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“Don’t judge a book by its cover” should be your mantra for every restaurant, café and bar in Budapest. Even the most modest-looking places I tried on a recent trip ended up surprising me with lovely food; in fact, I did not have a single bad meal in the city during my weeklong stay—which is not always a given even in culinary capitals like Paris and Vienna.

Dinner is a late and lengthy affair (most restaurants are deserted before 7 P.M.), and lunch reservations are essential, especially at popular spots like Café Kör. Many restaurants are closed on Sunday. Exceptions include Tom George, Kacsa Vendéglö and Gundel. A host of restaurants focusing on international and fusion cuisine (as well as a ton of sushi places) have opened in recent years, leading to worries that real Hungarian cuisine is slowly becoming extinct. My favorite places, like Menza and Café Pierrot, manage to fuse the past and the future by reinventing traditionally heavy Magyar dishes in a light, modern style.

TIP: Travelers interested in the latest news and gossip about Budapest’s ever-expanding restaurant scene should check out Chew.hu (www.chew.hu), a food blog written by the editorial team behind Caboodle.hu (www.caboodle.hu), a leading English-speaking city directory that’s extremely helpful when planning a trip here.