Spago Budapest by Wolfgang Puck — Restaurant in Budapest

We were, unfortunately, disappointed with our experience at Spago by Wolfgang Puck in Budapest. As avid diners with years of exposure to fine gastronomy, we feel confident in assessing restaurants fairly, and this visit left much to be desired. Here’s a breakdown of our evening:

Price vs. Quality The price-performance ratio was abysmal. We spent over €300 for two people, and the experience simply did not justify the cost. For many, such an evening might be a special occasion worth saving up for, and to then deliver such a mediocre experience feels unjustifiable.

Drinks Cocktails: The highlight of the evening. They were genuinely excellent and showcased creativity and balance. Wine Service: A letdown. Despite stating that we were in the mood to explore red wine (even though we are typically white wine enthusiasts), the sommelier recommended white wine instead. We had hoped for a more tailored experience with a bottle recommendation to complement our dishes, but this was not offered We only ended up ordering 1-2 glasses. Moreover, the service was inattentive, and we often found ourselves without a drink in hand due to the long gaps between server visits.

Food Amuse-Bouche and Bread: Decent but unremarkable. The guacamole’s citrusy twist was interesting, but overall, nothing stood out. Starters: Acceptable but lacked depth of flavor. The dishes were under-seasoned, with no element of surprise or finesse, which is unacceptable for a restaurant of this caliber. Mains: Vada-style beef cheek: The meat itself was excellent—perfectly cooked and tender. However, the accompanying elements were bland and under-seasoned, which diminished the overall dish. New York Steak: While well-cooked, it suffered from the same issue—underwhelming seasoning and a lack of any memorable flavor profile. Additionally, both main courses were served lukewarm, which significantly detracted from the dining experience. Dessert: The warm caramelized apple tart (Tarte Tatin) was good. The tableside caramelization added a nice touch, and the flavors were well-balanced. However, it was essentially just a well-executed warm apple pie—nothing surprising or innovative.

Overall the quality of the ingredients were really good, but unfortunately the dishes did not turn out that good / tasty / creative / surprising.

Ambiance We were seated in the winter terrace, which lacked the atmosphere one would expect from a Wolfgang Puck restaurant. The seating felt uninspired, and the temperature control was poorly managed. My partner was cold due to a draft, while I felt uncomfortably overheated from the heat lamp above.

Service While the staff was friendly, the level of attention was inadequate. Drinks were not refilled unless requested, and we were often left waiting too long between courses or to place additional orders. At this price point, such lapses are unacceptable.

Overall Impression Considering the reputation of Wolfgang Puck and the price point, Spago Budapest did not deliver. While the cocktails were excellent and the dessert was good, they could not make up for the lackluster main courses, inattentive service, and uninspired ambiance. Budapest is home to numerous outstanding dining options, many of which offer better value, superior flavors, and more attentive service.

Recommendation I would advise against dining at Spago in Budapest. It’s easy to find better food, better service, and better ambiance in this vibrant city—and often for a fraction of the cost.

Overall, Spago only earns 2 out of 5 stars. This rating reflects the high expectations that naturally come with dining at a restaurant of this reputation. Guests are often willing to pay premium prices, but in return, they expect an exceptional experience, outstanding quality, and impeccable service. Unfortunately, Spago failed to meet those...

The worst meal we had in Budapest

Four of us went and it was not worth the money.

All the staff greeted us as we were walked to the table past an open kitchen with professional looking chefs so what came next was unexpected.

Our starters arrived and this is where things started going wrong. We had been given no cutlery. The trio of foie gras came with barely enough bread for half the portion so we asked for more bread. Brioche for myself and a gluten free alternative for my mother. Three mistakes later and my mother was left to finish her starter more than 10 minutes after the rest of the table had already been cleared.

The main courses were next and two of us found our meals to be cold and not good. I’m a fat man so when I took a couple bites and then left the rest of the plate preferring to go hungry it really said something. When the waiter came to check back we told him that two of our meals were cold and bad and all he suggested was that he have the chef heat them again.

Not eating gave me some time to watch the magic dance of the open kitchen which was initially fascinating until I noticed the head chef kept scratching at his nose and lips between plating each dish so I’m quite glad I refused to eat my meal which might’ve been pork with a side of snot. He did it maybe 15 times before I stopped watching.

More mistakes and still not one member of staff noticed that my food remained untouched.

After we raised this issue there was no visit from any manager to find out what went wrong. In fact our table was avoided unless absolutely necessary and some plates were left uncleared for a long time while others were whisked away.

We would’ve refused dessert if it had not been for my partner pointing out that the dessert kitchen looked to be completely separate from the main kitchen and therefore the head chef would not touch and contaminate our food.

At least the dessert was incredibly good. Truly amazing.

But when the bill came and no manager had come for feedback or to apologise we were quite frustrated to find that while my uneaten meal had been comped my stepfathers equally bad meal had not as he was too hungry to leave his fully uneaten.

To summarise this meal; it was overpriced for hit or miss food, inattentive service and poor hygiene on clear display. The desserts were incredible and the only thing well...

In general I don't like to give bad reviews for restaurants, but this time i had to.. it just felt like a tourists trap so i had to write about so other people won't do the same mistake.

we just came back from dinner at the restaurant and we we're really disappointed, long story short,i wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

we ordered 4 starters and 1 main course...

Two of the starters were pretty good but the portion size was really small (foie gras and octopus).. the other two were super disappointing. we ordered the seafood pasta that was really bad, the pasta itself felt like it was bought on the supermarket and weren't cooked properly, also there wasn't enough gravy so it was really dry, so we barely ate from that dish...

Regarding the main course, it was ok tastewise, but again.. super small portion for 30 euros dish... (Cow's cheek).

Regarding the service ,it was by far the worst we had in Budapest so far and one of the slowest i have ever encountered in my life and we go to restaurants pretty often.. it took a little bit more than two hours from the moment we sat down till we got the main course, some of the stuff we requested from the waiters just never came ..the restaurant wasn't even fully booked even,so at certain point we just gave up.. One of the weirdest things we've had , for some unknown reason the waiter decided to use the same ice bucket for our table and the table next to us, of course at some point one of the other waiters poured from our battle of sparkling water to the other table, it was so surreal that we didn't even say anything, after that we had enough , we didn't ev consider to stay for desert and we ordered the bill which was a surprise by itself! funny part that they were charging the highest service fee we encountered in Budapest so far (14.5 percent not even including the taxes that we had to pay extra for the service which came together to almost 20 percent. )

We paid around 190 euros for couple (4 starters,1 main course, sparkling water and a bottle of local wine that was actually one of the cheapest in the menu).

To sum up: value for money 1/10. Service 1/10. Taste 6/10.

I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, especially when there are so many great restaurants in the...