Budapest's 5 Kosher Restaurants and Pastry Shop

Jun. 24, 2019

Although Budapest still has a sizeable Jewish community, there are only four kosher restaurants and just a single kosher pastry shop, all of them inside the old Jewish Quarter, near the Kazinczy Street Orthodox Synagogue. Carmel and Hanna are meat, Kosher Deli and Tel Aviv Café dairy restaurants. If you don't keep strictly kosher, you could also try these Jewish-style, but non-kosher restaurants.

#1 Carmel Restaurant

Managed by the Hungarian Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community, Carmel is one of Budapest’s three glatt kosher restaurants. Like Hanna, the other meat restaurant around the corner, it gets liveliest during Shabbat, that is, Friday's dinner and Saturday's lunch. Here too, guests must prepay the meals, each of which costs €25 per person.

#2 Hanna Orthodox Restaurant

Hanna is a glatt kosher meat restaurant operated by the Hungarian Autonomous Orthodox Jewish Community inside Budapest's old Jewish Quarter. Since the restaurant is buried within the fortress-like edifice of the congregation, most locals have never encountered Hanna, even though the surrounding area is currently the center of Budapest's nightlife, teeming with cafés, bars, and restaurants.

#3 Frőhlich Kosher Pastry Shop

Budapest’s one and only kosher pastry shop is, you guessed it, inside the city's old Jewish Quarter. Frőhlich set up shop in 1953, when more Jewish people lived in the neighborhood and long before it became the party center. Instead of "Jewish cakes," Frőhlich specializes in low-priced, traditional Hungarian tortes, pastries, and strudels, including Esterházy, Dobos, and krémes. Sure, some other places in Budapest make tastier stuff, but I enjoy coming to Frőhlich for the homey ambiance—little has changed inside this family-run operation over the decades. Although now mainly a tourist destination, a shrinking group of local regulars also appear from time to time.

#4 Kosher Deli Budapest

Budapest’s kosher restaurants, unfortunately, aren’t known for offering the most convincing or nuanced flavors in the city. Most people who frequent them, of course, have no other choice. Kosher Deli Restaurant, which opened in 2019, has quickly established itself as the better of Budapest’s only two dairy restaurants (the other is Tel Aviv Café). The ground floor consist of a small kosher grocery store and a pastry counter, with the restaurant occupying the upstairs area.

#5 Tel Aviv Café

Located across Budapest's main orthodox synagogue in the old Jewish Quarter but operated by the Hungarian Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community, Tel Aviv Café is Budapest’s one and only kosher dairy restaurant. So, don't go searching for meat-based dishes here. In fact, you won’t find any of the typical Ashkenazi non-meat classics like matzo brei, blintz, and latke either.

Rankings are based on a combination of food/drink, atmosphere, service, and price. The author visits all restaurants incognito.