The 24 Trendiest Restaurants In Budapest

By Tas TobiasLast updated: Mar. 5, 2023

If you're looking for the hottest restaurants in Budapest, look no further. Here's what to expect: dependable dishes without culinary acrobatics, stylish interiors, overpriced plates by local standards, and a crowd consisting of tourists and chic locals. For more upscale options, check out Budapest's best fine dining restaurants, too.

#1 Mazel Tov Budapest

Head to Mazel Tov if you like the ruin bar concept in theory but prefer things more upscale. This Middle Eastern restaurant inside Budapest's buzzing Jewish Quarter does have a disintegrating facade like other ruin bars, but the inside is a different story: Cheap drinks have been upgraded to cocktails, ham & cheese sandwiches to mezze plates, self-service to hostesses, and weathered furnishings to modern fittings with lush greenery.

#2 Gettó Gulyás

Gettó Gulyás is a cozy Hungarian restaurant inside Budapest's party district, also known as the old Jewish Quarter. The restaurant's name makes its culinary priorities clear — the short menu features the heart of Magyar cuisine with staples like goulash, chicken and veal paprikash (€10-14), and various seasonal vegetable stews called főzelék. "Gettó" refers to the Jewish ghetto, what this neighborhood became during the winter of 1944, the darkest time of WWII in Budapest.

#3 Kiosk

Kiosk is a hip restaurant in the heart of Budapest, favored by trendy locals and tourists in the know. The restaurant has at least two things going for it: a stunning view of the Danube and the Elisabeth Bridge from its outdoor patio, and a dramatically high-ceilinged, industrial-chic interior. (The historical building houses a Catholic high school upstairs, in fact, there's a chapel right above Kiosk.)

#4 HILDA

HILDA is a chic downtown restaurant fitted with stained glass mosaics and Art Nouveau Zsolnay ceramic tiles, the same brand that decorates the Four Seasons around the corner from here. The seasonal menu consists of tasty and beautifully plated Hungarian classics updated by the talented hand of Chef Renátó Kovács and his team. You'll usually find dishes with mangalica, the heritage Hungarian pig known for its marbled meat, smoked trout, and stews made from ripe vegetables.

#5 Solid

Chic breakfast venue in the morning, snug dinner destination and wine bar in the evening, Solid hides on the top floor of a small boutique hotel (Rum) in downtown. The views are striking – the many church spires and the Gellért Hill seem within arm's reach – and all tables provide panoramic views. For breakfast, the eggs Benedict with a side of smoked trout is the one to go for.

#6 Menza Restaurant

In the early aughts, Liszt Ferenc Square in Budapest's District 6 was a popular hangout for chic locals, but as the wheel of trends turned, people moved on to other pockets of the city. Today, you'll find restaurants emblazoned with "tourist menu" signs and it’s also here that Hungary's only Hooters operated until recently. You don't need me to tell you: proceed with caution.

#7 DOBRUMBA

When I'd like to impress my friends that Budapest has restaurants as hip as those in New York's East Village, I take them out to Dobrumba. With a chic crowd, effortlessly cool design, and a Middle Eastern menu, Dobrumba is a wildly popular place inside Budapest's buzzing Jewish Quarter. It's especially enjoyable in the warmer months when the oversized windows swing open and the ear-catching electronic music wafts into the street.

#8 Szaletly

Located a bit outside downtown near the City Park, Szaletly is a destination restaurant, one worth trekking out to. At least if you're curious to try traditional Hungarian dishes transformed with a deft hand by head-chef Dániel Bernát. The whole menu is a celebration of dishes people in Hungary are used to eating, but these beautiful plates made from top ingredients are hardly what appear on most people's dining tables at home.

#9 Könyvbar & Restaurant

Könyvbár is a snug, upscale-ish restaurant within Budapest's Jewish Quarter. The food doesn't easily fit into any mold: there are both Hungarian (goulash soup) and international classics (risotto with scallops) on the slim menu, which changes seasonally. What unites these beautifully plated dishes is how good they are. Take the fogas, once Hungary's prized fish, arriving on a bed of creamy cauliflower and ringed by crunchy and colorful slices of the vegetable.

To remain unbiased, I visit all places incognito and pay for my own meals and drinks. I never accept money in exchange for coverage. But this means I must rely on readers to support my work. If you're enjoying this article, please consider making a one-time payment (PayPal, Venmo) or becoming an Offbeat Patron.

#10 Bobo Restaurant

Curious about the top restaurants on the less traveled side of the Danube? Visit Bobo in Rózsadomb, an exclusive residential area but reachable within ten minutes from Pest. The restaurant's stated mission is to draw Budapest's Bobos (a term made popular David Brook's book, "Bobos in Paradise"), referring to people who harbor both bourgeois and bohemian sentiments.

#11 Fleischer

Having retained the name of the bespoke shirtmaker’s workshop that used to occupy the premises, Fleischer is a buzzy restaurant along the tree-lined section of Nagymező utca in Budapest's District 6 (the same team runs the comparably lively Két Szerecsen across the street). The inside, decked out in subway tiles and crammed with tables, projects fashionable bistro vibes.

#12 Padron Budapest

Padron is a small tapas bar within Budapest's Palace Quarter, situated on a charming side street. The restaurant exhibits the usual signs of a busy family-run enterprise, often with the mother taking orders, the son serving food, and the father behind the bar. Apart from a selection of dry-cured Spanish hams, there are two dozen or so tapas, which is what you're here for.

#13 Ensō

Enso is a trendy Asian-inflected fusion restaurant located outside of downtown, in the working class part of Budapest’s District 8. Part of Enso's coolness stems from its premises: you enter the rundown pre-war building on Baross utca, then schlep through the nondescript interior courtyard just to arrive at the dim, exposed brick dining room where good-looking servers scurry under the high ceilings decorated with hanging paper lanterns.

#14 101 Bistro Budapest

Located on the Buda side of the Danube, 101 Bistro is a new addition to Budapest’s growing group of hip pan-Asian restaurants. It’s the type of place where ear-catching Japanese hip-hop drifts from the speakers and a sleek wood-paneled interior with small tables and low backless stools evoke the chic dining rooms of Tokyo.

#15 N28 Wine and Kitchen

N28, a casually elegant restaurant just off Andrássy Avenue, is the project of Márk Molnár, the son of Tamás B. Molnár, who is a revered gastro journalist in Budapest. Márk spent the better part of the past two decades working in Spain, and the menu is a collection of Spanish and Hungarian dishes. N28 doubles as a boutique wine store, meaning that you can pair your food with an enviable selection of Hungarian wines, sourced from all the major wine regions (Tokaj, Somló, Eger, Balaton).

#16 Déryné Bistro

Curious where the top one percent of Buda residents hang out? Wonder no more. The owners of Déryné Bistro were ahead of the curve when in 2007 they opened this chic restaurant featuring a Balthazar-like interior as if straight out of the Keith McNally playbook. Back then, few places in Budapest offered this brand of casually hip but classy vibes. Déryné has managed to remain popular through all these years, even as comparable restaurants have sprouted up on the other side of the Danube with lower price points.

#17 Kőleves Restaurant

Kőleves is a popular restaurant in the heart of Budapest’s old Jewish Quarter, inside an 1851 building once home to a kosher meat processing facility and butcher shop. Leftover objects from the meat plant are used as design pieces, including a well-worn, leather-bound ledger book and a weathered Talmud. Kőleves pays homage to the building’s past by serving a few Jewish-Hungarian dishes, such a matzo ball soup and cholent, the typical Sabbath bean stew.

#18 Gerlóczy Cafe

Gerlóczy is a snug café and restaurant tucked away on an unusually quiet pocket of Budapest's downtown. The charming square outside the restaurant, surrounded by elegant pre-war buildings, is a well-kept secret of this otherwise tourist-heavy neighborhood. Gerlóczy's interior evokes French bistro vibes, featuring small round tables, leather banquettes, and a high ceiling. In the warm months, the outdoor terrace is especially enjoyable.

#19 M Restaurant

M is a tiny dinner-only restaurant on the far and quieter side of Budapest's Jewish Quarter, but within walking distance of the neighborhood's famed ruin bars. The cozy space is crammed with tables so expect to sit elbow-to-elbow with fellow diners. While waiting for your food, unleash your creative side using the pencil and doodling paper provided on each table.

#20 Spíler Bistro

Located inside the tourist-heavy Gozsdu Courtyard, Spíler is one of the most popular restaurants within Budapest's buzzing Jewish Quarter. The massive space features three highly-Instagrammable dining rooms that operate at capacity most evenings. The menu comprises reliably made international staples — think nachos, wings, burgers — and also traditional a few Hungarian classics such as goulash and roast sausages. Local wines, and almost thirty kinds of bottled craft beers are available to pair. With most dishes €12-17, prices are not unreasonable for this prime location.

#21 Oriental Soup House

Oriental Soup House is a hopping Vietnamese restaurant in Újlipótváros, a residential neighborhood a bit outside the city center. As soon as you enter, you'll notice the Asian cooks scurrying behind the open kitchen, always a good sign for a Vietnamese restaurant. The menu features 11 types of soups, of which the traditional beef pho (pho bo) sporting a gleaming, flavorful broth is among the best I've had in Budapest, especially if you get it with thinly sliced tenderloins that quickly cook through in the steaming broth.

#22 Sáo Budapest

Sáo is a chic pan-Asian restaurant located right in the center of Budapest’s party district. The menu is a collection of uncomplicated but reliably prepared Vietnamese (pho, bun bo nam bo), Chinese (dumplings, fried rice, sticky rice cakes), Thai (green papaya salad, curries), and Japanese (moji) classics. But there’s more to Sáo than food: a striking decor complete with tropical greenery and bamboo bird cages hanging from the ceiling – a testament to the aesthetic sensibilities of the owners, who double as fashion designers. If you enjoy a hopping spot with loud music and reliable dishes, Sáo could be the place for you.

#23 Bestia

Bestia is an industrial chic restaurant in the heart of Budapest specializing in pricey grilled meats. With a picture-postcard view of the St. Stephen’s Basilica and crowd-pleasing hits blasting through the speakers, it has quickly become a tourist-favorite. The menu is a mishmash typical for city center, tourist-heavy restaurants. Premium cuts of steaks, barbecued pork ribs — made in a Josper charcoal burning oven — burgers, pastes, and salads are all available. The full-service bar serves craft beers, customized cocktails, and Hungarian wines.

#24 Babka Budapest

Babka is a Middle-Eastern restaurant in Budapest named after the Ashkenazi Jewish bready cake originating in Eastern Europe. Perhaps the restaurant's moniker is a hat-tip to the neighborhood, which is home to much of Budapest’s middle-class Jewish residents. The snug, dim interior complete with vintage furnishings and hardwood floors is very inviting.

Rankings are based on a combination of food/drink, atmosphere, service, and price. To remain unbiased, I visit all places incognito and pay for my own meals and drinks. I also never accept money in exchange for coverage. But this means I must rely on readers to support my work. If you've enjoyed this article, please consider making a one-time payment (PayPal) or becoming an Offbeat Patron.