Budapest Restaurant

As a fellow Hungarian, this restaurant does us proud. Great food, lots of options and well priced. Nice and friendly staff. We planned a surprise dinner for my mom and it went very well. We were well catered to and can’t wait to go back. Definitely must visit if you’re in the area!

We shared a wonderful dining experience! Food was traditional Hungarian dishes! Schnitzel both pork and chicken were more than we could eat. Platters were excellent presentation and again lots on them. Service was great and dishes came out in a timely manner. Finished with one apricot, and strawberry crepe. I would recommend this restaurant for anyone who enjoys authentic traditional dishes! 😊 and a great dining experience with a nice atmosphere, music in the background was quiet and not overwhelming.

Authentic Hungarian cuisine, friendly atmosphere and excellent service. They offer a great selection of the best and most well-known Hungarian dishes, wines and the famous Pálinka (fruit brandy). All meals are prepared from fresh, local ingredients. With a tradition of more than 60 years, Budapest Restaurant is one of London's favorite places for lunch, dinner and takeout. Highly recommended!

Love love love this place... we have been coming here for years and the food and service is still as good as the first time we came.. as is the decor which is very outdated and perfect! They even have live music playing on weekends and special occasions.. If you like authentic Hungarian food.. made fresh on the premises then you'll love this place.. goulash, schnitzel, sauerkraut, sausage, duck, veal, pork chops etc etc etc.. all made fresh on the premises in authentic Hungarian style.. Even the buns, biscuits and cookies are home made... Highly recommend this place..

Budapest Restaurant in London was my first true initiation into the world of traditional Hungarian cuisine and it was a great first experience! My wife and I enjoyed our date night immensely. We had a chicken schnitzel sandwich, perogies, beef stroganoff, and a strawberry crepe to finish it off. The food was delicious, the service great, and the atmosphere excellent. If you're searching for some tasty traditional Hungarian food in London, Ontario, then you need to check out Budapest Restaurant for yourself!

It was awesome. We loved the fact that it was so cute and romantic. The service was lovely and the food was spectacular. I havnt crossed the ocean, but I can only imagine that this is what genuine Hungarian food tastes like.

This place is a relic from days gone by....and it's simply amazing! A narrow space made warm by traditional Hungarian items hung on the walls, a clever use of material to give you sense of warmth and privacy. A close inspection of everything from the items hanging on the wall to the floor and you will not find a single spec of dust or crumb anywhere. There is a serious sense of pride in this restaurant, a pride that is reflected in the food. From the goulash soup to the royal platter you can taste the love and care that has gone into the preparation of these dishes. This was my first time there but absolutely will not be my last. Everything from the service to the flavors of the food to value once I received my bill was pleasurable experience.

Dining for two on a quiet Saturday night… could only see 3, maybe 4 tables seated. Our server was pleasant and quickly took our drinks order. Shortly thereafter our appetizer (soup for she and salad for me) and entrees (dinner specials 2x) were placed. After about 20 minutes, with no other interaction with the server our entrees arrived along with my wife’s soup (clearly the appetizer didn’t come out first) and my salad was not delivered. We asked for water, as our cocktails and beer were empty; she never asked if we wanted another round. The food was ok; as it was my first time, my expectations were low - my wife has dined here on several occasions - she found the meal woefully lacking in presentation and taste. With our empty plates on the table the server asked if we wanted anything else… trying to close the bill before offering any dessert (included in the prix fixe meal) or coffees. We shared a crepe that was clearly pre-made and somehow served cold. In the end, the food was lacking and the service from the newbie server and the never present manager was not up to par. The cabbage soup and espressos are the only reason for the two-star rating! Not good value for the money spent.

Stayed in London on business and Yelp suggested this place as somewhere for dinner. It was a little pricey, but I was on work's dime so I went. The Budapest Dining Room & Tavern has been around since 1956 and its original owner only very recently passed away. It was originally a soda shop and another business, with the wall partially knocked out - that's why there are two doors and it looks a little odd. It's quite large inside though it doesn't look it from outside. The menu is not overly massive, and the platters definitely give you a number of ways to try different things. Having been to Hungary and also had a Hungarian partner for a while, everything I tried seemed pretty authentic. It was a quiet night so I chatted quite a bit with the server about the history of the place before heading out, and it made for a lovely evening.

Friendly staff, big portion but the food I had making me going in back to bathroom over and over. Very not happy at all !

Always a wonderful meal. Old school decor and super tasty food. Like everywhere, prices have shot up recently, but still reasonable value.

As soon as we stepped into this restaurant, I felt automatically transported to Eastern Europe. I've never been to Hungary, but the decor, employees' attire, and music were definitely what I would expect to see. The restaurant was relatively empty, and one of the hosts played piano throughout the night. We were a party of 13, and took their recommendation of ordering the four-course special. This included a soup, perogie and lecso appetizer, combination platter, and a giant dessert crepe. I would suggest ordering one or two less than the number of people as the portions are quite large. Much of the food was mediocre, but the soup, pasta, and crepe were delicious. Definitely a step out of my comfort zone, but overall a good meal.

Friend and I went for Londonlicious (kind of food fest) The food was good. Marika, the spunky restaurant owner has been in business for over 55 years and still comes table to table asking if everything is good. Service was nice. There was a gentleman playing the piano. It was nice. A little pricey, not what I was expecting. Would consider coming again for the experience. Not necessarily because of quality or price.

Needed a solo night out. Haven't been to this place for years. Been around London for 50 years. Must try if your in the London area for typical Hungarian fare. I had the Hungarian platter. Comes with soup, Hungarian goulash, sausage, cabbage roll and schnitzel and desert. Soup wasn't as warm as I would like but everything was very tasty and typical European fare. Reminds me of my childhood meals.

My sister and her friends study at Western, and always tell me that there is no good food in London, Ontario. Well this place certainly proved their hypothesis wrong. Other than going to budapest like i did in the past, this is the most authentic hungarian food i have tasted in a long time. I ordered the budapest platter, and i have to say that every bit of it reminded me of the orgasmic food experience i received in budapest, hungary. If you are in london, ontario, make sure to check this place out.

If you want a pleasant , quiet restaurant that has live music to accompany your delicious meal go to Budapest. It is a traditional, 10/10 feel like home place. Any platter has it's unique taste of Hungary. Staff is very very kind, Owner is a full of life "28" year old @heart. Liked her a lot. I've been wanting to dine here for more than a year. Finally my family got to have our best dinner in London.

The Yelp International Supper Club made a stop in Hungary for our last meeting and got to enjoy a night at Budapest Dining Room & Tavern. I'm not sure what is mentioned more, the amazing food, or the lady who has owned this place for over 59 years!(!!!!) Sure enough, she came by a few times to say hello and chat. She is still in the kitchen cooking all of the wonderful dishes here. This place is like walking into your grandmas house, and I loved it. The velvet curtains, the linens on the table, the glamour shots on the wall. this isn't kitschy restaruant decor, it's legit! The service was a bit confusing at times since we would have one waitress, and then another, and then the other would come back to do the same thing the other did. Another part of the night, we had no waitress at all for a long time and had to get up to ask for our bills. Compared to most restaurants downtown, this place is on the higher end in terms of price. Platters run about $28. The simple dinners with meat and a small cabbage salad on the side run about $15-$18. I guess the menu online is not updated as the prices were about $4 more on the ones in the restaurant. I ordered the Farmers Platter which came with soup, a pork chop covered in a mushroom sauce, wiener schnitzel, a cabbage roll, dumplings, cabbage salad, a small sausage, and dessert. I got the bean soup which was good but nothing super crazy. Very homemade so I was probably expecting a salt bomb like most prepared soups. It was fresh tasting with lots of ingredients. The platter was out of this WORLD. Like...how can schnitzel be THAT good, honestly?! However, no one can beat my mom's cabbage rolls...sorry Marika! It was still very good! I loved the mushroom sauce that was on the pork, tons of flavour. For dessert I had a crepe with ice cream and it was awesome. Perfectly simple but really yummy. The coffee was also very good. Overall, I am taking half a star off due to some confusion with the service. It was a bit slow at times and dinner took about 3 hours. The live music was really nice (I wasn't expecting that on a Wednesday night) and the keyboard player came to chat with us. He was awesome. The food is amazing. Go! Just go! I'm pretty sure Marika will be there until she can no longer lift a spatula. But she's peppy, so hopefully that will not be for a very long time! It's been 59 amazing years for her and her family and I wish them all the best.

Chose this place since it was the only one taking reservations on a Friday night. The appetisers were okay. We ordered the Hungarian platter and the Royal platter. Pictures attached. Everything felt a tad bit dry from the sausage to the beef to the schnitzel. The desert of phyllo pastry with fresh cream and strawberries was the saving grace. Overall wouldn't like to visit again since I felt that the food quality was not great compared to the prices.

Came here with the Yelp International Supper Club back in March for a taste of delicious Hungarian food, and this I heard was the place to go. There was a small group of us, and we sat by the window, which gave us some light. It was very authentic, and had an old timely style to it. The food was really good, and was your classic Hungarian meals. I had ordered the Chicken Schnitzel, and it came with a side of spaetzle and a small cabbage salad on the side. The portion sizes were large and very easy to take some home if you have leftovers. The prices are a bit on the higher side, I went to the website to take a view of their menu to see what they had before I went to the restaurant. It looks like it hasn't been updated in a bit, so it was a bit more expensive than I was expecting. We had a great visit from the in house musician, talked to us about the history of the restaurant, and a visit from Marika herself! She has been running the restaurant for over 60 years now, and still is in the kitchen everyday. That's amazing, and that's how restaurants last a long time.

We were in London for a family wedding. Dropped by this place as we were there a number of years ago and enjoyed our meal. This time was one of the worst restaurant experiences in a long time. Service was slow. Food was tasteless and expensive. We will not return.

I arrive 40 minutes before closing hours and waaaay underdressed. As in sweat pants and an AE t-shirt. However I was greeted kindly and got a lot of assistance in picking the perfect Hungarian meal from the waitress. I got the platter with the chicken, schnitzel and cabbage roll Honestly, the food was good and hearty. I think some European restaurants add a lot of salt in their food as they can be bland but this place was not like that. I think if you like a good eastern European style food, this place is good. Personally, I like something with more spices and zing but it was a good change up for me. Food - 4 Service - 5 Environment - 5

My husband and I shared a combination platter and an appetizer perogi, more than enough for both of us, came with an amazing mushroom bacon soup and dessert. We upgraded to try the Hungarian trifle and it was amazing. Price was reasonable, portion sizes big and food was fantastic. Would have liked a more extensive wine list, the one we decided on was too light, but food and service made up for it

Specal with several platter specials for $25. Such a deal! I had Royal platter: stroganoff Wiener schnitzel Cabbage roll w/ dumplings. Started with appetizer of sausage & cup of cauliflower soup. Ended with Cherry strudel. I had the house red wine. Very good.

Came here for Londonlicious and enjoyed it. It was our first time trying hungarian food so it was a good experience for us. I ordered the Hungarian Plate that came with Schnitzel, some kind of potato/pasta side I think, a sausage and my grilled chicken. The server that evening was very kind and professional so that was great! The ice cream crepe was my fave part of the dining experience! It was huge and shared among 4 people and delicious!

I am a Hungarian mix and do I decided to try Budapest as I vacationed in London this weekend. I was not impressed! The goulash soup was bland and the beef was chewy! The veal schnitzel was soggy the cabbage roll was bland! The chicken paprikash was bland and boring and the sausage was so minute,that you could barely taste it! For 28.00, I really felt ripped off for what I received and not even bread was included! Because this was a take out meal,I expected cutlery and napkins,however none were included in the 60.00 meal! I was disappointed that the perogy was deep fried as I boil them and brown lightly the typical Ukrainian method. The only two items that I liked were the coleslaw and the palacinta(apricot crepes). Definite improvements have to be made to make Budapest a success. I will likely not be returning.

The food is absolutely delicious! Large potions at an amazing price. The cabbage soup is the best I have ever tasted. Traditional Hungarian food,, with all the bells and whistles. The highlight of the night was talking with chef and owner Marika. Super sweet with an amazing sense of humour. Delightful dining in the heart of London.

Az étel itt elképesztő! Várj ... én nem beszélek magyarul! I loved everything I ate. It will get you speaking Hungarian.

This is our favorite restaurent in London, Ontario. The food and ambiance is Hungarian authentic. We enjoy the space, food and atmosphere. We have some of the platters that includes soup and dessert. Great food !! The restaurent is located in the core downtown so easy access. Parking on the street required. Family-owned restaurent and the service is done by owners and/or members of the family. We recommend to try if you like Hungarian food (pierogi, Hungarian sausage, schnitzel, cabbage rolls, goulash, etc).

I am giving this place 4 stars for the overall experience; the atmosphere was unique and fun. But if I were to rate the food by itself, I'd go with 3 stars. I ordered the Hungarian "Londolicious" plate and my husband had the Budapest plate. (Note: I hated saying the word Londolicious because it's silly, but mainly because London kind of sucks and does not have a ton of the most amazing food). The goulash soup was amazing! It was probably the highlight of my meal. And the pierogi appetizer was pretty good. I had a hard time with the main courses because I can't ever seem to find anything as good as my grandma's Hungarian cooking (particularly her chicken paprikash). Given my bias, I'll skip reviewing the paprikash. The cabbage rolls were not good, which was sad because I was really looking forward to trying them. The schnitzel was quite good, however, and I'd probably recommend getting a plate of this alone as opposed to a sampler plate, even if it's not really Hungarian. Overall, this was a unique and fun place to eat, and I'd probably recommend the experience for a special occasion or a fun date night.

This delightful step out of time delivers an Old World experience, including large portions of European comfort food. Let your appetite be tempted with Spaetzle, Wiener Schnitzel and many other delicacies. Prices are on the higher side however portions are made for take home leftovers. A visit at the table by the Budapest's proprietress tops the experience.

Ok, so it's a little pricey, but oh wow, the food is good; you get what you pay for in this case. We got 2 of the platters for 2 of us and stuffed ourselves and have a whole meal left! The food tastes homemade in the best way, but who's going to make that many dishes at one time? Even the sides were amazing (what magical spice combination is in that purple cabbage?)! Fabulous food, thanks so much!

My buddy and I decided to celebrate the midway of his rotation and end of mine. He got to pick the place and so he chose this one cuz he "really wanted to try chicken schnitzel". Now, no offense to schnitzel and it was tasty by all means, but like c'mon, fried chicken. The place is beautiful inside, they have a great atmosphere. I got the chicken paprikash, which is quite nicely spiced. Comes with a starchy grits/polenta kind of thing, which is very tasty. Amount of food is good. Also got a pint of this imported german beer that they had - awesome. The best thing about the place was that as we were leaving, an older lady, who we guessed was the owner of her place, approached us and asked us how we found the food and everything. We politely said that yes we loved everything. Then as we were leaving, she says, "safe trip home and......no sex tonight, you are going to be in Hamilton very soon"....we had no clue why she said that but were laughing our entire walk home.

I've eaten this food my entire life. Made right at home by my mother in her kitchen. If you put these two side by side, I couldn't tell the difference. It's one of a kind. I've never had anyone compete with my moms cooking. The food takes you to a time when life was better and when we shared our time with loved ones, amongst great food. This restaurant is beyond words. The food speaks for itself! I will eat her until I die

Excellent food as always - our wedding rehearsal dinner was here 39 years ago this Nov. it was great then n even better now. Marika is such a delight n the cornerstone of this great restaurant. They are celebrating 60 years in business this March. Everyone should check out there wonderful Hungarian traditional meals, chicken paprikash, goulash, schnitzel n many more to many to mention. Happy 60th Marika n staff

oh my goodness!!! food excellent! owner obscene! relentless in her assault on our table. we love hungarian food...we were embarrassed to have brought guests here. we will never return.

The Hungarian Platter was generous and delicious. The poppyseed cake warm and rich. I'll go back for sure.

So, I tried this place based on the rating. The atmosphere is kitschy, very dated, has the old fashioned elegant dining experience. Drapery and valances everywhere. I choose the chicken blintz. It is served with coleslaw, fried potato, the blintz with gravy and spaetzle. The serving is generous and comes out quickly from the kitchen. I also got a ginger ale-served from a can... which is a bit out of touch from the elegance of the room. The coleslaw was fresh and tasty, vinegar based. The gravy had a bit of spice to it and the chicken was well seasoned. I added on the cherry strudel for dessert and it's a nice add on, not crazy sweet, but a nice finish to the meal. Overall good experience. But about 3.5 stars (if I could post half stars, I would)

Do NOT pass this place up. What a gem. Absolute amazing decor. I felt that I stepped back in time and into a different country (kind of odd since I'm from the US and visiting Canada, which technically is a different country). So nostalgic, friendly and welcoming. Great for groups but even better for a romantic meal. If Im fortunate enough to return to London this will be my to go to place

I went in for lunch. I had the schnitzel sandwich and a salad. The sandwich was quite small, bread and meat both. The flavour was good just wish it would've been more substantial. It took a while for the food to come out, even though it was not busy. I'd be willing to give it another chance but maybe for dinner instead.

Good cabbage soup. Ok service. Had to ask for all drink refills. I had the farmers platter (I think). The pork was over cooked and dry. The snitzel was ok. Cole slaw like salad was good. Cabbage roll was ok. Dumplings were not what I expected. Dessert had a very weird texture. Disappointing dinner.

The service is good and quick, but the food was just OK. There were a couple of large parties so the place was a bit loud for my taste.

Has always been on my list of places to go. Definitely a legendary place in london. Decided to go for dinner and we were greeted promptly and made to feel like your being invited into there home. The decor was like stepping back in time Very friendly people! ! We were lucky to enjoy someone playing the piano was a wonderful atmosphere! .The food not as good as I would have expected. Seemed like everything was almost too hot. Like it had been in the microwave! Not a big fan of the dessert either definitely didn't seem very fresh. Would definitely be willing to go back again though If you have never been still worth trying out.

Simply amazing, I had a chance to be here at one of my trips to London. First time trying Hungarian Food. It made me want to put hungary as one of dream destinations. Service was amazing. Food feels absouloutly authentic and feels home made. Fresh ingredients. As soon as I walked into the place first thing I was asked "which soup you would like?" complementary soup in a Feb weather condition, enough said. every london trip this resturant would be part of my itinerary.

Came here for dinner and upon entering, the place definitely radiated a classy atmosphere. The restaurant was well decorated and also has an old style look to it. I ordered the Hungarian platter as recommended by many. We started with the Hungarian goulash which was a meat and vegetable stew. It was a bit salty for my taste but otherwise good. The restaurant wasn't too busy, so the food arrived relatively fast. The plate was impressive with hot sausage, Weiner schnizel, cabbage roll and a some sort of pasta which all tasted really good, particularly the Weiner schnitzel. We had some crepes and cinnamon rolls for dessert which were well made. I was quite full by the end and there was also a musician playing the keyboards. Overall: very pleasant dine-in experience and great food.

Came in here by accident wanting to try something new and surprisingly left happy. Good staff and wait time was short

We've gone to the Budapest Restaurant twice when we've been in town. The ambiance appears very traditional and includes decorative china and pictures displayed on the walls. Both times, there was someone playing live keyboard music that added to the atmosphere. There were 4 of us, and we ordered 2 Celebration Platters - there was plenty of food for us (even with 2 university athletes) - we even had left-overs. We really enjoyed the food - schnitzel, cabbage rolls, goulash, and chicken paprika, etc. The meat tasted great - both the chicken and goulash was so tender it fell apart. The cabbage rolls were prepared with a pleasant variation - they had a light brown broth-like sauce instead of a tomato sauce that we're used to - we enjoyed the food. The owner stopped by the table and spoke with us and the boys - adding to the feeling of a small family run restaurant. Overall, we really enjoyed our dinner; and we left feeling that the boys had a great home-cooked meal that wasn't home.

With over 55 years of service , Budapest serves excellent home cooked Hungarian food. I have been here several times and have always been satisfied by the quantity, quality and service of Budapest. The cabbage soup is tasty, the bread fresh unfortunately not toasted and the sausage spicy. The veal schinchel is my preference which comes in the Budapest platter with all the fixings. The ambiance is dark, classy and reminds me of old Europe. The service is humble and customer oriented, Mishka the owner will not disappoint. Enjoy your experience.

So authentic, so unique! Was here for an early dinner and was so pleased to find it! Great food and service - we will be back!!

Phenomenal. It's SO warm...the people are amazing. I felt as if I was sitting at my grandmother's, who loved me unconditionally. The food was good, the people were amazing.

I love this restaurant and we make a point of stopping for lunch when visiting London. I have been several times and always get the Hungarian platter. The platter consists of schnitzel, cabbage roll, Hungarian chicken paprikash and is served with spaetzel and a half spicy sausage. Soup or salad and coffee is included as well. The food is very good and the price is even better for lunch. The decor is very dated and probably has not had a makeover in about fifty years, but this just adds to the charm of the place. It is very clean and you feel like you have been taken back in time The young Hungarian waitress, Suzanna is charming

Was very good, kind of expensive but delicious. Had very authentic Hungarian decor. There was a live pianist which added to the atmosphere. I liked the schnitzel the best.

I went there for the lunch special, it was completely empty, which should have been a red flag, but it's been around for so long that I figured that I couldn't go too wrong. I ordered the lunch special which was "Stuffed Peppers" which the talked up like they were some ancient European recipe that was going to blow me away. They brought out a cup (less than the actual measurement) of lukewarm bean soup. It was bland, but edible. Then they brought out two small cabbage rolls drenched in that sauce and a handful of gnocchi. They were rolled well, but beyond that, an average pani would blow them out of the water. My family would be embarrassed to serve these to guests. The servers were nice and décor charming, but the food didn't merit half it's price ($18 after tax).

If slow service and mediocre food is your thing this might just be the place for you. Maybe I visited on an off night but the service was just terrible. Our server was more interested in chatting with friends at another table than actually waiting on us and after no less than three requests for a drink I never did receive it by the end of our meal. I won't be back.

Really enjoyed the meal. The staff were attentive and it was freshly made. Rustic in feel the place looks authentic and I would definitely go back again.

If you came to London for the figure skating championships, give this place a try. We were worried it might be too late to find anything after the evening competition, but no problem. I love to travel, and part of the fun is trying to figure out unique places to eat, where weary travelers are welcomed.

Drove 40 minutes to get an answer from the cook "we decided to close early since no business " .... guess closing 4 hours earlier it's normal for them . Won't waist my time again

Came with 3 other friends, we had heard good things about this place and decided to check it out. Ambience: 5/5 Very homey feeling, well-decorated with pictures of the original owners everywhere. Strong family feel. There was a live piano player which added to the genuineness of the place. Service: 5/5 Waiter was very attentive, friendly, and personable. When ordering dessert, he actually told us he was very excited to make a dessert of his (palacsinta) which wasn't offered on the dessert menu, so that definitely added to the homey feel of this restaurant. Food: 4.5/5 We each ordered one of the combination plates. It comes with a soup, a main (which comes with meat of choice, pork schnitzel, sausage, cabbage roll, dumplings (basically pasta), cabbage, and a dessert. I personally got the pork, which was seasoned well but a bit overcooked - not as tender - which detracted from it. Trying out my friends' mains (chicken, goulash, stroganoff), the stroganoff was the clear winner with a nice strong beef taste followed by a subtle sweet aftertone. Overall, I was very happy with the food, and the quantities were reasonable. Price: 4/5 Price was a bit above average, but definitely reasonable. The combination plates run about 25$, and are definitely enough for a meal. Overall: 5/5 Would highly recommend, and would return again.