We visited Budapest Hungary for six nights and really didn’t know what to expect food-wise. We thought we had tried goulash before (we were wrong) and we knew paprika was popular but that was about it. Eating out with kids is not always easy. I researched Hungarian restaurants in Budapest before we left home because when travelling with three kids, the last thing you want is to be wandering for a ‘good’ place to eat. I made reservations at most places we wanted to try and I’m so glad we did. The F1 Racing was taking place during the time we were there and if not for the reservations, we likely would have missed some fantastic restaurants. Every Hungarian restaurant on our list of favourites was wonderful and we’d return to any of them in a heartbeat. Those that we didn’t love, I didn’t add to the list. For more details on Hungarian food itself, check out our top 10 foods to try in Budapest.

Our Favourite Hungarian Restaurants in Budapest

1. Zeller Bistro, Hercegprímás utca 18

Zeller Bistro is probably our favourite Hungarian restaurant in Budapest. It’s very understated on the outside but when you enter and walk through the main room, you enter into a beautiful open sky ‘garden’. Plants abound, there are beautiful paper birds floating from the ceiling with wonderful music playing on the small stage. The food cinched the deal. Most of us tried the grey steak which was delicious while CJ thoroughly enjoyed his ribs with potatoes.

Beautiful interior of Zeller Bistro

2. Dubarry, Wekerle Sándor u. 1

Dubarry is the perfect location for dinner if you plan to take an evening cruise on the Danube. It’s right on the water, about a 10 minute walk from the Legenda Cruise dock. We arrived early and were a bit concerned that the place was completely empty but the food and service were top notch. While the restaurant serves some Italian food, it does serve delicious Hungarian food as well. Lucas and Sydney had the cacio paprika spaghetti, I had the steak with mushroom sauce and John had the sturgeon. All were delicious!

Fantastic place to eat on the waterfront

3. Hungarikum Bisztro, Steindl Imre u.

When we arrived at Hungarikum Bisztro we were greeted with a sign indicating that they were booked solid for the following week. I’m so glad we had the foresight to make reservations! This is a very popular Hungarian restaurant in Budapest and reservations are definitely recommended.

We shared langós and hortobagyi palacsinta (crepe with chicken and paprika sauce) for appetizers. For dinner I had the töltött kaposzta (cabbage rolls) which were very good. CJ had the beef stew, John had the duck and Lucas had the chicken leg with fries.

The food was all amazing but we ran into more than a few issues due to Sydney’s allergies. We’ve never had a problem travelling in Europe before but the note we had prepared in Hungarian clearly scared the kitchen and there was little on the menu they would allow her to have. In the end, she had very plain chicken (unseasoned) with fries. This was the first of two incidents related to our allergy note which we eventually stopped using.

4. Baltazar, Országház utca 31

Balthazar is located near Matthias Church on Castle Hill and was the perfect location to have dinner. It provided a wonderful meal and allowed us to explore Castle Hill and nearby Batthyány Tér in the dark after dinner. The gulyas soup and chicken soup were delicious as was the chicken paprikash which John and I had for our main meal. The kids wanted to try burgers and loved them. Sydney had the blue cheese burger and the boys each enjoyed Baltazar burgers. While the children enjoyed their burgers, this is very much a Hungarian restaurant in Budapest as the restaurant serves extremely tasty traditional Hungarian food.

We again ran into issues due to the allergy card we were using for Sydney to the extent that the kitchen refused to serve her any food at all. I finally spoke with the manager and they reconsidered, stating only that she could not have fries with her meal. I had been very careful to review all menus prior to arriving in Budapest to ensure that nuts are not on the restaurant’s regular menu so I was comfortable due to the specific allergies that she has. Others may react differently so understand that if you visit Budapest with allergies, you may have difficulty finding a restaurant that isn’t afraid to serve.

Wonderful little restaurant off the beaten track on Castle Hill

5. Borbíróság, Csarnok tér 5

Our guide Timea introduced us to this wonderful little restaurant near the Central Market Hall. Several of us had salads which were very good. Sydney had the salmon which she thoroughly enjoyed and the boys had the duck burgers. They weren’t really a fan of the duck liver on the burgers and likely would have enjoyed something else more but overall, the food was very good. I would return in a heartbeat to this traditional Hungarian restaurant in Budapest.

Borbirosag is a short walk from Central Market Hall and great spot for lunch

6. Muvesz Kavehaz, Andrassy Ut 29

Our first visit to Muvesz Kavehaz was for lunch and it was amazing! We chose to eat on their terrace and enjoy the beautiful day. The sandwiches were delicious and Sydney and Caiden loved the mango lemonade. Before leaving, we walked inside and were stunned by the beautiful décor. We returned for breakfast on our last morning just so we could eat inside and this place is definitely one of the best breakfast and brunch locations in Budapest. The food and coffee was just as good as our first visit. We would have loved to have tried some of their fancy pastry items as they look wonderful. They even have a television in the main dining area with videos as to how their treats are made!

Beautiful interior!

Muvesz Kavehaz is also a great stop for an afternoon snack!

They have cake too!

7. Homefield Budapest, Regi posta u. 4

Homefield Budapest is located across the street from Best Way Segway and was the perfect location for lunch after our Segway tour. We were a bit hesitant to eat in an Irish type pub in Hungary but the food was very good. While not much of a cultural experience, we all enjoyed our burgers and chips and it was a nice break from the type of food that we had been eating for the past week.

If you’re searching for a burger in Budapest this is the place! We were too busy eating to take a photo of the wonderful food!

Our favourite snack locations in Budapest

8. Molnár’s Kürtőskalács, Váci utca 31

We had been wanting to try a chimney cake ever since we arrived in Budapest but hadn’t had a chance. We asked our guide with Best Way Segway if there was a location nearby that he would recommend. He suggested Molnár’s Kürtőskalács and it was a great choice. They make the chimney cake fresh when you order. You have a choice between cinnamon, coconut, chocolate, almond or walnut. These are essentially the items that your chimney cake is rolled in after it comes off the heat. Between us all, we tried cinnamon, coconut and chocolate. The only one that disappointed was the coconut one. The other two were delicious so Molnár’s Kürtőskalács absolutely makes it on our list of favourite Hungarian restaurants in Budapest.

Note that these are very different from the chimney cakes available in Czech Republic so if you’re visiting both locations, definitely try both versions.

You’ve got to try the chimney cakes here!

9. Gelarto Rosa, St. István Tér 3

We would have never known about Gelarto Rosa if not for our guide Timea. And it would have been a terrible miss had we not visited. Gelarto Rosa is the most unique ice cream parlour I’ve ever seen and clearly makes our list of the best Hungarian restaurants in Budapest. Cones are available as small (one flavour), medium (two flavours) or large (three flavours). Choose your flavour(s) and the artists behind the counter turn your cone into a beautiful rose! Almost too pretty to eat …. almost.

How fun is this!

Soooo good!

10. Divino Wine Bar, St. István Tér 3

Ok, so Divino isn’t really a restaurant. I think it does serve some food but that isn’t its main purpose. We were tired and waiting for our table to be ready at a nearby restaurant so we stopped into Divino for a glass of wine. One glass turned to two while the children enjoyed their soft drink. We had a great little table on the terrace overlooking St. Istvan Basilica. The server was not concerned in the least about having the children there and we all relaxed a little. Despite not being a restaurant, we still opted to include it in our favourite Hungarian restaurants in Budapest.

Have you visited Budapest? We’d love to hear about your favourite restaurants!

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