A gorgeous city with great food, awesome dessert, and a unique nightlife! 

Oh Budapest! What a beautiful city with so much to see and so much to do! We were getting a little tired by this point in our trip which made it perfect timing for popping a squat with some dessert!

Gelarto Rosa    1051 Budapest, Szent István tér 3

This place is pretty touristy because it’s right next to St. Stephen’s Basilica which means it’s a perfect pit stop in the middle of your site seeing! While you can find an ice cream cone elsewhere that is probably cheaper, this place is really an experience. You choose 2, 3, or 4 flavors of ice cream or sorbet and they shape it into a rose. The ice cream is also very good quality! 

Pomo D’Oro    1051 Budapest, Arany János utca 9

If you want to mix up the cuisine, try Pomo D’Oro. It has good Italian food with friendly and helpful service. I got a pizza with ham and mushrooms. While it was a little pricier than other meals we had, it was still reasonable for what you would have paid for the same meal in the US. They also offer gluten free pasta which my mom appreciated because she didn’t have to hunt for something on the menu.

Strudel House    1051 Budapest, Október 6 str. 22

This restaurant offers good food and an awesome culinary learning experience. If you sit inside, you can watch the pastry chef actually make the strudel. It is amazing to see how thin the baker is able to get the sheet of strudel dough…it actually looks like he is working with a bed sheet not a piece of dough. I don’t know if you’ve caught on, but I’m a die hard foodie so I thought this was fascinating! 

Ruszwurm Cukrászda – “Café Ruszwurm”    1014 Budapest, Szentháromság utca 7

This is the oldest café in Budapest. It is near the castle on the Buda side of the city so would be a good stop for a break after touring that side of the river. The cakes and coffee were very good but the service won’t deliver sunshine and rainbows to your table.

While you are in Eastern Europe, you will find a culture difference in a strange place…Iced Coffee. As an American, iced coffee means a Dunkin’ Donuts cup with ice cubes and coffee. In Eastern Europe, if you ask for an iced coffee, they will bring you coffee poured over a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. Eastern Europe, you’ve got the right idea! 

Menza    1061 Budapest, Liszt Ferenc tér 2

This restaurant has a retro theme. They offer really good food and there is something for everyone on the menu. I got the sirloin steak with fries which was a much needed break from some of the more traditional local cuisine.

Market Hall

The Market Hall has two floors. The main level is food stands where you can buy fruits, vegetables, and local spices. The floor upstairs has knick knack stores and meal options. We went to one of the little hole in the wall counters upstairs to get Lángos for a snack. Lángos is one of the local foods and is basically a piece of fried dough the size of a personal pizza with toppings. The traditional toppings are sour cream and cheese (Kelly got that one on the left), but I got Nutella and strawberries (that’s me on the right) which was very good too. The upstairs food stands are crowded at lunch time, so if you don’t like crowds make sure to go at a non-meal time. I was getting hangry and about lost it with all the people!

Desszert Neked    1061 Budapest, Paulay Ede utca 17

This was not on my list of places to try in Budapest. We literally stumbled into it. We were looking for one of the ruin pubs and I stopped because I had a rock in my shoe. I looked up and yum there it was! Desszert Neked is Hungarian for “dessert for you”.  This was definitely not a touristy location but the lady working the counter spoke very good english. They had an assortment of pastries and macarons. My favorite was the Raspberry Dark Chocolate Macaron. It was also very cheap… ~$4 for 6 macarons.

Ruin Pubs

We went to “Szimpla Kert” which was the first to open. Address: 1075 Budapest, Kazinczy utca 14

This is a true Budapest experience. In the last decade, bars have taken over abandoned buildings in the old Jewish quarter which was completely devastated after World War II. The pub owners chose their abandoned building, put in as much junk furniture and decorations as they could find, and started a new nightlife scene in Budapest. When I say junk decorations, I mean it… we were sitting next to an old bathtub filled with soil and plants. Even if bars aren’t your scene, poke your head in just to see the atmosphere! 

Hope y’all make it to Budapest sometime! 

Have any questions about our trip? Have suggestions from your trip to Budapest? Comment below!

Budapest isn’t your next destination? Check out my other travel posts here!