Several of Budapest’s deluxe eateries offer delicious buffets of high-quality cuisine every weekend, often including live entertainment and other surprises – here are some highlights of this season.
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Gresham Restaurant
Within the Art Nouveau masterpiece building that houses the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest – recently ranked by Travel + Leisure magazine as the world’s third-best hotel – this sunshiny eatery hosts the sumptuous Mercato Italiano brunch every Sunday from noon to 3pm, featuring diverse specialties from native-Italian Executive Chef Leonardo Di Clemente. This summer’s delicacies include beef Rossini-style with Marsala sauce, stewed chicken-liver croutons with grilled oven-baked ricotta, and lasagna di vincisgrassi, along with puntarelle salad with pecorino and anchovy sauce, Romana artichoke, sweet-and-sour salted cod, and much more.
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Gundel
Budapest’s most historic restaurant now welcomes guests for alfresco Sunday brunches between 11:30am and 3pm amid a newly renovated terrace garden, presenting a huge expanse of flower-lined shaded outdoor tables that surround a sparkling fountain; brunch guests can also sit in the venerable Gundel dining room beside original paintings by significant Magyar artists like Mihály Munkácsy and József Rippl-Rónai. Seasonal offers currently include asparagus risotto with sautéed spinach leaves, strawberry cream soup, grilled duck breast with redcurrant ragout and truffle-enriched kohlrabi purée, and apricot pie with homemade sour-cherry ice cream.
