So by this point, almost everyone with an ear to the ground in the Budapest dining scene knows about Vapiano, which recently opened up the first of numerous locations planned for Hungary. The launch of the "fashion street" branch of the Italian restaurant was actually such an event that we've already been scooped by citizen reviewers both on the Caboodle directory page for the place, as well as over in the site's dining forums. Not that we feel too bad about this, because as a chain restaurant with outlets in numerous countries - and a German-owned one at that - the odds of us finding anything particularly surprising about it were longer than the lines of people waiting to check it out the first two times we tried to get in.

If Vapiano indeed turns out to be a hit in Budapest, it won't be a surprise, either. The chain's basic "value proposition," which mixes Italian cuisine (mostly pasta, pizza and salad) and buffet-style choice and convenience with moderate prices and sleek modernist design, seems designed for the current Budapest market. Even the ordering and payment system - you get a chip cards as you walk in, have it "swiped" by the cooks who prepare your food at the long ordering/cooking station, and then turn it back in when you pay - may be seen by local diners as a fun and efficient bonus, rather than a slightly creepy bit of corporate de-humanizing.

Speaking of a slight bit of creepy corporate de-humanizing, the reason we only have one picture in this post, and only of our food, is that we were firmly instructed by not one but two members of the staff that snapping pics was pretty much verboten. Happily, they both did so in a very friendly and professional way. But just the thought of what kind of training was needed to make Budapest service staff act like this gives us the chills.

What else... oh, right - the food! Well, like we said, no surprises here. It was just fine, at least what we had. Our two plates of pasta (pesto and carbonara, Ft 1,000/€4 and Ft 1,250, respectively) were both made with fresh noodles of our choice, and contained lots of quality ingredients (i.e. a tree full of whole pine nuts in the pesto). And dang if it wasn't fun watching them being made, though seeing how much fat goes into a plate of carbonara prevented us from staying for dessert.