Salt Budapest
If you think the restaurant fashion of all things foraged, pickled, and fermented has run its course, think again. Currently, one of the most popular restaurants among Hungarian diners is Salt, a downtown establishment that plays so skillfully from the Noma playbook that it even earned a star from Michelin in 2021.
Bright flavors are the throughline of Chef Szilárd Tóth's 15-course dinner tasting menu, which costs €170 per person (€260 with wine pairing). Some of the ingredients are truly remarkable, such as the deeply flavorful aged mangalica ham and the koji-fermented barley crepe, which serves as a vessel for a tender goat meat tartar. But as I ate my way through the beautifully composed bite-sized courses adorned with rare flowers and herbs sourced by the kitchen staff, I felt wishing for more rounded flavors and buttery richness. And a bit more food. It's a tired cliche that fine dining meals leave one hungry, but I did toss a slice of bread in the toaster at home.
The wine list features both top Hungarian producers like Oremus, and Sauska, and also less-known family winemakers such as Szóló that specialize in natural wines. The service team is friendly and informed.