Stand25 Bistro — Restaurant in Budapest

NEVER in my life - living in London & travelling the world, have I EVER experienced anything like what my friends & I experienced when visiting this awful place on 21.10.24

We were a group of 6 out celebrating my 40th birthday, so a pleasant evening was expected; however this was far from pleasant!

We were sat promptly and offered water, with our food order taken shortly thereafter.

Starters were ‘ok’, nothing special - barrata, goulash etc…

The mains were absolutely disgusting - EVERY dish was over-salted and were just vile!

Black cod (fish & chips) the fish was overcooked, dry and dipped in a heavy, thick, soggy batter - which I can only compare to a ‘donut’ consistency type mixture. The chips were burnt and it was so over-salted that the salt actually burnt my mouth - leaving me with no taste at all! I was only able to eat half of one of the two small pieces of fish on the plate and 2 of the 8 chips! (3 were eaten by the other ladies to see who had the most burnt) leaving one and a half pieces of fish, 3 chips and the dips! My friend ‘picked’ at hers, leaving at least 60% uneaten.

Pork Loin (strips) was overcooked, dry and again, heavily over- salted and inedible!

Steak was again heavily salted and was accompanied by a piece of uncooked liver and some sort of soggy, cold crouton and salty mashed potatoe. One person ate the majority of this dish (because she was starving) the other two steaks were partially eaten - none ate the disgusting liver (for fear of being poisoned) and none of the soggy crouton were consumed. They ‘picked’ at the mash.

Needless to say, there was a lot of uneaten food on plates!

To add to this; apart from one of the ladies ordering herself a glass of wine whilst giving her food order, not one of us were asked if we would like to order drinks?! Not one of us were asked ‘how is your food’ ‘Is everything ok’

We were completely ignored the entire time we were there and had only water to drink!

This was a special occasion - money is no object for any of us and we were looking forward to ordering bottles of wine and cocktails to accompany our dinner.

Eventually we asked to see the manager but was told she was not available.

We informed the waiter of the issues with both the food and lack of service - I shall refer to him as ‘The Clown’. It very quickly became apparent that he had absolutely no clue on how to deal with this as he froze on the spot (he almost looked like he was about to have a seizure)

Gabriella (manager) arrived & edited the bill - offering a 10% discount which we found to be an unacceptable offer, and quite frankly - insulting.

No apology was given, no complimentary drink was offered - nothing!

To note; not once were we impolite/rude and not once did we refuse to pay. We were quite willing to pay for the starters, three bottles of water and one glass of red wine. We were not willing to pay for the main courses.

Fast forward to SIX edited bills later (we were only able to leave with three of these) numerous calls being made by Gabriella to the owner, and over ONE HOUR of us arguing the bill, we finally settled on; the starters, two steak dishes, three bottles of water and one glass of red wine - too much in my opinion!

During this time, we were actually LAUGHED at by one of the young waitresses who was clearly trying to antagonise the situation, and ‘The Clown’ was standing guard at the door trying his best to intimidate us but failing miserably!

Upon leaving, The Clown was shouting hatred and racial slurs at us - charming!

Stand25 - You should be utterly ashamed!

As mentioned to Gabriella - Your poor treatment of us will end up costing this establishment far more in the long run in comparison to the money that we paid. And I must take this opportunity to thank you sincerely for the photos of our leftover food which was left on the pass, as this photographic evidence (as well as videos we documented ourselves) will all be handed over to The Michelin Guide experts, along with all of our complaints.

Köszönöm,...

So first, let me frame my review as one that’s looking through the eyes of what you expect from a Michelin starred or noted restaurant. I’ve been to many, in several countries, and that’s what my review is based on. If I was comparing it to a “regular” restaurant, I’d grade it on a different curve.

The service was not great. We weren’t offered the wine list, had to keep asking for it to be brought back. The waiter didn’t check in with us on how the food was, once, nor offer any insight on the Board specials. It wasn’t bad service, just not great:

The food was, fine. But sometimes lacked balance and depth of flavour and creativity. The duck foie gras was just that, a small slice of foie gras with toasted plain bread and some preserves. It was fine, but there was no creativity of either presentation or components. The same with the smoked trout, which seemed actually more like a gravlax than smoked. The presentation of it was definitely better, but it lacked salt.

The table had a variety of mains; the lamb, goose, duck and deer stew. The lamb shanks were fine, although I’ve not seen slow roasted shanks so pale after cooking. The goose and deer stew were both nice, and had a balance of acidity from their side dishes to offset the richness of the meats. The duck however did not. The skin on the duck was the highlight, really light and crispy, but the accompanying potatoes were languishing in the oil they were cooked in, and there was nothing to relieve either the beige-ness of the plate or the intensity of the fattiness.

The desserts we had were the palascinta which is a rolled pancake slightly thicker than a crepe. They were stuffed with a chocolate hazelnut filling that was nice but over-used. Again, it was fine, but too sweet on its own, and a nice sour cherry preserve or similar would have really elevated the dish.

Overall, it was a nice meal, but not a Michelin noteworthy one, based solely on my own experience with similar restaurants with those notations. Maybe...

Misleading Michelin Claims

I chose this restaurant expecting a Michelin-level experience, as advertised both on their website and on the entrance door. However, when we asked our waitress how many Michelin stars the restaurant has, she seemed genuinely surprised and denied that it had any. We insisted, pointing out the signs, but she maintained that the restaurant was never awarded a star. Eventually, we asked if they might have another Michelin-starred location, and she confirmed there’s another restaurant called “Stand” on the Pest side, which indeed has two Michelin stars.

This kind of misleading advertising is disappointing, and I see that we’re not the only customers who were misled by it. It left a bad impression from the start.

Although the food was good, the prices are excessively high for what’s offered, and the service was mediocre. At the end of the meal, we told our waiter to add a 10% tip if it wasn’t already included—only to later find out that a 15% service charge had already been added to the bill. Not mentioning that in advance felt dishonest and unprofessional, especially in a supposedly fine dining establishment.

But, the desserts were the highlight of the meal. The túrógombóc (cottage cheese dumplings) and rice pudding were both outstanding — a perfect balance of textures, sweetness, and flavors.

To sum up: • Food: 5 stars • Service: 3 stars • Value for money: 2 stars Example: one lángos was 5,900 HUF

I wouldn’t recommend this place if you’re looking for a true Michelin experience. Better head to their sister restaurant...