While planning our wonderful festive trip to Budapest, Mr S researched and planned along with the concierge of the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace to choose the perfect restaurants that he knew I’d love. He actually booked two of the four Michelin-starred restaurants in the city for us to try, one of which was Onyx Restaurant located on Vörösmarty Square, a very short walk from the Four Seasons.
First impressions were an absolutely gorgeous interior and an intimate dining room; throne-like booths, huge chandeliers, baroque wallpaper and the onyx accents that give the restaurant it’s name – opulent yet utterly modern. Despite the relative formality of the restaurant, it’s busy and buzzy on a Thursday night with nearly all of the 55 seats in the restaurant taken.
With the choice of a six course or eight course tasting menu of Modern Hungarian food, we decided to go all out and opting for the latter with matching wines. Having never tried Hungarian wine before, I didn’t know that I was really in for a treat.
Let’s face it this restaurant had me at ‘hello’, with exquisite canapés and a bread basket with an insane amount of choice – trust me I managed to make a big dent in it! Opening it’s doors in 2007, four years later Onyx became the second restaurant in Budapest to gain a Michelin star, with the first being Costes. If you thought Hungary was all about heavy bowls of goulash and dumplings, you’d be wrong there’s actually a very elegant fine dining scene in the country.
The chef here is Ádám Mészáros who has been here since 2016, and is utterly dedicated to using the finest ingredients possible like this black salsify with beetroot and parsley.
A happy me and a proud Mr S for choosing such a great restaurant. 
And this gorgeously presented and perfectly prepared cod with sturgeon caviar, buttermilk and dill.
Rillette ball with cabbage and summer savory was the next beautiful dish. Each course is paired with an incredible local wine, several from Tokaji, a historical wine region in Northeast Hungary which is particularly noted for sweet wines.
Perhaps our favourite course was the trout ‘soup’ which was a really interesting blend of flavours and textures. 
I rarely wear earrings, I was really pleased with these but they cause a huge drama when I couldn’t get them out after dinner!
The mushroom veloute with pork foam was a fairly simple dish but an utterly delicious one, another favourite for both of us. Perhaps a dish that typifies the philosophy of tradition meets innovation here at the restaurant.
Delicious rib-eye perfectly cooked came with celery variations, buffalo mozzarella and onion powder. 
The seventh course is an interesting palate cleanser beautifully presented in a glass. A mixture of horseradish, nettle and fennel is not a bitter as it sounds. 
Once again dessert was a play on textures using an interesting combination of seasonal ingredients. ‘Túró Rudi’ is a curd snack that has been popular in Hungary since the 196o’s, it’s combined with sea buckthorn and pumpkin to make an utterly gorgeous dessert. 
A really delicious meal, excellent service and beautifully glamorous surrounding. Mr S and I agreed that Onyx Restaurant was easily our best dining experience in Budapest. I hope to see the restaurant be the first in Budapest to receive two Michelin stars.
Onyx Restaurant
1051 Budapest Vörösmarty tér 7-8
(Entrance from Harmincad street)
+36-30-508-0622
