Restaurants in District III (Budapest)

Stage Pub

It was bad luck for the not-long-opened Stage Pub, when a terrible bombing occurred in the same street, just off the touristy Vaci utca, which frightened many people away. Fortunately, lightning does not strike twice in the same place and the customers started to come back. Stage Pub claimed to be the first pub with an Internet facility. Classes were 'not for yuppies!' according to the advert. You can sit and watch performances from curved booths. Upstairs, you have the choice of a dark and noisy balcony hanging perilously over the stage or a bright and smoky bar room. On Friday nights, the pub is full of rich Hungarians and Germans. Expect a selection of English bar food with toast, jacket potatoes, grilled chicken, steak and salad. There are five kinds of beer on draught, and Mexican beer also. The 'Stage coffee' comes in a wine glass with cream and whiskey. The 'Tea Byron' is a violently colored cocktail complete with an extravagant parasol.

Rolling Rock

This restaurant dedicated to American pale ale is the first of three in the city. There is another on Bartok Bela in District XI and a third situated within WestEnd Shopping Centre. The interior is clean and spacious with clocks suspended from the ceiling showing the time in different countries all over the world. The light green glass of the Rolling Rock brand beer bottle is the overriding colour. The bar is a good place to go for morning coffee, in the evening it also serves steaks, Mexican dishes and the usual American fare. Many different draught beers are also available.

Kéhli Vendéglo

This traditional restaurant has stood in the heart of Obuda (Old Buda) for as long as anyone can remember. The decor is modest, with wooden tables and clean white tablecloths. You can also eat in the garden during the summer months. Expect to be serenaded by gypsy musicians who appear at your table expecting a small donation in return for a request. When at Krudy's favourite restaurant, you can recreate a scene from a classic Hungarian film Szindbad, which was adapted by director Zoltan Huszarik from Krudy's novella of the same name. The steaming pot with bone marrow is a giant beef bone - with a good slap the marrow should fall quivering and glistening onto the plate, to be scooped up with hot toast. This is very traditional Hungarian food, perhaps best appreciated in winter.

Vasmacska etterem

The restaurant features a terrace, a garden and a nautical theme demonstrated by the unusual decor. The name Vasmacska translates literally as 'iron cat' and is the imaginative Hungarian word for an anchor. Narrow corridors, lined with dark wood lead to an elegant dining area that resembles a ship's saloon. There is another tavern in a similar style, split into two areas, a four-room pub and a covered garden and barn area making this, despite restrictions by the Ancient Monuments Act of 1985, one of the biggest restaurants in Budapest. This is deceptive, as once inside it is very cosy and convivial. The menu offers all kinds of meat: beef, veal, pork, poultry, venison, wild rabbit and wild duck. There are vegetarian dishes too and also unusual items like Csiga porkolt—snail stew. A selection of wines comes from Laszlo Roth's vineyard in the Villany region.

Aboriginal Australian Bar

There is a little part of Obuda that will be forever Australia. After so many cramped downtown bars and attacks of claustrophobia and lung cancer, it is a refreshing change to find this huge wooden space. The rafters and wooden balconies evoke a bar somewhere in the Northern Territories. The walls are decorated with aboriginal body and cave painting and pictures of boomerangs. The paintings on the toilet doors test your knowledge of anatomy or your eyesight. Sitting in the cavernous shed, eating shark, giant one kilo steaks or goose thigh with beans and onions you can imagine that the ocean is just beyond the blacked out windows and everybody is sunburnt and blonde, having just come running in from a hard day's surfing.

Maharaja Indian Restaurant

Run by a Punjabi family, the Maharaja serves the best North Indian dishes in the city. The vegetable dishes are divine. The decor in this Indian restaurant is simple and stylish with some typically Indian knick-knacks dotted around and sitar music playing discreetly in the background. There is a terrace and also a separate room for private functions. Start with 'samosas', 'poppadums' and 'chutney' and onion 'bhajis' and pace yourself as there is so much to tempt you. The waitresses are always in a good mood and the atmosphere is very convivial. The chicken dishes and the 'Gobi Aloo Sag' are delicious. Spiced Indian tea (with cardamom to help the digestion) is a good way to finish.

Ladik Csarda

This Hungarian restaurant offers a wonderful view of the Danube. It's located on an almost deserted island outside the city center, as darkness falls you feel like the city is a million miles away. Every so often, the lights of a passing ship break the darkness on this remote stretch of the river. Decorated with rustic style wooden chairs and tables, Ladik looks and feels like a traditional Hungarian restaurant. The most impressive aspect of the decor is provided by nature: giant trees leaning over the Danube and of course the river itself, flowing quietly by. They serve up classic favorites in generous portions. They also have a good selection of Hungarian wines and other drinks.