marybethcl

I have some friends going to Budapest in September. They are fond of good wine and fine food. What restaurant would you recommend for a very special evening? They don't mind if it's expensive, as long as it's worth it! (p.s. They don't want to eat at Gundels) Thanks!

nibblette

Cafe Pierrot in the Castle District. Nice atmosphere, great food and wine, great service.

lincasanova

we stopped at café pierrot and had a nice drink there.. live music.. very nice ambience.

looked like a great place for a meal.
definitey an upscale place..

lincasanova

these websites helped me plan our trip.

café de pierrot was a place we just happened upon.

http://www.bestofbudapest.com/

www.pestiside.hu

(unusual political and interesting page about budapest. curious to read non-tourist oriented aricles.)

annieladd

Marybeth (and others), not to glom (sp?) on to your thread, but my older parents are going to Budepest next year, and have asked to to find them a nice, well-situated hotel ($200-300 a night, or so). Any suggestions? annieladd

lincasanova

annieladd, i would start a new thread with exact title to receive more commets directly to you.

then click on your name to see all the answers.. no need to re-post.

annieladd

Lin, I will at some point, just happened across this thread, and thought I'd ask. a

valtor

We enjoyed very much dinning at Kiraly and at Mathias Pince. Very nice atmosphere, nice and elegant and interiors, very good food, wine and service, music. We loved both these restaurants, but for me, Kiraly is the best.

marybethcl

Thanks for the restaurant advice...
I'm going on a river cruise/tour from Prague to Budapest. There's a large group of us,and I'm in charge of making arrangments for restaurants and tours for the extra days we are adding in Budapest. One couple wants a "special" restaurant for one night.
By the way--a note for ANNIELADD--
I have not been to Budapest before, but I did look into hotel options for my upcoming trip. Some of us are staying at the Kempinski Corvinus (luxury) and others are staying at the HOtel Domina Fiesta (moderate). I don't know what price you would get at these for your time period, but they both seem to be good choices.

caroline_edinburgh

Why don't they want to go to Gundel ? We had a very good meal there, but I'd think it was worth it anyway for the history.

Gaspard

Best restaurant in Budapest if price matters?

lindam

I second Gundel. Very nice. We got a kick out of seeing it again on Amazing Race a couple of seasons ago!

marybethcl

They don't want to go to Gundel because they have read that it's over-priced for what you get--to geared to the tourists. Some of their friends were at Gundel last year and had this same feeling.....so my amigos are looking for an alternative. They still might try lunch or brunch at Gundel, but are trying to find something else. They'll be there for 4 days, so there is time to try more than one restaurant. I'm actually going to be there, too. I'm going with a group of friends on a river cruise/tour Prague to Budapest, and we're all staying a few extra days inn Budapest. I personally will opt for more "local fare" at pubs, cafes, etc. But one couple really wants to sample the best haute cuisine of the city, so I told them I'd try to help.
Thanks for all your input!!

Girlspytravel

I have two suggestions:

First, BAGOLYVAR-(Owl's Castle) this is next to Gundel's, a subsidiary of that restaurant, but very different atmosphere, run by women, wonderful Hungarian cooking, great desserts (which are to be expected in Budapest)if it's warm enough, you can sit outside.

Second suggestion is my little-known favorite, just down from the Hilton on Castle Hill, through the Vienna Gate on your right-it specializes in very fresh seafood, which is unusual for Budapest, and is an intimate romantic restaurant with both Russian and Hungarian cuisine. I was told that it is a favorite of the diplomats in the city. The chef/owner is Hungarian and very nice-I really thought this place was a find:

ARANY KAVIAR

They have a website as well:

www.aranykaviar.hu/a_belso.php

caroline_edinburgh

Well it's up to them; but the meal we had at Gundel was in a different league to anything else we had in Budapest. It wasn't all tourists when we went and it wasn't that expensive by UK standards.

But this was about 5 years ago so maybe it's changed.