Because this publication follows the rather quaint (at least in Hungary) policy of not taking free meals from restaurants - or any sort of compensation/bribes - when doing reviews, we try to make sure that whenever we splash out for a fancy dining experience we get some equally fancy material to post. One notable exception to this rule involved a trip we took last fall to Lou-Lou, the very high-end downtown restaurant which at that point was emerging from a long and very ambitious "rebirth."

While we used our visit to quickly confirm Lou-Lou's return to our "Top 33" list of Budapest restaurants, at the time we simply didn't know what more to say about the place, and its proprietor's aspiration to be the first restaurateur in Hungary (and Central Europe) to garner a coveted Michelin star. But with the news this week that a restaurant in Prague had claimed the first Michelin csillag in the region - it seems like a good time to talk about why the much wished-for star didn't land in District V. As for the first-in-the-east star Lou-Lou didn't get, it went to Restaurant Allegro, an Italian (no shock there) restaurant at Prague's Four Seasons Hotel. Meanwhile, the new Michelin guide in which it appears - the Main Cities of Europe 2008 - also sees Athens, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Oslo, and Stockholm getting their first stars.

Before going any further, we can't say for sure that getting a star has been a genuine obsession for Lou-Lou proprietor Károly Rudits. But he did mention to us a few years back that it was a goal, which lead to this pre-Chew piece extolling the potential virtues of a city-wide "race for the stars". And to be blunt, everything about the place makes it seem like a restaurant angling for such an award.

Without having visited any of these other recently-starred restaurants, we obviously can't say whether Rudits or Budapest were "robbed." And note that we've only been to the "new" Lou-Lou once, and only for lunch, and it was several months ago. But here's what we will say. What we ate ranged from fine to sublime, while the setting and service were both, well, pretty stellar.

First up was this bowl of vanilla-scented fish consommé with (as we recall) a crayfish ravioli (Ft 2,900/€11.15), which was not just delicious, but eye-opening in terms of flavor combinations, and presentation.

This being Hungary, there had to be goose liver, and it didn't disappoint. Perhaps spurred on by the then-rage for foaming liver over at Klassz, the sauce on this heaping mound of almondy máj (Ft 4,800) came to the table still bubbling.

Next up was a "trio" of protein treasures: breast of pigeon, veal tenderloin, and sea scallop (Ft 3,700), surrounded by a medley of vegetables, and draped with a single piece of sautéed dry-aged ham. While the meats and veggies were done to perfection, the ham was the only serious mistake of the meal, being too crunchy/chewy by at least half.

The desserts we tried (both Ft 1,900) were similarly memorable. A trio of lemony delights called a "lemon tree" - crème brulée, sorbet and mousse - was called "the best dessert ever" by the lucky person who ordered it.

Finally, rhubarb and rice pudding may be as "homely" as ingredients come, but paired with ice cream made from mirtillo (some kind of berry, from what we gather) and served up like this, that's only true if your home has a helicopter pad.

Speaking of homes with helicopter pads, the obvious question underlying all of this is whether the food, service and other aspects of the Lou-Lou "experience" are worth this kind of money. But this is why we didn't post a big review after our visit; we simply don't know.

What we do know is that Lou-Lou is, if not the most expensive restaurant in Hungary, certainly comparable with Baraka [details/user feedback] [related Chew items], Fausto's [details/user feedback] [related Chew items] or Páva [details/user feedback] [related Chew items], and any of the handful of other luxury eateries that the folks from Michelin probably sniffed around before deciding Budapest would be left starless. And it is certainly expensive enough that more than one person we know has left feeling like they were taken for a ride.

Meanwhile, the place is far from perfect, and not just because of that tooth-defying ham. We have, for example, heard reports of somewhat surly service, and there were certain things that just struck us as slightly below the level of tasteful discrimination demanded of a place charging helicopter-pad prices (for example, the menus contained a jarringly large glossy ad for a brand of champagne).

That said, euro for euros we'd be willing to bet that Lou-Lou and any of the other Michelin starry-eyed locals compare favorably in pricing with Allegro, which we are told has mains costing nearly 1,000 Czech crowns, or more than Ft 10,000 (roughly €40). By comparison, a very tempting eight-course tasting menu Lou-Lou was offering last fall came in at just under Ft 10,000, or Ft 21,500 with wine.

One last observation in LL's favor; unlike the unabashedly Italian Allegro, Lou-Lou isn't a culinary implant; on previous visits, we've had among the best "nouvelle Hungarian" dishes we've ever tried.

The bottom line is that, if money is little or no object, there's no real reason not to go to Lou-Lou. Indeed, aside from a slight irritation with some of the more gimmicky aspects of the place - those white gloves strike us as silly - the only thing keeping us from going back regularly is the sad fact that we aren't rich enough.

So regardless of what Michelin thinks, Lou-Lou can be happy to know that, as long as it stays on this course, it'll have a spot on our list of top restaurants. And with new Michelin stars dropping onto ever more restaurants in ever more cities, this is something, because no matter what happens to the Top 33, there will only be room for 33.