Destinations > Hungary > Budapest > Eating & Drinking

Budapest

Eating

Cheap food in Budapest consists of a few old style self-service restaurants, pizza joints, western-style fast food outlets and butcher shops which sell cooked sausages. There are also fast food stalls at many of the big markets around town.

Drinking

Budapest has a good drinking scene with plenty of bars and some classy, but affordable, cafés modelled on the Viennese coffee house.

Unfortunately a few bars and restaurants have given Budapest a bad reputation as a place where unscrupulous establishments rip off the unsuspecting traveller. The US embassy has released a list of places which have drawn the most complaints. It has been reported that these bars and restaurants are guilty of excessive billing and physical intimidation and violence to force customers to pay exhorbitant bills.

The establishments to avoid include:

It is a good idea to avoid any bar or restaurant that doesn't provide a menu with prices. It is also a common practice for taxi drivers and local women to lure victims to bars and restaurants that charge exorbitant prices.

The Hungarian Ministry of Economic Affairs has set up a special hotline with English speaking operators for tourists that have been overcharged by bars and restaurants or who have been victim to other scams, theft and personal crimes. The number is 438 8080.

Despite this there are a lot of great places to go out drinking in Budapest. It is a good idea to start in the hostel bar and ask staff and other travellers about other places to go out to.

Always remember to never clink your beer glasses in Hungary. Many Hungarians find clinking glasses extremely offensive.