Old Faithful

In the midst of the fickle restaurant scene in Budapest, one Italian eatery in Buda has stayed afloat and for good reason.

Da Lello Pizzeria
1123 Budapest
Alkotás út 53.

One would think there'd be a better supply of restaurants at the foot of the 12th district, seeing as it's one of the richer neighborhoods of Budapest. But working from home and often looking for quick eats at a decent price, I am unhappy to report that there are only slim pickings.

Our one savior, however, is the Da Lello, a little Italian corner joint just down the street from us. The place has been there forever and has a very devoted clientele. I have even run into an Italian colleague of mine there on a couple of occasions, if that tells you anything.

This restaurant has an extensive menu of delicious offerings that won't send you to the poorhouse - probably why it's always packed. The pizzas at Da Lello are made in a wood-fired oven, the crust thin and crispy. Ladyfriend usually orders the homemade gnocchi, which comes in a creamy tomato sauce - sometimes we split it as it's very satiating.

But what is really great when we don't want to cook but also don't want to spend a lot of money is the minestrone soup, which is a huge bowl of filling vegetable and bean goodness for just 650 forints.

A testament to this restaurant's success is that they have another outlet inside the MOM shopping center just up the street from their original location and it doesn't seem to ever be wanting of customers either.

We rarely spend more than 5,000 forints at Da Lello.