RFK Rankings · Budapest
Best Restaurants for Brunch in Budapest (2026)
Brunch · Budapest · 8 rooms ranked · Updated May 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published February 9, 2026 · Updated May 27, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
A 2018 Hungarian Barista Champion pulling the espresso while the kitchen sends out eggs benedict nine ways: that is a Saturday morning at Cirkusz on Dob utca, and it is how Budapest learned to brunch. The city took the weekend-brunch habit from London and New York and made it its own, anchored on the specialty-coffee corners of the seventh and thirteenth districts and topped by a three-course Sunday inside the Four Seasons. The rooms below were checked against current 2026 listings for opening status and format, with a hard line drawn around the famous rooms that turned out to be tourist traps. These eight are where Budapest actually eats on a weekend, ranked.
1.Cirkusz Café
The city's best-run brunch corner, eggs benedict and championship coffee, walk-in only and worth the queue. Get there early.
Cirkusz holds the corner of Dob utca 25 in the seventh district and roasts its own beans, with a bar crew that has included a 2018 Hungarian Barista Champion and a Latte Art World finalist. The kitchen runs an all-day brunch built on a strong eggs benedict, guacamole and avocado toast, bagels and banana pancakes, served from 7:30 to 4 every day. A typical brunch lands around 5,000 to 8,000 forint a head. It is walk-in only, and the weekend queue out the door is the price of the best coffee-and-eggs combination in the city. The move is to arrive before 10 on a Saturday, or to come on a weekday when the corner is yours.
Walk in before 10am on weekends; the queue builds fast on Dob utca.
2.STIKA
Eggs benedict roughly ten ways, from goat cheese to caviar; the city's deepest benedict bench. Book the small room.
STIKA sits on a corner in the seventh district and has quietly built the strongest eggs benedict program in Budapest, running the dish around ten ways across goat cheese, mascarpone and spinach, Angus beef and even a caviar version. The room is a casually smart industrial space softened with greenery, the kind of place that fills with regulars rather than tour groups. Plan on an upper-café spend for two plates and coffee. It is a small room, so a reservation through ReservOurs is worth making for a weekend table, and a walk-in can mean a wait. Come for the benedict you cannot get elsewhere; order two and split them across the table.
Reserve a weekend table on ReservOurs; the small room fills by mid-morning.
3.Kollázs Brasserie & Bar
A three-course Sunday inside the Gresham Palace, chef Arpad Gyorffy's Tokaji foie terrine the standout; the special-occasion pick. Dress up.
Kollázs is the brasserie inside the Four Seasons Gresham Palace on Széchenyi István tér, at the Buda end of the Chain Bridge, and chef Árpád Győrffy runs its set three-course Sunday brunch. This is the grown-up, dress-for-it end of Budapest brunch: house croissants three ways, a Tokaji Aszú foie gras terrine, eggs benedict royale and a croque madame with truffle and Comté, with optional Fine de Claire oysters and Oscietra caviar. The room holds three toques in the Gault and Millau Hungary 2026 guide, the strongest credential on this list. Expect a premium spend, north of 25,000 forint before add-ons. Book ahead through the hotel or OpenTable; this is the one Budapest brunch you plan around rather than wander into.
Reserve the Sunday brunch through the Four Seasons or OpenTable; jacket-smart works best.
4.Déryné Bisztró
A 1914 Buda bistro that brunches all day, shakshuka and house breads the reason; the neighbourhood institution. Settle in.
Déryné has held Krisztina tér 3 on the Buda side since 1914, and it was one of the first rooms in Budapest to take brunch seriously outside a hotel. The kitchen runs breakfast and brunch every day into a long lunch service: eggs benedict, shakshuka, avocado toast and a bread basket from its own ovens that is reason enough to cross the river. It is a proper neighbourhood institution rather than a trend stop, the sort of place locals bring visiting parents. Pricing sits at the upper-bistro end, fair for the room and the baking. Book a weekend table, because the regulars get there first, and order the shakshuka with the house bread.
Reserve a weekend table at Déryné; the Buda regulars fill it by 11.
5.Két Szerecsen
A candlelit bistro near the Opera that does breakfast till eleven, strong on veg and value; the all-day pick. Drop in.
Két Szerecsen sits on Nagymező utca 14 in the sixth district, a short walk from the Opera and the theatre strip, in a cosy candlelit room with a summer terrace. It opens from 8:30 and runs breakfast until 11 before sliding into an inventive Hungarian-Mediterranean all-day menu, with proper vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options that many Budapest brunch spots still skip. Pricing is squarely mid-range, which makes it a dependable weekday or weekend choice when you want food without a queue or a hotel bill. Walk-ins are usually fine, though a weekend reservation helps. It is the easy answer when the group cannot agree on what brunch should be, because the menu covers all of it.
Walk in or reserve; breakfast runs until 11, the all-day menu after.
6.Briós Kávézó
The anchor of the Pozsonyi brunch boulevard, full breakfasts and pancakes for short money; the value pick. Easy.
Briós holds Pozsonyi út 16 in the thirteenth district, on the leafy boulevard locals call the brunch street of Újlipótváros. It is the neighbourhood all-day café done well: full breakfasts, bagels and sandwiches, egg dishes, American pancakes and pastries, with vegan options and a daily lunch menu, open from 8 every day. Pricing is affordable to mid, the antidote to a hotel brunch when you want a relaxed weekend plate without ceremony. It is walk-in, and the street has enough cafés that you can move along if Briós is full. This is the brunch for a slow Sunday with the papers rather than a special occasion, and it does that one job very well.
Walk in on Pozsonyi út; the boulevard has backups if Briós is full.
7.Mazel Tov
Shakshuka and mezze under a glass roof in a ruin-bar courtyard; the late-brunch pick, not an early one. Reserve.
Mazel Tov on Akácfa utca 47 in the seventh district reads as a ruin-bar courtyard reimagined as a plant-filled, skylit Israeli kitchen, and it is one of the most photographed rooms in the city for good reason. The menu runs Mediterranean mezze: shakshuka, hummus, falafel, shawarma and labane, with the kitchen opening around noon rather than at breakfast. That makes it a late-brunch or brunch-into-lunch room rather than an early-morning one, so plan it for the back half of the day. It is popular and reservations are recommended. Some find it a touch pricey for the genre, but the courtyard and the shakshuka earn the spend. Book a courtyard table and come hungry for the mezze.
Reserve a courtyard table; the kitchen opens around noon, not at breakfast.
8.Espresso Embassy
The coffee-first end of brunch, pastries and a flat white worth the trip; the caffeine pilgrim's pick. Stand and sip.
Espresso Embassy on Arany János utca 15 in the fifth district is where Budapest's specialty-coffee scene grew up, founded by baristas out of Printa and still one of the best cups in Central Europe. This is the coffee-first version of brunch: pastries, sandwiches and a serious espresso and filter program rather than a full eggs-and-bacon kitchen, open from 7:30 on weekdays and 8:30 on weekends. Treat it as the start of a brunch crawl or a focused morning over a flat white and a pastry, not a sit-down feast. Pricing is café-standard. For anyone who measures a brunch by the coffee, this is the room to begin in, then walk on to Cirkusz or STIKA for the eggs.
Start a brunch crawl here, then walk to the seventh district for eggs.
Avoid for brunch
Famous rooms that miss for a weekend brunch
New York Café. The Anantara's gilded room is the most beautiful café in Budapest and a fine photo, but it is widely flagged as a tourist trap with overpriced, underwhelming food and a no-reservation scrum from 8am. Visit for a coffee and the ceiling, not for a brunch you came to eat. For food-led mornings, Cirkusz or Déryné deliver far more on the plate.
Stand25 Bisztró. Szabina Szulló and Tamás Széll's Bib Gourmand bistro in the Hold Street Market is excellent, but it serves set two and three-course lunches and dinners only, with no a la carte and no brunch. Booking it expecting a weekend brunch ends in a lunch you did not plan for. Save it for a proper sit-down meal on a weekday.
Zona. The Lánchíd riverside room has flagged a temporary pause in operations, and even when open it runs a weekday lunch menu rather than a weekend brunch. Confirm it is trading before you build a morning around it, and treat it as a dinner address rather than a brunch one. The Buda-side brunch to book instead is Déryné.
How to plan brunch in Budapest
Budapest brunch splits into two worlds. The specialty-coffee corners, Cirkusz, STIKA, Espresso Embassy and the Pozsonyi-út cafés, are mostly walk-in and run all day, which means the move is timing rather than booking: arrive before 10 on a weekend or come on a weekday to skip the queue. The sit-down rooms, Kollázs at the Four Seasons, Déryné and Mazel Tov, take reservations, and the Four Seasons Sunday in particular needs booking ahead through the hotel or OpenTable.
Geography helps you plan a morning. The seventh district around Dob and Akácfa utca packs Cirkusz, STIKA and Mazel Tov within a few minutes of each other, so a brunch crawl is realistic. Újlipótváros in the thirteenth district, along Pozsonyi út, is the other dense cluster, quieter and more local. For a special occasion, cross to the fifth district and the Gresham Palace; for an easy neighbourhood plate, stay in the seventh or thirteenth. Café-tier prices run roughly 5,000 to 8,000 forint a head, while the Four Seasons Sunday is a premium event north of 25,000. Confirm hours on the day, as smaller cafés adjust seasonally.
Frequently asked
Where is the best brunch in Budapest?
For the best combination of coffee and a full brunch kitchen, Cirkusz on Dob utca in the seventh district is the city's strongest corner, with championship-level espresso and an eggs benedict worth the weekend queue. STIKA nearby runs the deepest eggs benedict menu, around ten versions. For a special occasion, the Four Seasons Gresham Palace serves a three-course Sunday brunch at its Kollázs brasserie. The right pick depends on the morning you want: a relaxed neighbourhood plate or a dress-up event.
How much does brunch cost in Budapest?
A brunch at one of the city's specialty-coffee cafés, such as Cirkusz, STIKA or Briós, runs roughly 5,000 to 8,000 forint a head for a plate and coffee, which is modest by Western European standards. Mid-range bistros such as Déryné and Két Szerecsen sit a little higher. The outlier is the Four Seasons Gresham Palace Sunday brunch at Kollázs, a premium three-course event north of 25,000 forint before oysters or caviar add-ons. Café prices shift with the season, so treat them as a guide rather than a fixed menu.
Do Budapest brunch spots take reservations?
It depends on the type of room. The popular specialty-coffee cafés, Cirkusz, Espresso Embassy and most Pozsonyi-út spots, are walk-in only, so the trick is to arrive before 10 on a weekend or to come on a weekday. STIKA, Déryné, Két Szerecsen and Mazel Tov do take reservations and are worth booking for a weekend table. The Four Seasons Sunday brunch at Kollázs needs booking well ahead through the hotel or OpenTable. New York Café famously refuses reservations during the day.
Is New York Café worth it for brunch?
Visit New York Café for the gilded room and a coffee, not for a brunch you came to eat. Inside the Anantara on the Grand Boulevard, it is genuinely the most beautiful café in the city, but it is widely flagged as a tourist trap with overpriced, underwhelming food and a first-come scrum from 8am with no daytime reservations. For a brunch where the plate matches the setting, Cirkusz, Déryné or the Four Seasons Sunday deliver far more. Treat New York Café as a sightseeing stop with cake.
Which district has the best brunch in Budapest?
The seventh district, the old Jewish Quarter around Dob and Akácfa utca, is the densest brunch neighbourhood, packing Cirkusz, STIKA and Mazel Tov within a few minutes' walk. The thirteenth district, Újlipótváros along Pozsonyi út, is the other strong cluster, quieter and more residential, anchored by Briós. For a grand hotel brunch, the fifth district and the Four Seasons Gresham Palace are the address. A weekend brunch crawl works best in the seventh, where you can move between rooms easily.
Are there vegan or vegetarian brunch options in Budapest?
Yes, the scene caters well to plant-based eaters. Két Szerecsen in the sixth district carries proper vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options across its all-day menu, and Briós on Pozsonyi út lists vegan plates. Mazel Tov's Israeli-Mediterranean mezze, hummus, falafel and labane, is naturally vegetarian-friendly. Even the coffee-led rooms such as Cirkusz keep avocado toast and guacamole on the board. For a fully plant-based brunch, Két Szerecsen is the most flexible single room, while a seventh-district crawl gives the widest spread of options.
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