When our “Top 33″ list of Budapest restaurants was started by our sister site Pestiside.hu back in the fall of 2004, the idea was simply to publish a regularly-updated register of our favorite dining spots in the Hungarian capital. Not only did we generally not base our selections on the suggestions of our friends and people who wrote in, we often gleefully ignored the propositions or warnings that came our way. Because it was our list, and damned if we were going to follow the whims of others, as opposed to our own whims. Three years on, however, we’ve reached the point where it has become increasingly pointless for a few of us to even pretend to know better than the increasingly large number of educated “civilian” diners who make their feelings known through the comments on the individual directory pages of T33 members on Caboodle.hu, or by sending us outraged letters – complete with artwork like that above – explaining why a popular and usually patron-packed café/restaurant like Menza deserves to be pitched off the list either temporarily, or until the end of time.
The image above is of a bill sent to us recently by reader O.S., who had this to say:
[There] are some telltale signs of cracks appearing in the façade of what used to be a cracking place to go, if not entirely for the food: I have been there a couple of times since September, and this was the first time I saw [a tip being automatically] added on to the bill. I always tip well even when perhaps I shouldn’t, and I’m there enough for them to know my face from old. We (2) were obviously expats, speaking in a mixture of English and Hungarian and enjoyed our time and the service was just fine. I went up to the cashier who preferred not to really understand and wasn’t in the slightest bit empathetic, just took my card and swiped it. I told him everything was excellent and would probably tip more, but this left a bad taste in my mouth. I think if I do return it’ll just be for cocktails (as they are excellent), at least they didn’t incur “TIP charge” when I was there earlier in the week. What a shame they are joining the dark side like all the rest.
Unfortunately, it’s not just O.S. who thinks Menza has become a force for evil. From reader D.M. we got the following email – with the subject header “Top 32″ – just yesterday:
Do yourself and your website a favour and get the Menza off the Top
33 RIGHT NOW! It’s dragging down the credibility of the list! I’m serious – I just went to the comments site on Caboodle to have a rant about my dining experience last Friday, only to find that all the terrible things I wanted to say about the place have already been said. Sometimes 2-3 times. The longer Menza stays on the list, the more the good name of the Top33 suffers.
And, sure enough, a quick perusal finds that most of the comments are indeed pretty harsh, such as this particularly pointed one from a certain János, posted back in June.
Seriously, Chew and Pestiside: this restaurant serves awful food, you must know it. All other places at your Top 33 are truly great, so why on earth have you included Menza? How much have they paid?
Just for the record, neither Menza nor any other restaurant that appears on the Top33 has ever paid us a filler to be there. Which is why we, unlike the keepers of most other “best of” dining lists in Hungary – have no problem booting off the ones that don’t make the cut. And if we ever decide to change this policy, the folks over at Menza can expect to have an additional 10% put on their bill.
Well I have been back to Menza since, just to give another chance. Host (Árpád) apologised about tip and explained TIP is only an indication, not compulsory, and usually only applied to French Spanish Italians etc as they don’t have a tip culture. Not sure what to make of this but I did enjoy a wonderful meal;recently my friends did too – it is hard to fault the wonderful atmosphere there – just some of the waiters are a little sour. If they remedied this ambivalence they’d be on my top list!
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
… [Trackback]…
[...] Read More Infos here: chew.hu/reader_tips_automatic_tip_topp/ [...]…
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Digg…
While checking out DIGG today I found this…
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
Websites we think you should visit…
[...]although websites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we feel they are actually worth a go through, so have a look[...]……
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
… [Trackback]…
[...] Find More Informations here: chew.hu/reader_tips_automatic_tip_topp/ [...]…
Related……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……
Related……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Related……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
… [Trackback]…
[...] Find More Informations here: chew.hu/reader_tips_automatic_tip_topp/ [...]…
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Looking around…
I like to surf around the online world, often I will just go to Stumble Upon and follow thru…
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Websites we think you should visit…
[...]although websites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we feel they are actually worth a go through, so have a look[...]……
Looking around…
I like to look in various places on the web, regularly I will go to Stumble Upon and read and check stuff out…
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Recent Blogroll Additions…
I saw this really good post today….
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
Wikia…
Wika linked to this website…
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
Related……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Tumblr article…
I saw someone talking about this on Tumblr and it linked to…
Yahoo results…
While searching Yahoo I discovered this page in the results and I didn’t think it fit…
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Gems from the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
Gabsterz2…
Fantastic blog post, saw on…
Nice read…
Good – I should definitely pronounce, impressed with your web site. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs and related info ended up being truly simple to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all. Quite unusua…
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Wikia…
Wika linked to this website…
Tumblr article…
I saw someone talking about this on Tumblr and it linked to…
… [Trackback]…
[...] Read More: chew.hu/reader_tips_automatic_tip_topp/ [...]…
Dreary Day…
It was a dreary day here yesterday, so I just took to piddeling around online and found…
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Looking around…
I love to look in various places on the web, often I will go to Digg and follow thru…
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Digg…
While checking out DIGG today I found this…
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
It is fine…
I just could not leave your web site prior to suggesting that I actually enjoyed the standard info a person supply to your visitors? Is going to be again continuously in order to investigate cross-check new posts….
Dreary Day…
It was a dreary day here yesterday, so I just took to piddeling around on the internet and found…
Its hard to find good help…
I am forever saying that its hard to find good help, but here is…
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……