat; sandwiches with ham, salami, cheese, then you will find different yoghurts, toasts, sweet porridge and some sweet desserts. In addition they have cocoa, home made ice tea, milk shakes and some other drinks.

We wanted to try as much as possible as we first visited the place, so we drank a cocoa and an ice tea, and we ate toast, sandwich with mangalica (special Hungarian pig) ham and a sweet porridge. The toast was served warm, while the sandwich and the porridge was cold. My wife wanted some hot porridge, so on request they placed it in the microwave and then it became hot in a few seconds. The porridge, the sandwich and the toast all tasted well, and especially the porridge had a special taste to it, almost lemon taste, which made it both special and good. The mangalica ham was delicious and the toast was fine. The home made ice tea tasted like at home when I made hot tea, add some sugar and put it in the fridge, so nothing special. The cocoa gave a little surprise, because normally when you go out to eat you get hot cocoa, but in Tejivo you get it served in a cold way. The taste was nice, but I would probably have preferred it served warm instead.

The price for all of this was 1700 HUF, and then I forgot to tell the fact that we also ate a cocoa roll. What made it all cheaper was the fact that they have quite some menus reducing the price, and as we bought some of the standard menus we saved some money doing so.

Tejivo is trendy, but I guess I am not going to be very trendy in the future. It is nice to have been there, and I am glad that I tasted it all, but it did not steal my heart forcing me to return back again in the near future. Of course it is nice knowing about this place in central Budapest where you can get a tasty sandwich and bring it with you if you are in a hurry, but I will probably go try something new in the future instead of returning to Tejivo. But, I know lots of others who will do exactly the opposite; instead of finding a new place they will rather return to Tejivo, so I am not worried that Tejivo will end up like most other shops and bars that have opened at the same place (they all ended in bankruptcy).

If you are in Budapest and want a light meal, check out Tejivo!

Tejivo seen from the outside

Tejivo Budapest

Sütő utca 2, 1052 Budapest
Opening times: 7.30 – 22.00

Chicken paprika with noodles recipe

Posted on by Budablogger

Chicken paprika is a very traditional Hungarian course, and it is something you can get served in lots of Hungarian restaurants in Budapest and you will also be served it quite regularly if you visit a Hungarian family in their own home and they will cook for you there. The basics of the Chicken paprika is very similar to the Goulash soup basics, but there are some major differences which you will find as soon as you study both the goulash soup and the chicken paprika recipe.

Chicken paprika is normally served together with noodle (often called dumplings), and as you combine these you will get a tasty lunch/dinner which will make your stomach full for quite a while, at least if you eat a lot of the noodles. First comes the ingredients, and afterwards I will tell you how to prepare this stuff!

Chicken paprika recipe for four persons

4 pieces of chicken leg
2 onions
1,5 tablespoons with sweet red paprika (powder)
1 tomato
1 white paprika (sweet)
170-200ml sour cream
2 tablespoons flour
some oil

How to prepare it?
Chop the onions into small pieces and put them in a pan together with the oil. Fry them until they get almost brownish. Remove the pan from the heat and add the sweet red paprika. Mix them, and add some salt and pepper as you do this. Put it back on the heat and add some water to make the food simmer. If the water turns into steam and disappears, add more water so that the ingredients will not get burned. You can now add the chicken, the tomato and the white paprika. If you have some „erös pista” (strong Hungarian paprika) or some „pörkölt cream” or similar stuff, you can add that as well at this point. Keep it on the heat until the chicken is tender and tasty. Add water if needed, just make sure nothing gets burned!

While doing this add the sour cream to a bowl. Add some flour first to the sour cream, stir it, and then add the rest. Make sure it is soft and nice. Before you add this to the pan, add some of the gravy for the pan to the sour cream mixture (do this twice).

You can now add the sour cream mixture to the pan with the rest of the ingredients. Let it simmer for some minutes, and then the Chicken paprika is finished.

Dumplings / Noodles:

2 eggs
about 350 gram flour
salt
water

How to prepare it?
Put 2,5-3 litres of water into a large bowl and put some salt in the water. Make sure the water is boiling. In another bowl you should add the eggs, the flour and the salt and add water. The dough should be quite thick, not at all watery. Later you can use a knife and cut it into smaller pieces and put them into the boiling water. If they get dissolved in the water or do not stick together, the dough is to watery. As the pieces of dough come to the surface of the water, the dumplings are finished and can be served together with the chicken paprika.

Chicken paprika made by Budablogger!

How did it succeed for Budablogger?

I used this recipe as I created Chicken paprika for the first time in my life. My father in law makes the best Chicken paprika in the world, so I thought my own would be a big disappointment to myself as I made it, but somehow I was quite satisfied. It tasted well, even my family liked it. The hardest thing was to get the dumplings perfect, but training makes master, so next time I try, it will get even better. Go for it, and write a comment to share how it went for you as you made Chicken paprika in your own kitchen!

What's up in Gerbeaud?

What’s up in Gerbeaud?

Posted on by Budapest Guide

Onyx recently received the news that the Via Michelin star they received last year, still remains at Vörösmarty Square in 2012. Congratulations! But, for someone it has been a hard nut to understand how a great restaurant as Onyx could share building with something as average as Gerbeaud. This question troubled visitors, locals and tourists, for many years until some quite major changes took place some years ago. Gerbeaud received new owners who made some heavy changes to the confectionery. The interior and the classic design is still the same, but the menu has changed. The cakes have changed, the prices have changed and most important, the quality has changed!

Delicious cake in Gerbeaud

Some years ago you could eat a mixture of three cakes in Gerbeaud, named the Gerbeaud Variete costing something like 1100 HUF. This was also the average price for the different cakes available at the confectionery. If you visit Gerbeaud today the cheapest you will find on the list of cakes costs 1850 HUF. A cup of coffee costs more than 1000 HUF as well, and they automatically add 15% service to the bill, so it is simply impossible to leave Gerbeaud after eating a cake and drinking some coffee paying less than 3000 HUF. But, the quality is so much better than earlier, that visitors probably pay twice as much, just to get the quality. Or maybe not?

Chestnut in Gerbeaud

Gerbeaud was long time known to be the best place in Budapest for cakes. New York Confectionery, Ruzswurm and other confectioneries also fight for the status as the best confectionery in Budapest, but what is the reality? Which one is the best? What we know for sure is that Gerbeaud just took a big step in the right direction, and the current quality and the amazing look on the cakes and the plates as they serve them (just as on the pictures), makes you want to grab som cake, even if you are not really a cake person!

 

Great restaurants near St. Stephens Basilica

Posted on by Budablogger

I just spoke with a lawyer friend of mine who loves dining outside and who has visited most of the famous restaurants in Budapest. During our chat I wondered if he could tell me about his favorite restaurants in Budapest, and though hesitating and wondering why I was curious about them, he finally told me his favorite restaurants. Well, maybe not his 100% favorite restaurants, but at least what he said to be his favorite restaurants in the vicinity of the St. Stephens Basilica in Budapest, the beautiful church which is the largest church in Budapest and the third largest in all of Hungary. If you visit any of the restaurants mentioned here, make sure not to miss out on the church, it is a real beauty!

It is worth knowing that this area by the St. Stephens Basilica is a very modern area with lots of rich people walking around, dropping by for a lunch menu in one of the many great restaurants in the area and it has some of the most famous restaurants of Budapest. Maybe that is why my friend Laci enjoys this area and its restaurants so much.

Great restaurants near St. Stephens Basilica

Laci told me that this is not a ranking list, but all five restaurants mentioned are his favorites, though they all have a different profile matching the different daily moods and with different style.

Onyx

1051 Budapest, Vörösmarty tér 7-8.
Of course Onyx is on the list of the best restaurants in Budapest. Onyx would be on the list, even if the list was not only about restaurants near St. Stephens Basilica. This is one of two restaurants in Budapest with a Michelin star and currently considered to be the number one restaurant in Budapest of all, in all categories. The location is also perfect, at the Vörösmarty Square in the end of Vaci Utca (shopping street of Budapest)

Dió

1051 Budapest, Sas u. 4
Dió is a very modern restaurant with Hungarian food at its best, and they have some very interesting dinner menus with 3-4-5 courses prepared for its visitors. You can also order ala carte, but it is worth trying one of the menus. If you come during lunch time they have some tasty lunch menus at a nice price level. The restaurant is only 1 minute on foot from the main entrance of St. Stephens Basilica.

Cafe Kör

1051 Budapest, Sas utca 17
Cafe Kör has for a long time been known as a very popular restaurant in Budapest, and it is mostly hard to find a free table here at any time of the day. They only accept payment in cash (no VISA) and the cuisine is somewhat reformed Hungarian, though the menu keeps on changing all the time. Cafe Kör is in the same street as Dió and also one minute on foot from the St. Stephens Basilica.

Laci! Konyha!

1051 Budapest, Sas u. 11
Brand new restaurant in the center of Budapest. Two master chefs joined together in this project where you can eat delicious menus made up by the chefs themselves, constantly changing. The prices are probably better than on the three earlier mentioned restaurants, and praise keeps coming to the chefs and to everyone working in this new Budapest restaurant. Expect large plates with quite small stuff in the middle.

Tom George / TG Italiano

1054 Budapest, Október 6. utca 8
Tom George has for a long time been known as one of the best Italian restaurants in Budapest and also one of the most expensive. While the earlier mentioned restaurants are in the vicinity of the St. Stephens Basilica, the same is true for Tom George, but from the terrace of this restaurant you can in fact look directly at the church, a big bonus. The restaurant has large indoor and outdoor area, so you will mostly find a free table here whenever you come during opening time.

Now you probably know more about what restaurants to visit when you walk in the area near St. Stephens Basilica. I hope the advices of Laci, my good friend, could help you. There are lots of great hotels located in the same area, some of them ranked among the best four and five star hotels in Budapest, so especially if you live in for example Four Seasons Hotel Gresham, Sofitel or InterContinental all these restaurants are only a few blocks and a few minutes away from the reception at your hotel.

We hope you have liked this article and recommend that you come back to our Budapest blog later, as we will come up with more articles about great restaurants and other Budapest top lists in the future!

A good recommendation

A good recommendation

Posted on by Budapest Guide

A good restaurant in Budapest with good food
A good restaurant in Budapest with good food
Earlier this week I was out guiding four Norwegian ladies. During the guided tour we spoke about restaurants and they wanted a recommendation for the evening. I ended up suggesting Comme Chez Soi, a small, cosy, intimate restaurant in the centre of Budapest, with amazing service.

The day after the guided tour we met again for an excursion to Szentendre and I was very curious whether they had enjoyed the restaurant the day before, or if they did not like it. After all I recommended it, and it is always nice to recommend good restaurants.

Well, they said – we liked it so much, that we arranged with a new table reservation on another evening. Pleased and happy I therefore understood that they had liked the restaurant, and that is always a nice thing to hear after making a recommendation.

Why not join us on a guided tour yourself, and maybe we have some good recommendations for you as well? Or if you have found a good restaurant, let us arrange with your table reservation (free service).

Going to London? Read about London restaurants

Lunch in Hard Rock Cafe

Lunch in Hard Rock Cafe

Posted on by Budapest Guide

Yesterday we finally had the chance of visiting the newly opened Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest. So, Hard Rock Cafe was the location for our Saturday lunch, and we were not disappointed. The dishes on the menu are quite similar to the ones you can find in a Friday’s restaurant, and the price level is very much the same. But, the quality is far, far better!

We ended up eating a big hamburger and a fajita with beef and chicken. For dessert we had a brownie with chocolate sauce, ice cream and whipped cream.

Hamburger in Hard Rock Cafe
Hamburger in Hard Rock Cafe

The quality of the meat served in the hamburger was great and tasty. Almost felt like a good beef, very juicy and delicious! The fries served to the hamburger was just perfect. To the fajita we got 4 tortillas and lots of snack to fill the tortillas with. No complains at all!

Fajita in Hard Rock Cafe
Fajita in Hard Rock Cafe

Fajita in Hard Rock Cafe
Fajita in Hard Rock Cafe

For dessert we had the brownie which followed the quality of the rest of the meal, great stuff. In addition to this we had one drink each and the final price was 11,000 HUF (35 Euro). A bit more expensive than most restaurants in Budapest, a little bit more expensive than Fridays, but much, much better… so we are already planning our return to Hard Rock Cafe.

Good Brownie with ice cream and whipped cream
Good Brownie with ice cream and whipped cream

Hard Rock Cafe - finally in Budapest

Hard Rock Cafe – finally in Budapest

Posted on by Budapest Guide

We have written a lot of articles about Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest, and we have received a lot of questions from people curious whether they will find a Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest as they come, or not. Well, the time of waiting is over! Hard Rock Cafe has finally landed and since Wednesday last week visitors have been filling the restaurant ready to grab nice hamburgers and buy traditional Hard Rock Cafe articles.

For pictures from the new Hard Rock Cafe restaurants, visit our Hard Rock Cafe Budapest page.

The restaurant is located in the heart of Budapest, at the Vörösmarty Square, so it should be easy to find for everyone in Budapest, even if you have not clue at all about where things can be found in Budapest. Enjoy, and time to grab a burger!!

Hard Rock Budapest
Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest

Best restaurants in Budapest in 2010

Posted on by Budablogger

Maybe you ask why someone would write a blog post about the best restaurants in Budapest in 2010 when the current year is 2012, and the month is September, meaning that 2013 is approaching. I will not try to come up with some smart reason, except from the fact that some days ago I found a book in my bookshelf named „Alexandra étteremkalauz 2010.” Alexandra is one of the major bookstores in Hungary with lots of shops around, and every year they write about about the best restaurants of the year. I bought such a book in 2010, but somehow I just placed it in my bookshelf, and never even took the plastic of the book. Now I found it, and I thought it could be interesting just to share some of their thoughts about restaurants in Budapest in 2010. Some of the restaurants said to be the best back then are still going strong, while some of them have faded away since then.

Here comes the list presenting the five best restaurants in Budapest/Hungary then in 2010.

Number 5: Babel Delicate Restaurant

Babel is a delicate restaurant, which back in 2010 was located in the Vaci Utca, shopping street of Budapest, and they were known for interesting food with three styles in focus; Hungarian, International and Vegetarian. Of the traditional Hungarian courses they were all prepared with some new moves to them, making the traditional Fish soup quite different from the way Hungarians normally know it.

Babel closed down in 2011 and has since then written that they would close down their restaurant in Vaci Utca to move into new and better localities at the Marcius 15. tér. We are still waiting for the restaurant to open, who knows if it ever will?

Number 4: Onyx restaurant

Onyx restaurant

Onyx is located at the Vörösmarty square and has since 2010 when the book listed is as the fourth best restaurant in Budapest, turned even better. Thus the restaurant was given one Michelin star back in 2011, and now in 2012 this is the restaurant listed as the number one restaurant in Budapest by most critics, including the Dining Guide, Gault&Millau and quite some others. The chef Tamás Szell has received lots of awards for the way he cooks and runs the kitchen, and if you want to taste the upper class in Hungarian food in a modern and fusion way, visit the Onyx restaurant.

Number 3: Csalogány 26

Csalogány 26 is a restaurant easy to find, because if you know the name of the restaurant, you also know the address. The restaurant has a clean and puritan design, and for lunch time they have good offer, and if you come for dinner you will be able to taste top-class gastronomy. The head chef back then was Balazs Pethő, and he is still controlling the kitchen, making Csalogany 26 still one of the best restaurants in Budapest. The service is efficient, the wine menu is small (but good)and the prices are easy to digest. (these thoughts reflect what the reviewer wrote about the restaurant in the book).

Number 2: Costes

Costes was the first restaurant in Budapest to get a Michelin star, and it is not without reason that was listed as the second best restaurant in Budapest by the reviewers in the restaurant guide from Alexandra in 2010. They wrote back then that „the head chef is Argentinean whose culinary creations have French roots, Hungarian inspirations and exceptional ingredients.” The restaurant changed their chef later, and even though the food has changed a bit since then, the quality is still great and in 2012 this is listed as the best restaurant in Budapest together with Onyx in most serious books about restaurants in Budapest. The name of the chef back then was Nicolas Rafael Delgado, while the present day chef is Miguel Rocha Vieira. The restaurant is a bit more expensive than Onyx, but if you go here you better check out one of their larger menus where you give the chef liberty to help you choose what to eat!

Number 1: Chateau Visz

Chateau Visz

Oh man… this is a mistake. The best restaurant of them all in the book is not at all located in Budapest, but in Visz, 10 kilometers from Balatonlelle, which is 140km from Budapest. Just checking it all again I noticed that the book is about Hungary in general, and even though most restaurants are located in Budapest, the winner of the best restaurant of the year in Hungary in 2012 is located in Visz. This should for sure give you an excuse to go on a day excursion to the Balaton area and then of course make a stop when you come to Chateau Visz.

Back in 2010 the chef of the restaurant was Erik Schröter,. Since then they have a new guy running the kitchen and his name is Klaus Deutschmann. The restaurant is not to big, with space for all in all 50-60 guests at the most – but, the price list is high and for a 3-7 course menu you should prepare on paying something between 15,000-25,000 HUF.

„Chateu Visz is a luxury hotel housing one of the best restaurants of the country. The place is elegantly decorated with antique furniture, marble fireplace, crystal chandelier, and a private collection of paintings from 19th-20th century Hungarian artists. Dishes are light and use fresh herbs and local ingredients like lamb, buffalo and catfish.” (quotation from the book)

Sounds good, doesn’t it? So if you are heading of for a day trip to Balaton while in Budapest, do not miss out on a visit to the Chateau Visz if you want to taste some of the best gastronomy available in all of Hungary.

We will come back with some more articles later with lists presenting the best restaurants in Budapest (and Hungary) in 2012, but until then, you will probably find some good suggestions for a nice dinner reading the list made back in 2010. Good appetite!