Many of us have been cooking ever at the start of quarantine – and, after so many weeks, it would be nice to get someone else to make lunch. Especially when you’re doing home office and the kids are getting hungry. Here are 12 restaurants that offer a really decent daily menu for 1,000 to 2,500 forints.
Attila Hegyi’s Pasztell is in the fine-dining category but there have been plenty of examples of him producing high-quality food for large-scale consumption: before the shutdown, his company served the canteens of Hungexpo, the Hungaroring and a good few office buildings. Next to the Basilica, AlbaDeli now offers a two-course lunch menu to be enjoyed at home anywhere in Budapest at the favourable price of 1,600 forints – and that includes the delivery fee. The range echoes traditional canteen favourites, hearty portions done just right. You can choose from four basic menus but you can also opt for the daily Immune Booster for 2,000 forints. They have also thought of the children, their special two-course menu is 750 forints. The daily offer can be found on their Facebook page.
This original establishment on Bartók Béla út is missed by everyone who has frequented it over the last two years – during quarantine, at least we can enjoy its cuisine, even if we’ll have to wait sample its atmosphere again. You can take the lunch menu, which changes weekly and is full of light dishes, for 1,890 HUF if picked up. They can also deliver upon request. Details can be found on the Facebook page.
If you have a hankering for something a bit more exotic, the Dobrumba lunch menu is the best choice. Their weekly changing offer is not only delicious but also healthy. You can ask for the meaty or the vegan option, it’s 1,850 forints for a soup and main course together. They operate by home delivery, you can order from them via Facebook or by phone (+36 30 194 0049).
A reinvention of Budapest between the wars – before the shutdown, the Elysée Bistro was known for its atmosphere as much as for its home-cooked cuisine. Fortunately, we can still enjoy the home-cooked cuisine in the form of a lunch menu, 2,430 forints if delivered to your door, 2,190 if you go and pick it up. For this, you get two courses, a main with a soup or a dessert.
Fiaker on Madách tér has also proved that in addition to à la carte, they know how to put together a lunch menu. Their two-course offering is now 1,590 forints, soup and main course, with a vegan option on request, and a children’s menu soon available. You can pick it up yourself from this city-centre location or several home-delivery companies will dispatch it to your doorstep.
Jedermann was always one of the best jazz bars in Budapest, and also tremendously popular at lunchtimes – if you didn’t arrive early enough, you couldn’t get a table. Now, of course, they’re struggling – so you can help them get over this difficult time by choosing from their standard or weekly menu. There’s also a daily changing offer that usually includes soup and main course, but sometimes a soup-dessert or main course-dessert combination pops up – whatever the case, it’s 1,450 forints. The offerings tend to be of the classic variety, but they are more creative than the same old breaded-meat-stew fallback. You can jump in to pick up lunch or find them on Netpincér.
One of Budapest’s favourite bistros, Két Szerecsen now produce a very affordable lunch menu: for 1,300 forints, you can order a soup and main course of the same high quality, or a main course and dessert. Moreover, their simple but splendid dishes are not only dispatched to your door – just one call via Facebook, and a free lunch menu will be taken to employees at several hospitals in the next two weeks, but you can help too. For every lunch menu we order, they will send dishes to the same value to health-care workers. Their weekly changing lunch menu can be viewed on their website or Facebook page. Selected dishes can be picked up at the restaurant.
It is no coincidence that Kőleves has been a key player in the party district for such a long time – their light, homely, creative cuisine always works well. They can also be ordered à la carte, but they have also prepared a weekly menu, plus you can choose from several options every day, all for 2,300 forints. You can order from their Facebook page and pick it up in person, or have it delivered it via Wolt or Netpincér.
Right on Múzeum körút, Mindenem was known for its hearty breakfasts and home-made flavours – now they’d probably win the best-priced lunch menu competition, if there was one. For 1,000 forints, you can order a two-course lunch men, either a soup and main course or a combination of main course and dessert. Most of the selections are created from their classic menu, and standards haven’t dropped. They operate their own delivery service, details found on their Facebook page.
Paletta’s lunch menus were tried and tested long before the crisis – and we’ve never been disappointed in Dani Bezerics or his creations. Since quarantine, their main profile has been great baked goods and a lunch menu. From their daily changing offer, two dishes are 1,650 forints, three, 1,950. You can also order their family offer for two adults and two children for 4,500 forints. They deliver to your house, but anyone who lives close by can pop in for their lunch.
We can order a three-course menu from Stika on Dob utca for 2,190 forints – this is always a soup and main course, and you receive the dessert gratis. If you book for the entire week, you can get their Sunday lunch for free. You can choose from three soups and three main courses every day and, of course, there’s a vegan option. Details can be found on their Facebook page.
At the beginning of the year, Imre Nyúzó started his Vokál rock pub full of high hopes and promises of great Hungarian dishes – which you can still enjoy at home, at least. However, from last week they have also been delivering a lunch menu, two dishes, soup and main course, for 2,350 forints. For now, the range isn’t wide enough to order from them every day, but knowing Imre’s kitchen, portions will be large and the hearty thump of rock & roll comes with them!
