When planning any city break, the first thing that comes to my mind is food and so I’ve pulled together this guide to the best places to eat in Budapest to give some inspiration for your own trip.
If you’re looking for a guide on where to eat in Budapest, one of the most wonderful cities to visit in Europe, then you’ve come to the right place. I’ve visited Budapest twice now, once in 2013 and once in 2025 with Jet2Holidays, and on both occasions we found some absolutely incredible places to eat. This guide will take you through some of my favourite restaurants in Budapest and I’ll share some droolworthy photos that will almost certainly inspire you to add some, if not all, of those on the list to your own itinerary.
Whilst this post is all about the food, I’ve created a few more posts here that will help plan your own trip to Budapest; whether you’re looking for a guide to spending a weekend in Budapest, a beautiful golden hour river cruise in Budapest or just want to check out my travel photography from the streets – it’s all here.
By way of a disclaimer, I visited Budapest in 2025 in collaboration with Jet2holidays and Visit Hungary however all opinions expressed in this post are, as always, my own.
7 GREAT PLACES TO EAT IN BUDAPEST
Gundel
Let’s start this guide with the most iconic of all of Budapest’s restaurants; Gundel. Over 130 years old, this is an institution, one which until post-Covid was inaccessible to the likes of me and perhaps you. This is the restaurant that only the elite could dine at; we’re talking Queen Elizabeth II, Diana Ross, Roger Moore, Madonna and even Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Gundel family help shape Hungarian cuisine itself, creating nearly 140 dishes! If there’s one place you need to eat at in Budapest, it’s this one.
Thanks to new ownership, the intention has been to open the doors to Gundel and its legendary food (and location) to the people. There was no snobbery here, we were all welcomed with open arms and treated to a lovely meal in a classy environment. The menu is extensive, featuring classic Hungarian dishes, with 11 iconic dishes adorning the menu. The Gundel National 11 include goulash soup, chicken paprikash and two that I ended up ordering; the Mangalica pork Wiener schnitzel with a side dish of pickled sauteed potato and beetroot salad & the infamous and original Gundel pancake.
The schnitzel was delicious no thanks to the Mangalica Hungarian pork with the side dish of pickled potatoes (I didn’t know this was a thing) being out of this world. Now the pancake is world famous, it even has its own Wikipedia page. Whilst the original recipe is secret, you can expect a crepe style pancake a walnut, raisin and rum filling, flambeed in a chocolate sauce! It was fantastic though it had to be eaten far faster than I anticipated having to move on to our next spot of exploration on our Budapest itinerary.
BIBO Budapest
BIBO Budapest is a spectacular rooftop restaurant with unrivalled views across the Danube River towards Buda Castle. The restaurant is part of a group created by Spanish chef Dani Garcia who, after being awarded three Michelin stars, planned to take his unique culinary style to the world.
Whilst the menu is ordinarily presented a la carte style, we were treated to a very special tasting menu with wine pairings in which we were able to try the most popular dishes across the whole menu. I found the food incredible and far more satisfying than I expected from this level of cooking. It was also very playful and that helped bring the experience up another notch. The dishes we were served were:
- Guacamole with burrata and soya beans
- The Foie that wanted to be a cherry, sour cherry compote, parmesan and toasted brioche
- Goulash croquette
- Roasted octopus
- Beef tenderloin, green pepper sauce and mashed potatoes
- Strudel with apple, yellow beetroot and orange
That’s a lot of food right?! My standout dishes were obviously the beef tenderloin but surprisingly the octopus which was grilled to perfection so as to not be slimey or suckery if you know what I mean.
If you’re looking for a fancy meal, perhaps for you and your loved one, I honestly think that BIBO will be your best bet on this list – it’s a splash out dinner kind of place and one you will certainly remember for a long time!
IDA Bistro
IDA Bistro is an absolutely beautiful restaurant on the Buda side of the Danube River; the kind of place you can spend all afternoon either inside the stunning Castle Garden Bazaar building or outside where the tables spill out onto a little plaza area. The menu here is a lovely combination of Austro-Hungarian cuisine so expect schnitzels, goulash, chicken paprikash and more. I went with the Chicken paprikash with dumplings and sour cream alongside a pickled cucumber salad side dish with, guess what, more sour cream. I really enjoyed the food as well as the homemade lemonade with orange blossom and the classic Italian Affogato for dessert/coffee; it was the perfect way to end the lunch on a surprisingly warm late September day.
TATI Farm To Table
Another great place to eat in Budapest is TATI which hones in on the farm to table concept by bringing produce from their own farm (and other local farmers) to the dishes that are served up. This is always a great concept as it feels you are helping doing your bit for local farmers and supporting those that think a little more about the environment. In terms of the food, there are of course all of the classic Hungarian dishes though they have been elevated to make them even more special.
We had a cold meats and cheese platter to start following by slow cooked Mangalica Pork which melted in my mouth. The cocktails were really good too, the espresso martini in particular was a little different to the standard cocktail, though I opted for a nice cold pint of local beer.
Time Out Market
Brand new to Budapest, having opened in autumn 2025, is the Time Out Market which is well known across the world for bringing high quality vendors together to create an elevated street food market experience. What’s on offer here continues exactly in that vein.
Set inside the beautiful Corvin Palace, you will find many of Budapest’s top restaurants serving up their most famous dishes alongside three bars and plenty of seating. This is the place to be at the moment in Budapest and I’m pleased to say it absolutely lived up to my expectations.
First up was a half litre of fresh unpasteurised Dreher beer direct from the tank following by our group ordering dishes from as many outlets as humanely possible. My highlights were the Lamb Kebab from Pingrumba, polenta fries from LIRA by Essencia (skip the gorgonzola ice cream…), the Hungarian antipasti from M’EAT by Racz Jeno and the pumpkin pizza from Anyukam Mondta.
Open daily from 11:30am to 11:30pm, a trip to the Time Out Market in Budapest should definitely be on your list!
Spinoza Cafe & Restaurant
Spinoza is the only restaurant that we visited way back in 2013 that remains open today and therefore you can probably tell from that alone that this is definitely a great place to eat in Budapest. Given it remains so popular, I would highly recommend making a reservation so that you’re not disappointed by not being able to visit. Every single night, you can expect live piano music to accompany your meal.
I honestly cannot tell you what I had to eat all those years ago but all the main Hungarian dishes are available plus dishes from Israel such as Cholent traditional Israeli hamin and Shakshuka for example. I’ve gone through recent reviews online and I’m glad to say it continues to receive consistent 5 stars!
Strudel House
Last but by no means least is Budapest’s original Strudel House serving up freshly made strudels filled with all manner of ingredients; including curd, sour cherry, apple and poppy seed and cabbage! I tasted two different strudels one with curd (described as sweetened cottage cheese) and one with apple and poppy seed. I much preferred the apple strudel but was surprised that I did actually enjoy the curd flavour too.
What I loved too is that the staff put on a demonstration as to how the strudels are made and quite frankly I can’t ever imagine trying to create a replica. Whilst they made it look really easy, it clearly takes a lot of training just to make a strudel; seeing paper thin dough stretched out over a table before being handrolled into the finished product ready for baking was incredible.
Strudel House don’t just serve up tasty desserts, you can also expect Hungarian a la carte dishes so you can make a proper meal of it. Just make sure you leave room for multiple strudels!
That wraps up my guide to the best places to eat in Budapest and I hope you take away some inspiration when planning your own trip. If you have any of your own recommendations, I’d love to hear them so that I can check them out on my next trip to Budapest!
Continue Exploring
Stay Updated
IF YOU ENJOYED ‘7 GREAT PLACES TO EAT IN BUDAPEST’ WHY NOT PIN THE IMAGES BELOW?
Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.