Just a hundred years ago, more than twenty percent of Budapest’s residents were Jewish, and today, still, 80,000 or so Jewish people live in the city. Despite this, kosher restaurants are few because hardly anyone keeps kosher. But there do exist several Jewish-style restaurants serving up Hungarian-inflected Ashkenazi favorites such as cholent, matzo ball soup, and flódni.
Macesz Bistro is an elegantly chic restaurant smack in the middle of the city’s old Jewish Quarter and today’s party district. The menu, which isn't kosher but free of pork, is a hat-tip to the neighborhood, featuring dishes that were once popular among Budapest’s numerous Ashkenazi residents. (The building across the street is still home to the Hungarian Autonomous Orthodox Jewish Community). Macesz Bistro's high-traffic location and relatively steep price points – mains are €15-20 – make the restaurant especially popular among tourists.