4 Best Restaurants in Budapest, Hungary

Krizia offers a truly authentic northern Italian experience, hidden on a Budapest side street. No pizzas here---think freshly made pastas, rich risottos, and finely grilled fish and meat. Opened in 1997 by a Lombardy native, it strives for elegant balance: simple yet delicious, decadent yet surprisingly affordable given the quality. Set down a softly lit, rustic basement with a dozen intimate tables, its discreet servers and refined wine list all add up to an experience you're hard pressed to find in most Italian cities, let alone outside the country.

With the Italian Cultural Institute down the street, you can bet this spot knows how to make a good focaccia sandwich. The interiors are hipster-sparse and the menu humble, but like the best Italian dishes, simplicity often yields the best results. Here, it’s generous focaccias filled with quality Italian meats, cheeses, and veg—the vegetarian caprese is particularly good, as are the grilled varieties.

Real Italian pizzas from a brick oven attract a hungry business crowd during the week. Weekends see just as many people indulging in pastas like ravioli with Gorgonzola and walnut sauce or the "priest strangler"—homemade pasta in tomato ragout flambéed with Parmesan. Rustic tables fenced in by wrought iron, exposed bricks, and hanging plants all give the place a Tuscan patio feel. There's a pizza bar next door, an upscale osteria across the street, plus a popular gelato shop, all from the same owners.

Visiting Italians tell us this popular trattoria feels pretty authentic, with its bustling waiters, rustic interior, and wooden tables filled with families on Sunday. An antipasti bar in front overflows with marinated artichokes, white-bean salad, and other classic Tuscan treats, and there's a well-worn brick pizza oven in back. The extensive menu boasts some of the best fish in town, including several sea bass options. The little understood mozzarella ventigli pasta with San Marzano tomatoes and fresh oregano (homemade cheese-filled ravioli with garlicky tomatoes and lots of oregano) is a dish to die for.