During a recent trip to Budapest we of course we had to make a trip to Buddha-Bar. The restaurant is located inside the Buddha-Bar Hotel, which boasts the most wonderful setting inside an opulent palace, dating back to the 19th century. Having visited many a Buddha-Bar across the world, we were looking forward to our visit, and thankfully this lounge and restaurant failed to disappoint. We love how Buddha-Bar manage to inject a certain amount of identity into each venue, so no two restaurants fees quite the same; they’re all special in their own right.
In Budapest, the lounge and restaurant are split across two levels, with the upper level being home to the lounge, and the lower level hosting the restaurant. The lounge makes for a great place to begin your evening with a cocktail, before heading down to the restaurant, which is exactly what we had the pleasure to do on this occasion. The décor inside the restaurant and lounge area is simply gorgeous, with a colour palate of reds, golds and dark colours that create a wonderfully warm and elegant atmosphere.
To begin our evening in the lounge area, my partner decided to indulge in a glass of Taittinger Brut Champagne Prestige Rosé, whilst I opted for a classic Negroni. Being a well sampled cocktail by myself, I was pleased to note that the bar team appear to know exactly what they’re doing with a Negroni, as my cocktail was faultless.
“The service was faultless, the music failed to disappoint and the cuisine was just divine.”
Following our aperitifs, we headed down to our table in the restaurant for dinner. To begin, we chose their duck sushi roll with foie gras and plum sauce which was served as eight cut rolls; this dish is exclusive to Buddha-Bar Budapest, and was an absolute delight. It would be worth visiting for this dish alone. We also chose their salmon and avocado maki, served as four cut rolls, as well as their selection of nigiri, which included tuna, salmon, sea bass and shrimp. The presentation of our sushi dishes was nothing short of impressive, with various bamboo leaves and fresh flowers sitting upon a mountain of ice. This created an exciting dining experience.
For our main courses, I decided on the Thai red shrimp curry which was served with lemongrass rice, whilst my partner chose the tenderloin and shrimp surf and turf, which saw black angus tenderloin served with chilli and garlic shrimp, truffle potato, spinach and a green pepper sauce. Our main courses were deliciously fresh, flavourful and incredibly satisfying.
To accompany our meal, we thoroughly enjoyed a bottle of the 2014, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red La Bernardine, France, which was full bodied and incredibly smooth. It certainly went down well at our table.
Once again, we were thoroughly impressed with the offering at Buddha-Bar. The service was faultless, the music failed to disappoint and the cuisine was just divine.
The Bill: £76 per head
