Gléda Vendéglő Buda — Restaurant in Budapest

Located several kilometers outside of the busy city center, this place is a hidden gem. I originally discovered this restaurant in a guide book then read the reviews on Google and decided to try it. I'm glad I did as it turned out to be one of the best meals I had while visiting Budapest.

The atmosphere has a casual feel with checkered table clothes and a large open space fitting about 30 tables. The service was excellent and and unpretentious. Our waitress was very helpful in accommodating my husband's allergy and picked a great bottle of Hungarian wine to pair with our meal.

The menu is a modern take on traditional Hungarian dishes that are top-quality without the hype and difficulty of getting a table that comes along with being listed in that highly acclaimed red book. You know which one I'm talking about... begins with a M and ends with a star. I had the pumpkin soup, veal tenderloin and Rákóczi cake. My husband had the Goulash and pork shoulder. The soups were quite flavorful. I've posted pictures for your enjoyment.

The pumpkin soup was poured over pumpkin seeds and ham (pancetta maybe) rolled with goat cheese. The soup had a nice creamy texture packed full of savory flavors. I ate every drop, even using bread to get the last bit from the bowl. The Goulash was what you'd expect and they provided hot peppers to spice it up to your desired level.

The main dishes were presented beautifully and well proportioned. However, my husband's dish was definitely bigger than mine (which is why I was able to enjoy dessert). The venison tenderloin was cooked to a nice medium rare and paired surprisingly well with the Cumberland sauce (something that was new to me and had a very tart flavor). The pillowy gnocchi had nice caramelization on the outside but did not receive the pasta tough. I tried my husband's pork shoulder, which had a nice "chargrill" flavor combined with the paprika in the ratatouille which created a a savory bomb in my mouth. To be honest I was a little jealous of his dish.

Lastly, for desert, I had a Rákóczi cake while my husband sipped on some 6 year tokaj aszú. I was not familiar with this type of cake but the waitress explained it was a traditional Hungarian dessert with cottage cheese. However, I wouod describe it as a tart shell filled with lemon flavored marscapone. To be honest, this was my least favorite part of the meal, but still quite good. It wasn't bad or anything, it just didn't "wow" me like the rest of the meal.

Probably my favorite part of the meal was the bill. Two starters, two entrees, dessert, a bottle of wine, plus two extra drinks (Aperol spritz and 6 year tokaj), all for $32,400 Ft (about 100€). Service fee...

Gléda restaurant is fantastic. The people working there are very nice people. They are kind, professional and very polite. We had an extremeøy pleasant time there. I have booked a table in advance for a birthday celebration. I have made the booking online and commented that we would line to ask for a baby chair and that we would like to bring a birthday cake that we wish them to serve us. They have confirmed the booking online and also called me on the phone. They confirmed the baby chair and asked for a HACCP paper for serving the cake. They explained that this is a certificate that states things about the cake which is the professional way of bronging exterm food into a restaurant and ask them to serve it. They were very kind while explaining and mentioned that they wouldn’t charge is an extra fee for serving it sonce we were going to be 4 adults. They would nornally charge a fee for serving a brought in cake but they told me that it won’t be a problem and they wouldn’t charge us the fee. When we visited they had a very noce attitude and gave us a big and nice table in the shade with very cool music in the background. We ended up not bringing a cake in the end amd they offered us their own chocolate cake. We ordered different meals and lenonades which were all very tasty. The restaurant has a very good combination of modern taste with traditional hungarian meals. But there are lot of choices and many vegetarian options too. The chocolate cake was so delicious too. I can definitely recommend...

We haven't enjoyed a restaurant stay for a long time as much as this. We came on a weekday evening. The host received us with very kind manners. He told us almost more than what we wanted to know about the food and drinks. We were able to select the best we wanted. This is useful when you have foreign guests. We really enjoyed the food. It is rare to have such a selection of real Hungarian food that you would really just cook at home. One of the guests was full vegetarian, the other had a fall for eating internal organs. The other two just ate normal, but we all found what we wanted. The host had a huge knowledge of wines. Since one of the guests was very selective, he explained everything. He heard and understood every wish we had. (I really felt like Alexa was installed into the table :)). When we left I realised that we stayed longer than the closing time, we noticed nothing on the behaviour of the team! We really felt like kings/queen. I'm surprised that this restaurant was not full, because such places are usually the ones that require pre-booking even on weekdays. Well done! (I'm really picky in my opinions, as I was in...