The best restaurants in the Hungarian countryside in 2024

There are fantastic restaurants in every corner of the country, and this year’s Dining Guide Top100 Restaurant Guide has once again listed exactly where to go to find the best restaurants in the countryside.

At the top of the ranking is the Platán Gourmet restaurant in Tata, and in addition to Esztergom and Villány, the Őrség and Lake Balaton are also worth a visit, as well as restaurants in Encs, Dánszentmiklós and Debrecen.

“It is very difficult to compare all the restaurants on the gastronomic map of the country. That’s why when we score the Dining Guide TOP 100 Restaurant Guide, we also take into account how the restaurant performs in relation to the standard expected of the type of restaurant. In addition to comparing the quality of the restaurants, we also assess how well the restaurant delivers on its own promises,” said Zoltán Herczeg, the publisher of the Dining Guide.

Modern, bold, contemporary concepts, dishes made from local ingredients and ingredients from their own gardens, showcasing regional flavours – we show you the gastronomic adventures that await you in the country’s best restaurants in the countryside!

Top 10 restaurants in the countryside in 2024 according to the Dining Guide Top100 Restaurant Guide:

• Platán Gourmet 
• 42 Restaurant
• Sauska 48
• Pajta 
• Anyukám Mondta
• Platán Bisztró
• Kistücsök 
• Bistro Sparhelt
• Botanica
• IKON

Platán Gourmet – Tata

Chef István Pesti has proven in recent years that a gourmet restaurant does not necessarily need to be at a major tourist destination to find its audience. One of the most influential figures of modern Hungarian gastronomy has created his fine dining restaurant concept 50 kilometres from Budapest, on the shores of the Lake of Tata, in a picturesque setting – next to an old plane tree.

With the Platán Gourmet restaurant, the chef has definitely created a place of outstanding gastronomic excellence. His cuisine represents a gastronomic mindset based on unique ideas, and the restaurant’s own garden supplies the kitchen with high-quality seasonal ingredients. The restaurant, which this year offers 12-course degustation menus, has a very varied use of ingredients and the menu clearly reflects the chef’s strong and unique fusion vision.

42 Restaurant & Bar – Esztergom

Two years after its opening, the 42 Restaurant & Bar in Esztergom immediately burst into the universe of Hungarian gourmet, fine dining restaurants. Located in the promenade of Esztergom, the restaurant’s gastronomic approach is defined by the joint work of the well-known chef Ádám Barna and the owner of the restaurant, Sándor Varga, who has created the highly successful YouTube channel “Alexander the Guest”, which tests the world’s famous fine dining restaurants. Chef Ádám Barna is one of the leading figures of the Hungarian gastronomic scene of recent years, whose cuisine, with its clear, progressive notes, is popular with gourmet restaurant lovers. The restaurant, which essentially offers only a degustation menu, represents a very free, unique and bold concept, differing from the approach of Hungarian countryside restaurants. It operates by juxtaposing popular dishes of contemporary world cuisines and sometimes combining them with plates representing Hungarian gastronomy.

Sauska 48 – Villány

The restaurant of the highest gastronomic quality in the South Transdanubian region is undoubtedly Sauska 48 in Villány.The restaurant’s renowned chef Attila Bicsár created the concept of “liberated village gourmet cuisine with colours”, and the internationally renowned entrepreneur Krisztián Sauska, owner of the iconic Sauska wine estates in the Villány and Tokaj wine regions, provided a worthy venue. Sauska 48 represents a contemporary take on Hungarian cuisine, complemented by chef Attila Bicsár’s subtle solutions and sensitive approach, and the menu is keen to sensitively follow the seasonal ingredients and the potential of local producers. The dishes are of course accompanied by Sauska wines from Tokaj and Villány, but the wine list is also complemented by a very unique section, unparalleled in Hungary, featuring the finest vintages from the world’s highest ranked wineries.

Pajta – Őriszentpéter

The farm-to-table concept of Pajta, a family-run business in Őriszentpéter, has become popular across the country in recent years. The restaurant, which is based on the emblematic ingredients of the Őrség region, has a clean approach to ‘Nordic’ cuisine, the Scandinavian gastronomic trend. The restaurant’s responsible commitment to sustainable living and the traditions of the Őrség gastronomy is exemplary. The now iconic establishment is owned by Flóra and Ferenc Kvasznicza, a young couple who moved to Őriszentpéter from the capital. In 2023, the kitchen of Pajta was taken over by István Akács, a young talented chef who has trained in leading fine dining kitchens abroad and in Hungary. The new chef’s first menus are of impeccable quality, with a strongly progressive style, but with a much more understandable and precisely elaborated dishes than in the previous periods of the restaurant, highlighting the flavours of the region.