Kisüzem — Restaurant in Budapest

Dropped by Kisuzem twice during my 5-night stay in Budapest. The first time was to have a couple of pre-dinner drinks in the evening. There was a decent-sized crowd for a weekday. I got a glass of the house Hungarian red wine after asking the bartender to recommend a good local wine to sip. It was delicious and made even more so by its 400 HUF (~ USD 1.5) price tag. After that, I decided to try the Hungarian herbal liqueur as an aperitif and it cost about the same.

I went again the next day in the afternoon to try their food. The beef shank stew was hearty and flavourful. Perhaps the superstar was the slice of carrot cake that I had; it was moist with a cream cheese frosting that was just the right amount of sweetness.

The vibe at Kisuzem is pretty fuss-free and chill. The bartenders and staff are friendly but they don’t bother you if you just want to sit alone and do your thing. There’s a animal-friendly park just cross from the bar and it’s really a good place to while some time away while drinking cheap but...

We had an older male bartender who had a quite rude and unfriendly vibe to him, every time we asked a simple question, he replied in a manner as if he thought we were stupid for even asking anything. The kitchen staff looked agitated when we wanted to order food. This was with maybe 5 other guests in the establishment, far from a busy full house.

We specifically asked if one dish can be ordered without meat, they said yes, sure. When I started eating it, it tasted really meaty – so we asked them again if it's really without meat, and lo and behold: turns out it was actually cooked WITH meat. Why did they not tell us while we were ordering it? It was absolutely unprofessional and unacceptable.

Vegetarians and vegans, stay far away from this place. Or ask five times about your dish, maybe they will tell you...

Cozy, cool looking place. But double amputee trash men don’t hate their jobs more than the bartenders here do. Ordering a drink at Kisuzem is like asking an American adolescent to show enthusiasm for a family game of charades. It’s like offending your girlfriend at a wedding and then asking what she wants for dinner. I would feel more comfortable announcing the death of a beloved relative than I did asking for a drink under the cold glare of the bartenders here. One bartender, after asking what I wanted (a ginger beer, which they serve), just shrugged and told me to find somebody else to do it. In other words, they’re a bunch of A-holes. Plenty of better places for a drink — plus, they don’t serve cocktails (ignore Google’s little...