dont mean to be cruel but Rudits just got what he derserves...
regarding your top 33 list, mate, its a joke!

Well, I'd say that *is* pretty cruel - unless you are willing to dish something on Rudits, aside from him forcing his wait staff to wear goofy white gloves. Same with Top 33: no superior-sounding bitching unless you can offer something better... mate.

i know a few people, like myself, that he owes money to. Mr Karoly istead of going on holidays abroad, sleep in 5 star hotels, eat in michelin star restaurants and wearing desgnier clothes should npay his debts and honestly i'm not surprised that i finished like he did.
Regarding your list Sir, could you please tell me how Costes, Alabardos, Museum and Donatella are not in and places like Pampas, M, Olympia, Iguana and Ocean are?

Re Rudits, good enough dirt! As for the list, most of the ones you mention unfavorably are partly in because of being specialty joints (steak, seafood, etc). I also expect that one of your suggestions will end up on the list it soon enough, and the others strike me as worthy contestants as well, though I've heard some bad news about a few of them.

jo erik but if i go to a steak house or a fish restaurant i expect to eat decent fresh food not some frozen argentinian beef or some greek farmed fish if you know what i mean...
could i ask you wich one of my suggestions will end up in your list? what do you mean with bad news? bad food or a possible closing?
By the way, what do you think of Michelin starred chefs coming to Budapest to cook for a few days? Heard that Yves Thuries will be around next weekend cooking on raday utca in Costes...

I thought you had a chimp who would fling its feces at a wall covered with restaurant menus, if it stuck then it made the list ;)

Peter, they make the list, you don't have to agree with it but I am sure if you had suggestions of restaurants for review, chew.com would go take a look. I would love to hear of a good place to have steak in this berg. Sorry to hear you were burned by your venture.

@Peter: Agreed I would much rather have well-marbeled beef raised right here in Hungary than frozen or deep-chilled steaks from Argentina, but it's not really possible now. As for the "bad stuff," just rumblings of kitchen discontent at a couple you mentioned and spotty service at a few others. Re visits by culinary stars like Thuries, this could be interesting/nice in some regards, but also poses the risk of having people focus even more on the super high-end of the dining segment, which in my opinion isn't really what people should be focusing on. BTW, I did note that your suggested additions to the Top 33 are all pretty much super luxury. Are there any restuarnts you approve of that don't cost a pensionier's monthly salary for a dinner?

I dont think Donatella or Muzeum are super luxury restaurants and whats wrong with having good and expensive restaurants in town if you can afford it and there is a market for it?!
Regarding kitchen and floor staff discontent, well, unfortunatelly is normal here in hungary, what they want is work without pressure, 8 hour per day, 3 sometimes 4 days off a week and forget about standards... (i wonder why 80% of the places are crap...)
And when i find any good and cheap place i will let you know! :)

"...having recently joined the growing list of dining establishments shuddered during this increasingly harsh economic winter."

Don't you mean 'shuttered?' As in closed the shutters?

So Guys, let me understand, you are looking for well-marbeled beef steaks, Greek farmed fish is not for you,(I agree the wild one is better), motivated kitchen and floor staff, all of them must be cheap of course, possibly, I suppose you would like to pay with a bunch of sodexo checks.
I think something is wrong, the high quality is always in trouble with the low price and the motivated staff cannot be educated by their ridicolous managers.
Before to see what is in your plates, you should watch around and try to find the "hospitality spirit" and all the little details which are the reason to live for a restorateur.
Try to ask to yourselves how many "restorateurs" are actually in Budapest and probably you will find also the reason of the "closing time", you cannot say: finalcial crise = shuttered restaurants, there are some other steps in the middle of this equation.

yes Gladio, i would love to find a good piece of marbeld Hungarian beef (if that exists...) and no, i dont like farmed greek fish (even if i live in budapest)
Nobody told nothing about cheap labour, and me personaly im against that (and please forget about sodexo). In my opinion the main problem here is the lack of passion, is simple as that. No passion for what you do and you willnever get there...
Wish you all a good weekend

Thanks Peter, finally I found someone with my same point of view. Food wise this country has a delay of, at least, 20 years, they don't know how to grow, to kill and to cut the animals, so the final result in the counter of the butcher will be always the same for ages, some thing is moving in better, but still, to have something special, it has to come from abroad, so more expensive. You are more than right if you mention the passion which is totally missing every where, and especially in the catering field. For sure many people made lot of money "filling stomachs", without invest one forint in real "hospitality trainings" for the staff which has a preparation equal to zero. The level of the catering schools is ridicolous and if you speak about passion, you can have just some smiles (they are thinking you are crazy, of course), because the most important thing actually are the numbers. Szia

For what it's worth, I agree 100% with Peter and Gladio. This Country has a delay of 30-40 years as for quality of local meat and wine (except Tokaji), imported fish and vegs, service and managing. Lack of passion is a different story because it comes from lack of both hospitality culture and work ethic. Everybody here wants just to make money quickly or work as little as possible. Building a respectable business without cutting corners, treating customers well and learning from them, improving a little bit every day... naaahhh. We should come back in 2 generations' time, or 50 years, to see some improvements. And yes, I really do not understand why Muzeum restaurant is never on the list. It's one of the few quality spots around. Not trendy? Well that's a plus in my view.

The conversation is really going in the right way!!! Bravo Roberto

I am so glad that pretentious git Karoly went belly up. the mort ridiculous, pompous and arrogant man i have come across in a Budapest restaurant. the service, atmosphere and food are several stars better at Costes. as far as passion for quality goes here in Hungary it is down to local arrogance I am afraid: we are the great Magyar race, who is anyone to tell us how to do anything. Or that is how it is done here, like it or bugger off. It explains everything.

very true nick, very true

Lou-Lou,
the most snobbish place in Budapest. Kinky decor, mediocre french
cuisine combined with rude service (at best)! I wonder why you do
not like it... It should be the top of your ridiculous list of 33 (in
other words places where you can avoid from local couisine
D))))))))))