Goli Restaurant — Restaurant in Budapest

My friend and I went in with high expectations, thanks to the raving reviews we saw on Google, however, it didn’t take long for us to start questioning them.

Looking around we saw the meals on the tables that were less than encouraging, but we still had our hopes high. We ordered 2 dips, one of which had no spice whatsoever!Not even salt! The other tasted like Philadelphia cream cheese you can buy in the store… from then on, with each meal we were more and more disappointed and confused. How could the ratings be so high?I tried the stuffed cabbage that, yet again, had no spices and no flavor, it tasted like some herbal medicine. Next to these we had the chicken shawarma which, again, not even salt, but just grilled chopped chicken with some sad salad which most exciting flavor was the lemon juice and parsley, my friend had some bread? Filled with unflavored lamb. Sorry, it had pepper in it which I know because I bit on one whole pepper. It was not salted, and once again no spices.

We had the hibiscus rose lemonade which we were excited about because those are two strong flavors and they claimed they made the syrup themselves. Shockingly, it had no flavor! This seemed to be the pattern of their kitchen - it’s like the use of spice is a blasphemy for them. They were nice enough to change them for a “stronger” one, which barely held more flavor than the first. It tasted like sugary water… having told them this, they still charged us for the lemonades which, out of hospitality courtesy as is often done, should have at least been given for free.

Next to this, the hospitality… dear god, I understand you are trying to be good hosts, but we felt incredibly stressed and pressured by the waitress and possibly the manager coming over every 2 minutes to ask if everything’s okay. We felt exposed, like they were watching our every reaction. We love taking our time in restaurants but here we finished quickly as we could. We were sat at the bigger table next to the kitchen, and a couple minutes after we arrived, the waitress sat two other girls down at our table. She did not ask if it would be okay with us, only from them. To us, she just declared “you’ll have some company.”

Looking around we saw confused couple and solo diners, hesitantly picking at their food. The price value of this place is just not correct. I don’t understand the raving reviews, especially the ones claiming it’s just so original! Have they never tasted flavor and spice in their lives before? We voiced our opinions to the staff after they asked us after practically each bite, and they took it with confused grace. Will not...

This fabulous restaurant is not marked as a gluten-free place but at least 2/3rds of the dishes are gluten-free (I counted 16 separate gf dishes) and I am super glad to have spotted it on my daily walk. There is so much to enjoy here, not least a wonderful vibe and attentive staff who seem to enjoy their work. You know something must be up when that happens!

I don't usually start with the dessert for a review, but the standout is the Pomegranate Malabi (present-tense is appropriate because I am still connecting with its palette two hours later!). This is a knockout dish and not surprising to hear afterwards that it is one of their signature dishes. A vegan dessert, the textures and flavours are truly divine and had me searching for the ingredients as I ate each spoonful. A beautifully-balanced dessert with depth, in the same manner as a great wine. If you do go to this restaurant, definitely leave space for it in your meal.

In general, it's not the cheapest place, but the food is worth it. From what I tried, the oyster mushroom polenta was the weakest, somehow missing a little flavour-punch throughout. But it was well-presented nonetheless and the singular, nice-sized g-f bread portion helped. Worth noting that all of the vegetable dishes on the menu (which varies with seasonality) seem to have been cleverly thought-out by the chefs, with the idea of honouring a particular vegetable, rather than just using it. To be honest, there seems to be a lot of culinary influences included and explored by the chefs, and the diversity of ingredients had me wanting to try all the dishes. There are also well-sourced meat options for those wanting that side of the culinary experience.

The other vegetable dish I tried was the charcoaled aubergine. How they make it is wonderful, the entire vegetable coming alive with moistness and flavours. A finely balanced blend of ingredients (tahini and chili) adding breadth to each mouthful of the aubergine's juicy flesh. An unusual presentation in an artful base of scrunched paper makes the dish feel friendly.

Goli is definitely worth going to. It's a popular place, centrally located and bookings are required, though I was able to secure a table on the day even in peak-season. It's not a dedicated gluten-free restaurant, but as long as you ask them, the staff are knowledgable about which dishes are gluten free. I felt...

A full five star experience right from the get go.

As a lover of Israeli food once hearing about them on Instagram ad (an instant follow) I was curious about the place so we came in for lunch with my husband and our friends.

Once seated the lovely waitress got us the menus and some really valuable information with recommendations on the food and drinks. I always value their insight as they are the experts of the food, so we went for her recommendations and then some.

First we got the labneh with the bread. Boy was that a perfect start. The labneh melted in your mouth, it was amazing. Our friends ordered gluten free bread and they got some freshly baked, home made warm gluten free bread. We had the normal bread and it was excellent. We were also told that the dough of the bread comes from Israel. How cool!

Next we had watermelon sashimi, grilled cauliflower, veggie souvlaki, Jerusalem salad and grilled aubergine. All excellent, plus so very healthy. Then we had some paper cut steak and lamb chops. The lamb chops were one of the best ones I've ever tasted.

Then it was time for dessert. The waitress once again explained very thoroughly about the dessert and we ended up ordering all of them. So we had chocolate mousse, the malabi pudding and the baked cheese. They were vegan, and they were excellent. Okay, the chocolate mousse was a dash too bitter for me, I like sweet to be sweet, but it had an excellent texture plus a lovely hazelnut taste. The vegan malabi and the cheese just gave me a lot of happiness as I'm definitely a dessert person.

All the menu is dairy free and apart from the meat dishes it's all vegan as well. So if you are vegan or have some dairy or gluten issues, this is a perfect place for you. But also for people like me who eat everything this is a top choice. Plus I think the staff also enjoy working there, you could really feel that.

The food, the service, the vibe, all amazing! This instantly became my favorite spot in Budapest, and will definitely be my new go to place. I will 100%...