Ruszwurm Confectionery — Restaurant in Budapest

I make a point of always popping into this café anytime I'm in Budapest but I must say my last visit this week was not particularly pleasant. There's what can only be described as disorganized chaos going on when there happens to be large crowds there. All of the guidebooks refer to this confectionery meaning that large numbers of foreign tourists with very different cultural backgrounds and methods on the concept of waiting your turn/queuing are readily apparent. I ended up waiting approximately 15 minutes to finally get a table in spite of the fact that people that had shown up much later than me had already forced their way towards tables that hadn't actually opened/cleared.

The pastries and cakes are tasty but they know their market and you'll rarely find locals willing to pay the amounts charged. Very similar desserts can be obtained at many other places particularly off the beaten path, and at significantly cheaper prices. But the best part of the visit was after finally acquiring a table, one of the waiters who's name is Viktor decided to become overly dramatic about a dry umbrella that I had carefully placed on the edge of a bureau in the front room next to my seat at the front door. Coming over and grabbing it without asking and boorishly claiming that this was a "200 year old" bureau that was already in a state of disrepair and beaten up by chairs and table tops gouging into the woodwork was somehow deleteriously affected by me placing my umbrella on the countertop. I then noticed several more customers coming in with blatantly dripping and open umbrellas be intercepted by Viktor and again either have their umbrellas grabbed from them and put in an unguarded can at the front door or else shamed into turning around to put their umbrella in said can. I can say definitively that several of them turned around and walked out all thanks to Viktor's attitude problem.

I couldn't be bothered to complain to the manager while I was there because as I said, the level of chaos that was going on in the café at that time would never of allowed an opportunity to try to find a manager. So this is the next best thing as a word to the wise for anyone prepared to put up with that kind of behavior.

The other issue was that this evening, on the day after, I happened to be in the area and foolishly thought about popping in a second time for a quick piece of cake only to discover that the café closes so early at 7 PM when there was still a significant amount of foot traffic everywhere in the Castle Hill area. Makes no sense why they are willingly giving away business to other establishments in the area serving similar types of food. Unfortunately due to a certain poor customer service, my review of two-stars stands since it overshadowed any positive sentiment to the visit like the older woman who was actually my waitress. She at least knew what she was doing.

I'm not a traditional tourist so unlike these four and five-star crazy reviews which I take with a large grain of salt, I've had an opportunity to visit this place on a number of occasions over the past several years and can give a reasonable review. The coffee was fine, I wouldn't say it was wonderful. The tortes are a mixed situation very much dependent on what you order. In terms of pricing, anyone that's claiming that the prices were cheap [I saw several of those in earlier reviews] or even reasonably priced, means nothing because a comment like that is entirely dependent on what they either expect the price should be or in comparison to what they pay in their home country. An unbiased assessment on the pricing would have to be done on the basis of what you should expect to pay - quite frankly the prices are at least 33 to 50% higher than other locations for similar quality. Now you are paying for the fact that it's in a tourist area, and you are paying for the fact that they know that the vast majority of customers are going to be foreigners that have no concept of what any of these items should cost [evidenced by earlier reviews] not reality. Let's be real...

12/24 We returned: Four hot chocolates, four cakes, and a much racier feeling than on our first visit, which took place just a few minutes after we left. The cakes are not bad, not too sweet. The portions are of an acceptable size. One particular comment on the cream cake which is too heavy, not as delicate as you would find elsewhere. I wouldn't recommend it. The hot chocolate comes ready-made with a bit of cream and a few shavings of dark chocolate on top. It is too sweet, too milky, perhaps too fatty. It shows, but nothing more. The weather is warm. However, immediately after the first sip, there is a reaction in the mouth that perhaps underlines the poor quality of the product. All in all, it was not a pleasant experience, and all of us were sick to our stomachs the next hour, nauseous from the experience. The service is worthy of a tourist attraction. Nothing great. We won't be coming back this time. It stuck in my stomach.

12/22 Je m’attendais à mieux. Les gâteaux sont pas mal, mais sans plus. C’est un peu compliqué à mon goût. Le chocolat chaud (déjà préparé) n’est pas extraordinaire, le cappuccino, correct, lui est tout à fait ordinaire. L’imaginaire que développe la découverte du lieu et la vue des étales de pâtisseries nourrit un désir que l’expérience n’a pas satisfait. Dommage. Cela laisse un peu le gout d’une adresse trop...

I really wanted to visit this bakery. Every blog or YT channel had it among their recommendations. But my experience was embarrassing. I waited for a table to free up so I could have a nice view of Matthias Church and have a good time. The waitress who served me was quite rude and a bit impolite from the start. I ordered a cake to eat there while I waited and a cherry strudel with a cappuccino to take away. The waitress made a mistake and served me the coffee in a cup to drink there. With great embarrassment and politeness, I told her I had ordered it to go. With a fed-up face, she came back and practically threw a cup on the table so I could serve myself the coffee I ordered. As soon as I finished the cake, I asked for the check because I was having a bad time and asked for it without the coffee. Some kind of manager came over, I explained the situation, and she understood that my complaint was about the size of the coffee or something like that. Anyone can have a bad day, anyone can make a mistake, but I was a waitress and I never treated my customers like that, not even the ones who deserved it. P.S. The waitress who came later with the check was very friendly and, at least, showed interest in understanding what happened. And the...