Best of Budapest & Hungary

An uncompromised lunch menu, with the best quality ingredients, carefully prepared and served a tad simpler than the evening.

    New this year, Spago Budapest offers a completely different experience at lunchtime compared to the evening meal, without compromising on the high quality the restaurant is known for. The innovation is also partly a response to the wishes of regular guests, who have specifically requested to be able to visit their favourite restaurant during lunchtime as well.

    Spago Budapest needs no longer introduction. The empire of the world's sixth richest chef spans more than 100 restaurants worldwide, and Spago, the jewel in the crown of the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, opened its first European restaurant in Budapest more than two years ago in the Matild Palace. Wolfgang Puck and his team oversee the restaurant on an ongoing basis, working in collaboration with local Executive Chef István Szántó. They are there to introduce every innovation and represent what the chef legend, who has his own star on the Hollywood Boulevard, considers to be the core value of his restaurants. "The most important thing is to make our guests happy, no matter where we are in the world. Nothing else matters but the guest experience we provide." The main achievement of the restaurant since it opened in Budapest is that it has become a regular haunt not only for tourists but also for the local public.

    The restaurant runs an ingredient-focused fusion cuisine and will be an excellent choice for lunch as well from now on. "It's also worth visiting us at lunchtime. Our restaurant shows a whole new side this time of day, not only in terms of the daytime, but also in terms of the design of our dishes. We offer lighter, fresh, quick and substantial dishes," says István Szántó, Executive Chef of Spago Budapest, who says the ideal lunch should be simple, light, and delicious. "Tetsu Yahagi, Culinary Development Director of Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, visits us regularly when a new chapter in the restaurant's life begins. At his suggestion, although we have taken some signature dishes from the dinner menu that everyone would like to try, perhaps for lunch, we have also come up with a new selection," he adds.

    Dishes include homemade pasta, a wide selection of salads and pizzas, and a few classic Spago dishes, alongside a varied selection of starters. The lunch menu also includes crowd-favourite Spago classics such as the Spicy Tuna Tartare and the famous Smoked Salmon Pizza.

    "We would have liked the evening menu to appear a little in the lunch menu. What's most important to us is that no matter when the guest arrives, they can enjoy food made with the best ingredients. The quality is the same," says Tetsu Yahagi, who spent two weeks working with the team on the new menu and created dishes such as the Grilled Black Angus Steak Salad and the Handmade Pappardelle with Mushrooms.

    New to the menu is the charcoal grilled SPAGO Burger, a big favourite at the Los Angeles location. The burger bun is homemade and served with their own sauce, and the meat patty is made from prime, aged US beef. In addition, of course, traditional dishes also appear on the menu, such as the Wiener Schnitzel with Austrian Potato Salad or the Pan-fried Chicken Breast Supreme. As a further new feature, 2 vegetarian dishes have been added to the menu, not only to cater for vegetarians, but also for those who prefer a lighter meal at lunchtime: the exciting Shiitake Mushroom Tostada as a starter, or the Miso Glazed Celeriac "Steak" as a main course.

Express Lunch: 1 hour - 3 courses - fixed price

     In addition to variety, there was another important consideration when designing the lunch menu, and that is the time factor. In the middle of the business district, it is essential that business people visiting Spago, who often conduct their meetings over lunch, not only receive quality service but also fast service. Therefore the restaurant has created an Express Lunch option, where they guarantee to serve 3 courses in 1 hour at a fixed price. "Our portions are known for being very generous, but in this Express Lunch category we have made sure that the three courses together make up a sufficient lunch," said István Szántó.

    The lunch menu, introduced by popular demand, is planned to change seasonally and based on feedback from guests, and will be a fresh addition to the capital's similar offerings.