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Napfenyes Etterem 
 based on 28 member reviews
Rózsa u 39, District VII, Budapest
1077
+36-1-3135555
Type: Vegan, Organic, Salad bar, Juice bar, Hungarian, Italian
Info: Napfényes Étterem vegan restaurant in Budapest serves Hungarian specialites. Nice dining setting. Casual setting. Has menus in English and German. Seitan dishes, pizza, traditional Hungarian, desserts, and more. Also has an organic shop attached with fauxmeat products for sale. Open daily until 22.30. Metro: Keleti Palyaudvar on M2(red) or Vorosmarty utca/Kodaly Korond on M1(yellow) Accepts credit cards. Price: Moderate.
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| "Wonderful"
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My Rating |
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2 |
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Posted on: Thursday, October 08, 2009 |
Review: Had dinner there on two consecutive nights. It was a bit of a hike from our hotel but was worth it. The area was not a typical restaurant row. Mostly residnetial or offices - all old. the restaurant exterior is not very appealing, but once you step down into the restaurant, it is nice. One concern I had was that it only has one entrance/exit and the kitchen is just as you come down the stairs! I doubt it will pass any fire marshall inspection.
Food was great! I had vegan stuffed cabbage. I liked it so much, I had it again on the second visit. Definitely, a place to visit in Buda Pest. It is on the Pest side.
Pros: Great food * Comfortable decor * Not all that expensive
Cons: Fire danger * Not so attentive wait staff * Bit out of the way |
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| "Marvellous - but beware enormous portions!"
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My Rating |
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3 |
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Posted on: Friday, October 02, 2009 |
Review: Finding this restaurant was no problem having checked it out on Google maps before leaving for Budapest. It was a little bit of a walk from the 4/6 tram route, but worth it.
We visited twice - the first time we had Goulash soup for a starter, then vegetable pancakes with creamy mash for him and potato wedges with seitan for me. The portions were IMMENSE and I just couldn't finish mine - this wasn't a problem, it was boxed and bagged for me to take away with me.
The second time, I had the vegetable soup and we shared a main course - they were very happy to split the dish between us and in fact it arrived on two separate plates. They were happy to provide half portions of their dishes too. We had the fried Cheezly - not a great fan of Cheezly myself but this was very nice. We had room for pudding after sharing the main course, I had Somloi Galuska and Mr Weev had Gundel pancakes which were the special that day.
I bought some recipe books on our second visit, a good incentive to improve my Hungarian!
The standard menu has English and German translations - the daily specials are in Hungarian only but the two staff members we dealt with had very good English and the language wasn't an issue.
We loved the food and were pleased to be able to visit twice during our stay. Would highly recommend to any veggies and vegans going to Budapest.
Pros: * *
Cons: * * |
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| "Vegan pizza"
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My Rating |
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21 |
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Posted on: Friday, October 02, 2009 |
Review: The real draw here is the vegan pizza. It's not cheap by Hungarian standards, but $10 for a whole vegan pizza is pretty good I think.
A word of warning: I am not, nor have I ever been, a big pizza fan. I don't even remember what non-vegan cheese tastes like and tend not to like vegan cheese, finding it too greasy for me.
Having said that, I found the pizza just okay. Honestly, I would have liked it better (predictably, since I don't usually like vegan cheese) without the cheese. I ordered half Hungarian style and half veggie lover's. I preferred the flavors of the Hungarian pizza. But I think if you've been missing pizza and want something heavy, this will be perfect for you!
Pros: Vegan pizza * *
Cons: A little heavy for my taste * * |
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| "Cheezly!!!"
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My Rating |
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69 |
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Posted on: Friday, September 18, 2009 |
Review: Even though it's been 2 years since we were there, we agree with all the excellent reviews below. We went twice (no problem finding it, but it's between two different metro stations, so a bit of a walk). We enjoyed the Cheezly pizzas enormously. I also tried a seitan and potato dish. The potatoes were just perfect - crisp on the outside. We also purchased the puffs and pates to go from their store area. But the real mention is the Cheezly. We bought that to go as well and ate it straight up on our bread the next morning at the hotel. Awesome.
Pros: Cheezly pizza * perfect potatoes * store area
Cons: * * |
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| "Possibly the best restaurant...ever"
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My Rating |
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4 |
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Posted on: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 |
Review: Napfenyes was admittedly hard to find on our first night in Budapest, but it was late and we had no idea where anything was. Once we found the glowing green sign and stepped down into the cellar, we were starving and anxious to get some good vegan food. We were not disappointed! The menu has lots to choose from, portions are substantial, and everything we tried was delicious. It was especially fun to try authentic Hungarian dishes prepared veg-style. Service is friendly but not overbearing in any way (true of all the places we visited in Budapest). There is a nice salad bar if you're craving fresh veggies and a few shelves of natural food products in the hallway if you need something to snack on later (try the paprika corn puffs!). When you've eaten all you can, walk up to the counter and ask for takeaway boxes for your inevitable leftovers, pick something out of the dessert case for later, and pay your bill at the register. Prices are high for Hungarian standards, but pretty average for someone from the US. Please visit and order a pizza if nothing else - Napfenyes won't let you down!
Pros: everything is delicious! * Hungarian food prepared vegan * Cheezly!
Cons: not in the US :'-( * nothing else compares! * |
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| "Nice food"
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My Rating |
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6 |
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Posted on: Friday, August 14, 2009 |
Review: You can get a great choice of ŕ la carte food, from pizza and pasta to typical hungarian dishes made vegan. Portions are pretty big, but you can take the rest with you when you leave. To Hungarian standards not cheap. It's located a bit away from the closest metro stops in not the nicest neighbourhood. But probably worth the walk.
Pros: Big portions * *
Cons: Location * * |
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| "Great Vegan Oasis"
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My Rating |
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2 |
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Posted on: Saturday, August 08, 2009 |
Review: The restaurant is located close by the impressive neo-gothic church of St. Elizabeth in the Eastern part of the city on Rózsa utca (Rose street) 39. The actual restaurant and its little shop are subterraneous and reminiscent of a natural cellar. Paintings of vegetables on the walls, candles and green plants decorate the room. Booth benches, chairs and tables are black and partly covered with white cloths. The lighting is soft and warm. It all appears rustic but with a touch of elegance and style. The menu card is sectioned into soups, main dishes, side dishes, pizzas, desserts and beverages and it's written in Hungarian, German and English. Furthermore, there are daily menus, a small salad bar and a display of assorted cakes (in addition to the desserts on the menu card). The food is all vegan, very tasty (especially the cheese dishes) and some of it is even organic. Portion sizes are quite big and they're presented in a simple and attractive way. The service is friendly, alert, helpful and partly even speaks German and English. The restaurants prices are appropriate and by Western standards actually quite inexpensive. For roughly 16 Euros or $23 per person one can get an appetizer, a main course, a dessert and a beverage to satisfy even the most hungry appetite. All in all, if you're looking for a comfortable and friendly place and some traditional Hungarian food or tasty pizzas this little vegan oasis is definitely worth a visit.
Pros: great food * nice atmosphere * friendly staff
Cons: only cash payments * limited raw food * |
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| "great food"
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My Rating |
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6 |
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Posted on: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 |
Review: i found it pretty easily on my first afternoon in budapest, it was early but i was hungry and had read of "the best vegan pizza in europe", so i tried the hungarian pizza, it was good but not the best in europe. i find the pizza at country life in prague a lot better! regardless, it was good, the desserts were fantastic. i came back two more times, i have hungarian roots and there were many things on the menu i wanted to try. i was not once disappointed here and the staff were friendly and helpful. they had some homemade seitan ghoulash in jars for sale and some other homemade things, i had kolbasa one day (a type of hungarian spicey "sausage"-vegan of course) and asked about it and the sold me a big bag of them to take home with me! poopy seed cake was a highlight from the desserts!
Pros: staff * food * atmosphere
Cons: * * |
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| "Nice to find a veggie place in Budapest"
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My Rating |
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43 |
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Posted on: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 |
Review: Since there are so few veggie restaurants in Budapest, it is always nice to find one. The staff was friendly, and the food was fresh and pretty good, although not great and very salty. The best vegetarian food I had in Budapest was frankly in the some of the non-vegetarian places, where I ordered a vegetarian plate--some of these places used fresh and excellently cooked vegetables. But for a veggie restaurant, Napfenyes Izek is pretty good.
Pros: friendly * varied menu * fresh
Cons: salty * * |
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| "AMAZING VEGAN PIZZA WITH CHEEZLY Vegan Cheese!"
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My Rating |
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304 |
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Posted on: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 |
Review: This place is so charming! Nothing like the last reviewer described. A breeze to find on a lovely street just a few blocks behind our hotel. There are two signs above the entrance and you take a few steps down, its like in a really cool wine cellar, but only like 4 feet below the grade of the street. They have an amazing pizza menu, from Hawaiian to Mexican, to Veggie pizzas. We got two (which is more than enough for two people, probably 3 people would be great, but we took a half a pizza back to the hotel room and quickly gobbled it down after a nice sauna and swim) Do not miss out on this place! Great vegan desserts, too!
Pros: cheezly pizza * desserts * vegan!
Cons: * * |
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| "Ok food and overcharged us!"
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My Rating |
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3 |
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Posted on: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 |
Review: We had a bit of difficulty finding this place. It's located on a quiet dark street and you have to walk down steep stairs to get in. By the time we found it, it was around 9.30pm and when we got inside all of the staff were eating and there were no other customers. After explaining that we had got a bit lost, they accomodated us and said we could still eat even though they were closing. I thought this was very nice of them. The menu was fantastic, with so many options. My husband had a hungarian dish that was recommended by the waitress but it was actually quite disgusting (had pickled cabbage stuffed in a doughy like thing) but out of courtesy he tried very hard to eat most of it. I had the spaghetti which was ok, not fantastic. The place is decorated really well and I can imagine it having a lively atmosphere when it is full. The lemonade with rose water is quite nice. They massively overcharged us when we came to pay and didn't understand when we tried to question the bill.
Pros: Plenty of choice * *
Cons: Hard to find * Food not great * |
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| "Excellent food"
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My Rating |
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2 |
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Posted on: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 |
Review: The main plus is the amount of choice on offer at Napfenyes Izak for dairy-free veggies (like myself). The use of vegan cheese is excellent, I'm not normally a fan but it was a nice side (deep fried) and nice in the goulash. The soups were really nice, the creamy one and the goulash especially. The choice of mains spoiled me, i really enjoyed the spinach filled pancakes and the mushroom and garlic baked potato wedges. The onion mash and red cabbage were beautiful too. I liked it so much I went back the following day for lunch. The main plus is the desserts. Normally that's where veggies miss out - but not here, i really loved the tirmasu. Big portions, that will never score a low mark in my book. Easy to find; mid way between the yellow and red metro lines (soon to be added by the green 4 metro line). The chef was nice and quite chatty.
Pros: Nice food * Great desserts * big portions
Cons: not a great range of drinks * * |
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| "interesting menu"
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My Rating |
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19 |
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Posted on: Friday, January 02, 2009 |
Review: Entrance is downstairs from street. Brick arched walls inside. I had a homemade lemonade with rose water and a squash soup made with rice milk, tofu bits and dill. A bit sweet, but nice. The menu was in English, German and Hungarian. I wish I was hungrier when I dined there, so I could have tried more dishes, like the pizza with soy cheese.
Pros: * *
Cons: not the best area of town * * |
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| "great restaurant"
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My Rating |
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4 |
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Posted on: Saturday, October 18, 2008 |
Review: The food here is delicious but what impressed me most about Napfenyes Izek was the friendliness of the staff. They really went out of their way to explain to me what was on the menu, asking each other for English translations of certain food items. At the time that I went (Oct 2008) their menu was being revised and was in Hungarian only so this was a blessing!
The food is great as well and the restaurant itself has a pretty laid-back atmosphere. This was easily my favorite restaurant during my week-long stay in Budapest. It's only 3-4 stops north of the Opera house on the yellow line, so it's not far away at all.
Pros: english-speaking staff * delicious food * relaxed atmosphere
Cons: * * |
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| "Absolutely wonderful!"
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My Rating |
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7 |
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Posted on: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 |
Review: This adorable little place was everything you would want it to be: friendly, affordable and delicious. Everything is vegan and it's decorated in a warm, comfortable style. It's a little out of the way but well worth the extra 5-10 minute walk it takes to get there from the usual tourist spots. I had the Hungarian seitan and potatoes, which came with a side salad. It was delicious! My husband had a 'sausage' pizza which he described as the best vegan pizza he'd ever had. Highly recommended!
Pros: * *
Cons: * * |
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• Hi. just to point out, it's not 100% vegan - honey is used in some dishes.
It's a great place to eat. I'm a dairy free veggie and i could have everything on the menu, and it tasted great - excellent. response by zoltan louis
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| "Good comfort food at good prices"
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My Rating |
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21 |
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Posted on: Thursday, August 14, 2008 |
Review: I went here in September 2007 a number of times. Ask what the special is, it's usually a really good deal. This is yet another basement restaurant with a very casual feel. The waitress can speak enough english to get by. The lasagna was great, can't remember if that's on the menu or a special though. The pizza is also really good. Also, be sure to get some vegan pastries or desserts for breakfast or your upcoming train trip. The location is a bit off the beaten path but its worth the trip.
Pros: Good prices * faux meats * vegan desserts and pasties
Cons: heavier fare * salty/oily * location |
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| "Amazing food"
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My Rating |
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8 |
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Posted on: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 |
Review: I had the kettle goulash and potato wedges with seitan. I was really impressed with how delicious and well seasoned everything was - I had grown used to tasteless crap in the Balkans. I would definitely go back here.
Pros: delicious food * diverse menu * vegan!
Cons: no air conditioning * * |
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| "Wonderful pizza!"
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My Rating |
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4 |
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Posted on: Sunday, May 11, 2008 |
Review: We visited the place twice. The first time, we had two regular main courses with a greek salad. The food was good, but nothing too special (except for the vegan feta cheese which was really good). We returned and tried the pizza (the one "by Little Snow White") and it was absolutely fantastic! Three kinds of melted vegan cheese with olives and onions. The pizza bottom wasn't a regular, thin, bottom but rather somewhere between thin and pan pizza (which worked really well). Service was good and spoke good english. You go past the kitchen on your way in/out so we stopped by and chatted a bit with the friendly chef. We'll be sure to come back and have more pizza the next time we're in Budapest.
Pros: Pizza * Service * Friendly kitchen staff
Cons: * * |
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| "Not so great..."
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My Rating |
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3 |
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Posted on: Thursday, April 03, 2008 |
Review: After reading reviews and looking at their website, I was looking forward to this experience, however I was dissapointed.
The area which the restaurant is in is actually a pretty bad area, sure it's in te middle of the city and all, but it's one of the most notorious places too.
When I enterd I was still excited but almost immediately dissapointed to hear the chefs talkin and laughing really loudly using language that most Americans would find appaling.
Almost immediately after I found staff that were helpful on the other hand, and I ended up buying lunch, I'm not sure how other things were on the menu, but the two dishes I had were very dissapointing, it tasted and seemed like they realy didn't put much effort into it at all.
The cleanliness and freshness wwere questionable too, so be warned.
On the up side, I bought some Cheezly (which is not available anywhere else in Hungary) so overall I didn't come out empty handed, but I would have to cook something when I got home just to compensate to my taste buds... :O)
Over all, I don't recommend it at all, there are other places in Budapest that I'd rather go to.
Pros: Vegan Cheeze * Cheap sausages and meat alternatives *
Cons: Clanliness * Taste * No effort |
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| "Best vegan pizza in Europe"
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My Rating |
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3 |
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Posted on: Sunday, December 30, 2007 |
Review: The cheezley-laden pizza's are stupendously tasty and filling with for example vegan sausage, seitan and smoked tofu toppings and come highly recommended.
The chestnut and vegan cream dessert is unusual and you shouldn't leave without trying it.
Pros: Unconventional * vegan * generous portions
Cons: Religious bias * * |
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| "Salty"
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My Rating |
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3 |
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Posted on: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 |
Review: I went to this restaurant last night with my partner. It wasn't too difficult for us to find, but that could be because we are forever walking cities and map-reading. The chef and the waitress were top class. Very friendly and very helpful. They explained all dishes. They would get top marks as would the lovely cosy interior of the restaurant. However, we were here to eat....and good eaters the two of us are. After 8 or 9 hours of non-stop walking around the lovely city of Budapest, we were in need of some tasty grub to recharge the batteries. Unfortunately, the food was, for both of us, below average. The seitan was extremely salty, I couldn't finish it....and I love salt....so for me...!!! My partners food was the best tasting, a Hungarian dish. It was what the chef recommended himself and said was the best. However, as we said later, 'If that's the best dish.......'. The juices seemed like half water. They were one of the 'cheapest' tasting juices that I've tried and the deserts were 'stodgy'. I hate to put down this restaurant as the owners/chef/waitress were the nicest people around, and maybe I just got a bad day as everyone else seems to love it, but as a couple who were out to have a romantic meal together it was very disappointing to us. Not even wine to wash down our meal with........
Pros: Beautiful decor * Amazing staff * Good variety
Cons: Salty seitan * NO WINE * Only forints...cash |
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| "Worth finding!"
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My Rating |
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4 |
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Posted on: Thursday, November 08, 2007 |
Review: It is a bit challenging to locate, but well worth it. Definitely bring a good map and spirit of adventure and you'll get there. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon at 4pm and anticipated finding it shut. But it was open, and we enjoyed authentic dishes like vegan hungarian goulash. This is your chance to try local dishes w/o dead animals in it. The organic ginger juice was refreshing. The staff are wonderful. Little English spoken, but use the English menu and point.
Pros: great menu (in English!) * local dishes, prepared vegan * nice staff
Cons: tricky to find (but worth it) * * |
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| "Fantastic food!"
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My Rating |
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7 |
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Posted on: Saturday, November 03, 2007 |
Review: Located in the embassy district, it is definitely worth the trip. Both dishes we had were excellent. It's a good opportunity to try traditional Hungarian food, veg style. Be careful with the spices... they make some really hot food. We didn't get to try any deserts as we were too full from the meal.
Pros: friendly staff * excellent food * excellent prices
Cons: * * |
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| "excellent restaurant"
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My Rating |
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3 |
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Posted on: Monday, October 22, 2007 |
Review: We visited this restaurant twice during our holiday in Budapest because we it was so nice.
All dishes were vegan, so there was great choice. They also have wonderful vegan cakes! Good value for money. We had 2 course for approx 10 euro's pp.
Pros: good value * excellent food * good choice
Cons: hard to find * * |
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| "Very much open for business."
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My Rating |
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4 |
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Posted on: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 |
Review: I ate there today for lunch. They are a little difficult to find but they are still there and their food is excellent and inexpensive. Please change or delete any suggestion that they may be closed as it could be harmful to their business.
Pros: Delicious * Chill atmosphere * Inexpensive
Cons: * * |
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| "Yummy Cakes!"
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My Rating |
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2 |
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Posted on: Monday, July 23, 2007 |
Review: The staff was very friendly.
From the east trainstation(korobi or something??) it's about 15/20 minutes by foot.
Just before we had to leave for the airport we decided we had some time left and went to lunch at this place. The avocado salad wasn't really great because of the rasped carrots they put in there.
We decided to spend our last hungarian money on vegan cakes, so we took about 4 different pieces with us which we ate at the airport. About the best vegan cakes i've ever had! A definite recommendation though, is the one with prunes(?) and chocolate! Its sooo yummy!
Pros: The prune-chocolatecake! * Friendly staff *
Cons: * * |
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| "soy cheese pizza"
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My Rating |
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4 |
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Posted on: Friday, March 23, 2007 |
Review: This place was so good that I came twice in my very short time in Budapest. All of the food is vegan and gives one the opportunity to try some Hungarian style food that is all vegan or you can try something else like sushi, pizza, pasta, etc. The pizzas are amazing and use vegan soy cheese whereas the rest of the menu is slightly....less than par, but still good. There is also a small "store" part of the restaurant where you can buy fake meats, breads, etc. The desserts are very good too!
Pros: * *
Cons: * * |
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| "Best in Central Europe"
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My Rating |
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4 |
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Posted on: Thursday, December 28, 2006 |
Review: It's places like these that make Budapest the best city in Central Europe for vegetarians and vegans. Every visit to this little place has been exceptional. All-vegan, many Hungarian traditional dishes, pastas, pizza (with quite good vegan cheese!) and a number of fake meat products you can buy on the way out. Great desserts too! The menus are in Hungarian, German and English, even if the waitstaff doesn't always speak those languages. Well worth the metro ride or long walk. If I had money I'd invest in this place!
The closest metro stops are Keleti Palyaudvar on the M2 (red) or Vorosmarty utca/Kodaly korond on the M3 (yellow)
Pros: all-vegan * seitan goulash * vegan cheese pizza
Cons: no alcohol :) * * |
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