DOBLO Wine Bar and Shop — Restaurant in Budapest

We had a trip to Dobolo on the shining recommendation of a friend who had lived in Budapest for several years as her “favourite place to be”.

This proved to be the best advice we had for our entire stay in Budapest.

From when we arrived to when we left Dobolo, the team at this wine bar were so incredibly hospitable, welcoming, and thoroughly knowledgeable about everything Hungarian wine has to offer.

We had such a great experience with a stunning wine menu. All the wine we tasted (which can be tried in taster sizes, full glasses or bottles) were superb in their individual ways.

Diana was member of the team at Dobolo who served us, she was so friendly and happy to help us through with recommendations which took us on a bit of a tasting journey through the afternoon (Despite us not being wine experts by any stretch of the imagination)!

Diana was able to help us, gave amazing suggestions, and even gave a great insight into the history of Hungarian wine making, where the wines were sourced (even with the aid of a map). So, along with the top class wine, it was such an interesting insight into how the wine is an important element to Hungarian culture.

In short, great friendly and welcoming team, intensely knowledgeable (even if we weren’t before we arrived), truly amazing wine, amazing setting and overall amazing vibe.

We never usually do with city breaks…but it’s so good…we’re doing it twice. Post 8pm there is live music and I’m looking forward to doing this all over...

No knowledge in wine + scam with the bill at the end. Average 12US$ for wine glass 150ml (2nd scam).

The knowledge: The service girls (really nice persons), but don’t know anything about wine and one of them honestly said that she doesn’t like wine! 😂, you’re working in a WINE BAR! Hey boss!, what type of experience your client will have with servers that doesn’t like the product that they sale! Yes, they know the wine card, the regions and give you a nice smile, but that’s it.

The scam: There is one thing in life that I make me angry is getting fooled by someone. In Hungary (Budapest only?), they put the tip in the bill, average of 12.5%. In my case, I paid with credit card, and the girl asked me for the option of tips. I put a 10%, not knowing if in this place they also automatically put the service fees in the bill (last line in the bill called « szervizdij »). My mistake. Now after the transaction, I looked at my bill and asked the girls why the option of tips since I could see that there was already a « szervizdij » included in the bill…? They had a short conversation between them and said to me that the « szervizdij » go to the boss and the tip (my 10%) go to them.

Hey boss! There is 2 options. The first, you are the scammer by taking the service fees hardly worked by your employees. The 2nd, yep, by hiring employees that doesn’t like the product they sale, they might only want to get more money with your client.

Not recommend...

We sat here twice. The first time, as the surrounding places were full and we found a quiet table here, we chose this place. We had guests and ordered without paying much attention to the prices. Unfortunately, the service was very, very slow. When the bill came, we were a bit surprised because it was quite high. We didn't mind much as we had guests. Despite the slow service, we didn't find the place bad because the atmosphere was nice.

A few evenings later, when we were looking for a place open late, we saw this place again. We sat at a table and when we looked at the menu for wine, we were very surprised to see the exorbitant prices. When we realized they were selling Hungarian wines at least 3x or 4x the price, we felt uncomfortable and left. I think these prices are very, very excessive for Hungary and it's an ugly behavior towards tourists. You can enjoy very nice Hungarian wines at much lower prices in many good restaurants. So, I recommend staying away from here and I'm giving one star to...