Budapest’s elegant Corinthia Hotel now serves lunch and dinner specials

The historic Corinthia Hotel Budapest is one of the most iconic hotels of Budapest; previously called the Grand Hotel Royal, this impressive edifice is an elegant urban palace, and has been standing strong for 121 years on the Grand Boulevard, during which time it even served as the inspiration for a Wes Anderson film. Its façade – which was restored according to the original plans – often makes passersby stop in awe in front of it, but we highly recommend making your way inside. The hotel warmly welcomes all its guests, whether it is for a stay or just for a meal.

Visitors find the Eastern-inspired Rickshaw Restaurant inside, as well as the Brasserie and Atrium, where we can enjoy exciting thematic brunches from autumn until early summer on Sundays. Furthermore, now we can even pop in for an excellent lunch or dinner menu on any day of the week. As is normally the case at sophisticated restaurants, the mouthwatering and beautifully presented courses arrive quickly  – when ordering a two-course menu, they guarantee that if we wish, we can have lunch within 30 minutes, while the time frame can be as short as 45 minutes for a dinner. The selection changes monthly.

During lunchtime (between noon – 5:30pm) we can order a two- or three-course express menu (3,700 – 4,900 HUF) choosing from 3 starters, 3 main courses and 3 desserts. And when dinnertime comes we can come back for a whole menu again (3,700 – 4,900 HUF), and in case we decide to go to the nearby theater afterwards, we can leave our car in the hotel’s garage for the entire evening.

We tested the lunch menu, and left with a truly positive experience. From the warm welcome through the service to the end of our meal, we were treated attentively and kindly. The tables are elegant: pretty plates and cutlery are placed on a snow-white tablecloth, which is then further enhanced with courses that sound simple at first, but it soon turns out that they offer more than meets the eye. The salmon Benedict comes served in a brioche that caused a truly special surprise, as it was not featured on the menu. The slightly sweet and browned pastry perfectly embraces the egg and the smoked salmon, while the creamy hollandaise sauce gives the meal something extra.

Furthermore, we tried the cucumber cream soup with crayfish and quail eggs, as well as fried zander that came served with pumpkin pottage. A little twist is added to this course, as the pumpkin is presented on our plate in two different textures: a foamy cream, and as cooked pumpkin cubes. To crown our meal with something sweet, we ordered walnut foam with peach sorbet, as well as chocolate-coconut crème brűlée, which came served in a sizable bowl topped with golden pieces of chocolate. It was creamy and fruity, and made us truly happy. Although this menu is only available in July, we can expect similar edible wonders during the next month, too. Even if the portions did not seem too generous at first, about halfway through we stopped wondering whether we would remain hungry afterwards. By the time dessert arrived we were already full, but still got a little departing macaron as a present. Well, this is what a menu is like at one of the most elegant restaurants of the city, thus we highly recommend booking a table here as soon as possible.