Feast Mode Activated in Budapest: 6 AYCE Spots for the Truly Hungry

Budapest does all-you-can-eat with unusual seriousness. Not sad hotel trays under a heat lamp, but grill stations cooking prawns to order, wood-fired ovens turning out pizza on a loop, and in two places a fixed price that covers the beer as well as the beef. The catch is that the market has quietly converged: almost everything central now sits at 9,990 HUF for a weekday lunch and 14,990 HUF for anything else, whether the sign outside says Hungarian, Italian or Japanese. What actually separates the bill is the service charge, the drink policy and how the kids are counted.

Here are the six worth the trip, and the arithmetic that decides which one is cheapest for your table.

Quick glance: Budapest’s AYCE line-up

Restaurant	Cuisine	Weekday lunch	Dinner and weekend	Service charge	Drinks included?
Trófea Grill Király utca	Hungarian, international, grill	9,990 HUF (~$32)	14,990 HUF (~$48)	None published	Yes, extensive
Ape Regina	Italian	9,990 HUF (~$32)	14,990 HUF (~$48)	+15%	Yes
Itoshii	Japanese sushi and hot dishes	9,490-9,990 HUF (~$30-32)	12,390-12,990 HUF (~$40-42)	+10%	Yes
Wasabi Running Sushi & Wok	Japanese, Korean, Thai	13,990 HUF (~$45)	14,990 HUF (~$48)	+12%	No, drinks extra
Rózsalugas Étterem	Hungarian homestyle	3,490 HUF Mon-Thu (~$11)	3,890 HUF Fri, 4,990 HUF Sat-Sun (~$12-16)	None published	No, one drink is mandatory
Memories Brunch & Café by Levante	Middle Eastern brunch buffet	12 euro, daily 07:30-13:00	14 euro at weekends	+5%	Coffee, juice, sparkling wine

Prices are in HUF, which is what you pay at the counter. Converted at 1 USD = 313 HUF, the ECB rate on 4 September 2026. Rates move, so treat the converted figures as indicative.

---

1. Trófea Grill Király utca: the Hungarian feast with the beer thrown in

• What to eat: Trófea is a Budapest institution, and the Király utca branch is the one to pick if you want the Hungarian half of the spread done properly. Catfish paprikás with sheep’s cheese sztrapacska, a traditional goulash soup, Hortobágyi meat pancakes as a hot starter, mutton pörkölt, stuffed cabbage with smoked ribs. Nearly 100 dishes sit across the buffet and the open kitchen, and king prawns, salmon, bluefin tuna and beef tenderloin are permanent fixtures rather than occasional treats: weekdays from 17:30, and all day at weekends and on public holidays. Pizza is part of the unlimited deal here and nowhere else in the group. The show kitchen runs until 23:00 every night.
• What the price covers: food and drink, one figure, no ordering anxiety.
  • Weekday lunch, 12:00-14:00 and 14:30-17:00, 2 hour sitting: 9,990 HUF (~$32).
  • Dinner every day, 17:30-20:30 and 21:00-24:00, 3 hour sitting: 14,990 HUF (~$48).
  • Weekend and public holiday lunch, 11:30-14:00 and 14:30-17:00, 3 hour sitting: 14,990 HUF (~$48).
  • Open 12:00-24:00 Monday to Friday, 11:30-24:00 at weekends and on public holidays. Reservations run in those same four slots.
  • Prices change in December, so a Christmas-season table is quoted at the desk rather than on the site.
• Drinks in the price: Törley sparkling wine, Pilsner Urquell premium draught, Neszmélyi Hilltop red and white, Coca-Cola and Cappy soft drinks, mineral waters, coffee and cappuccino. Nothing on that list is metered.
• The atmosphere: modern and warm rather than canteen, with leather seating and antler chandeliers, three minutes from Deák tér, and busy in the way a good-value place is always busy. It handles groups and birthdays without flinching. Booking matters for dinner and weekends; the buffet does not run out, but the seats do.
• The catch: peak dinner service is genuinely crowded, and freshly grilled items can involve a short wait at the pass. This is joyful abundance, not fine dining, and the price is doing exactly what it promises.
• Address: 1061 Budapest, Király utca 30-32. trofea.hu

2. Ape Regina: unlimited wood-fired pizza, made to order

• What to eat: the buffet is the starting point, not the point. Pizzas come out of a wood-fired oven, pasta is made fresh to order, and the grill turns out its specialities while you watch. Around them sits an Italian antipasti spread, a salad bar and desserts. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and lactose-free versions run across a good part of the menu, which is rare in a format built for volume.
• What the price covers: food and drink, plus a service charge that is not optional.
  • Weekday lunch, 12:00-17:00, 2 hour sitting: 9,990 HUF (~$32) plus 15% service.
  • Weekday dinner, 17:00-23:00, 2.5 hour sitting: 14,990 HUF (~$48) plus 15% service.
  • Weekends and public holidays, 12:00-23:00, 2.5 hour sitting: 14,990 HUF (~$48) plus 15% service.
  • Open every day 12:00-24:00, last orders 22:45.
• Drinks in the price: unlimited beer, selected wines, soft drinks, mineral water, coffee and tea.
• Two rules worth knowing before you book. Everyone at the table has to take the all-you-can-eat deal; you cannot mix it with à la carte in one party. And above four people the bill is not split, so someone is paying for everybody and settling up afterwards. Groups over 20 pay a 50% deposit to confirm.
• The atmosphere: a show kitchen doing visible work, which changes the room from a buffet hall into something closer to a restaurant. Dogs are welcome. It is a couple of minutes from Nyugati, and there is a second Ape Regina on Vécsey utca that does à la carte only, so make sure your booking says Podmaniczky.
• The catch: the 15% pushes a weekend dinner past 17,000 HUF a head before you have ordered anything extra, which is the highest genuine cost on this list.
• Address: 1065 Budapest, Podmaniczky utca 18. aperegina.hu

3. Itoshii: unlimited sushi, ordered from your phone

• What to eat: sushi, maki and a long list of hot Japanese dishes, served in small tasting portions on purpose so you can work through the menu instead of committing to one plate. Sashimi is the exception: it sits outside the unlimited deal, at a discount on the à la carte price. The dinner-only section of the menu can be requested at lunchtime too, charged at its own rate.
• How it works: you order from your own phone through a QR code, five dishes per person per round, with five minutes between rounds. The whole sitting is capped at 2.5 hours. Ice creams and drinks are not on the ordering site and go through the waiting staff.
• What the price covers:
  • Monday and Tuesday lunch, 11:30-16:00: 9,490 HUF (~$30) plus 10% service.
  • Wednesday to Friday lunch, 11:30-16:00: 9,990 HUF (~$32) plus 10% service.
  • Monday and Tuesday dinner, 16:00-22:00: 12,390 HUF (~$40) plus 10% service.
  • Wednesday to Sunday dinner, weekends and public holidays: 12,990 HUF (~$42) plus 10% service.
  • There is also a weekday set lunch from 2,980 HUF (~$10) if you do not want the unlimited deal at all.
• Drinks in the price: everything in the highlighted block on the back of the menu, alcohol included, without limit. That block is why Itoshii comes out cheaper than Wasabi at dinner despite being the more comfortable room.
• The atmosphere: sleek black and red, calm, and right on the Grand Boulevard next to Nyugati station on Eiffel tér. Open every day 11:30-22:00, which is the real booking window rather than the one people assume.
• The catch: the five-minute round timer rewards planning. Order the things that take longest first, not the things you want most.
• Address: 1062 Budapest, Teréz körút 55-57. Reservations on +36 1 426 4055. itoshii.hu

4. Wasabi Running Sushi & Wok: the fun one, no longer the cheap one

• What to eat: a two-deck conveyor belt carrying nigiri, maki, rolls, sushi sandwiches, wok dishes, tempura, Korean and Thai plates, and a dessert run that includes chocolate spring rolls. You take what passes. It is the best format on this list for a table that cannot agree on anything.
• What the price covers, Budapest branches:
  • Weekday lunch, Monday to Friday: 13,990 HUF (~$45).
  • Dinner, weekends and public holidays: 14,990 HUF (~$48), one figure all day at weekends.
  • A 12% service charge goes on the final bill, and drinks are not in the price.
  • The trap: eat a weekday lunch and leave after 18:00 and you are charged the dinner rate.
• Drinks in the price: no. Drinks sit on top of the buffet price and on top of the 12% service, which is what pushes a Wasabi bill past a Trófea one even though Trófea pours you unlimited beer.
• The family angle: children under 12 currently eat free from the unlimited menu, food only, one child per adult and up to three children per two adults. The offer is not guaranteed on public holidays. Without it the child rates are 6,990 HUF ($22) at lunch and 7,490 HUF ($24) at dinner and weekends.
• Where: Szépvölgyi út 15 (11:00-23:00), Podmaniczky utca 21 (11:30-23:30) and MOM Park, Alkotás utca 53, first floor (11:00-23:00). The Debrecen branch runs the same format 500 HUF cheaper, if you happen to be out that way.
• The catch: go for the belt and the variety, not for the platonic ideal of sushi. Treat it as Asian fusion with a sushi component and it delivers exactly what it says.
• Website: wasabi.hu

5. Rózsalugas Étterem: the genuine budget pick, and it is in Óbuda

• What to eat: simple Hungarian home cooking, done in volume. Two hot soups, eight to ten mains and three desserts, refreshed day to day around a fixed core of breaded chicken thigh, roast chicken thigh, fried mushrooms, pork roasts, pickles, mayonnaise salads, rice and steak potatoes. No ambition beyond feeding you properly, which is the whole appeal.
• What the price covers, in force since 1 September 2025:
  • Monday to Thursday, 2 hour sitting: 3,490 HUF (~$11).
  • Friday, 2 hour sitting: 3,890 HUF (~$12).
  • Saturday, Sunday, public holidays and graduation days, 2 hour sitting: 4,990 HUF (~$16).
  • Weekday lunch, Monday to Friday 11:30-15:00, 1 hour sitting: 2,990 HUF (~$10). You have to flag the one-hour option in advance, every time, or you cannot have it.
  • Staying past two hours needs a quote of its own, agreed at the table.
• Drinks in the price: no. Every guest is asked to order one drink, paid separately. That mandatory drink is how the food price stays where it is.
• Two house rules: food left on the plate can be charged at up to 900 HUF per plate, so take less and go back more often. And one bill per table, no splitting.
• The atmosphere: a neighbourhood restaurant with three rooms and space for about 100 guests, running as a buffet since December 2012, and comfortable hosting weddings and family events in the big room. Open 11:30-21:00 Monday to Thursday and Sunday, 11:30-22:00 Friday and Saturday. Card, cash and SZÉP card all work.
• The catch: Ezüsthegy utca is a long way up in the third district and you will need a deliberate trip. At a third of the central price for two hours of food, that trip pays.
• Address: 1038 Budapest, Ezüsthegy utca 42. Phone +36 1 408 7786. rozsalugasetterem.hu

6. Memories Brunch & Café by Levante: the buffet that is actually breakfast

• What to eat: an all-you-can-eat breakfast and brunch buffet with a Levantine accent, run by the Levante team. Shakshuka, warm dishes, salads, French toast, waffles, croissants, pastries and desserts, with a sparkling wine welcome drink, barista coffee refilled without limit, milkshakes or smoothies, and juice from the machines.
• What the price covers: 12 euro per person on weekdays, 14 euro at weekends, plus 5% service. This is the one entry priced in euro rather than forint, so confirm the forint figure when you book.
• When: daily, 07:30-13:00. Note that this is a daily buffet and not the weekend-only fixture it is often described as, which is the single most useful thing on this page if you are in town midweek.
• Where: Wesselényi utca 4 in the seventh district, directly opposite the Dohány Street Synagogue, inside Hotel Memories Budapest. Non-residents are welcome. Levante’s own restaurant and bar service runs from 12:00 to 23:00 in the same building, à la carte, and is a separate thing entirely.
• The catch: it stops at 13:00. This is a slow-morning buffet, not a lunch plan, and turning up at half past one is the classic mistake.
• Contact: levantebudapest.hu, +36 31 202 0916.

---

What the kids cost, which is where the real money is

On a family of four the child policy moves the bill more than the choice of restaurant does.

Restaurant	Eats free	Reduced	Cap
Trófea Grill	Under 3 every day; under 8 at weekend and holiday lunch	Under 14 half price on weekdays; 8-14 half price at weekend and holiday lunch	1 child per adult, 2 children per 2 adults
Ape Regina	0-2 years	3-12 years, half price	1 child under 12 per adult
Itoshii	Not published	3-10 years, 5,990 HUF (~$19)	Not published
Wasabi	Under 12, food only, current offer	Otherwise 6,990 HUF lunch ($22), 7,490 HUF dinner and weekend ($24)	1 child per adult, 3 children per 2 adults
Rózsalugas	0-2 years	2-10 years, 2,200 HUF (~$7) for the two-hour sitting	Not published

Valid ID is required at Trófea to prove the age. Wasabi’s free-child offer is a promotion rather than a standing rate, it does not cover drinks, and it is not guaranteed on public holidays.

Tips for actually winning at this

• Book, especially for Trófea and Ape Regina. Both fill at dinner and at weekends, and both work in fixed sittings, so walking in at 19:00 on a Saturday is a plan with no seats in it.
• Do a full lap before you take a plate. Then take small portions and go back. Rózsalugas charges for waste, Ape Regina asks politely, and either way the reason is the same: your first plate is always the least informed one.
• Read the drink line before the food line. Trófea, Ape Regina and Itoshii include unlimited drinks. Wasabi does not. Rózsalugas requires one paid drink per person. On a table of four, that difference is bigger than the gap between two of these restaurants’ headline prices.
• Count the service charge into the headline. Ape Regina is 15%, Wasabi 12%, Itoshii 10%, Memories 5%, and Trófea publishes none. A 14,990 HUF dinner at Ape Regina is 17,239 HUF on the bill.
• Watch the clock rules. Wasabi charges the dinner rate if you leave a weekday lunch after 18:00. Itoshii caps you at 2.5 hours. Rózsalugas wants the one-hour lunch flagged in advance and quotes separately past two hours.
• Go hungry, not starving. The time limits mean a decent pace beats a sprint, and the buffet is restocked throughout.

Your questions, answered

• Q1: What is the average price for an all-you-can-eat meal in Budapest?
  • A: The spread is wider than most people expect. Rózsalugas in Óbuda runs 2,990-4,990 HUF with drinks extra, and that is the genuine budget end. Everything central now clusters at 9,990 HUF for a weekday lunch and 14,990 HUF for dinner or any weekend sitting, whether the sign says Hungarian, Italian or Japanese. Itoshii is the one that undercuts that at dinner, at 12,390-12,990 HUF. Then watch the service charge: 15% at Ape Regina, 12% at Wasabi, 10% at Itoshii, and none published at Trófea.
• Q2: Are drinks included in the all-you-can-eat price?
  • A: At Trófea Grill, Ape Regina and Itoshii, yes, alcohol included, without limit. At Wasabi, no, drinks are charged separately on top of the 12% service. At Rózsalugas, no, and one drink per person is mandatory. Memories includes coffee, juice and a sparkling wine welcome drink with the brunch buffet.
• Q3: Do I need to book?
  • A: For Trófea and Ape Regina at dinner or on a weekend, treat it as required; both run fixed sittings. Weekday lunch is more forgiving everywhere. Rózsalugas needs a call anyway if you want the one-hour lunch rate.
• Q4: Are there good vegetarian or vegan options?
  • A: Ape Regina runs vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and lactose-free versions across a good share of the menu, with the detail marked on the card. Trófea marks its vegan dishes on the buffet, among them vegetable rolls in rice noodles with peanut and sweet chilli sauce, and the salad and grilled vegetable sections are wide. Elsewhere the vegetarian selection is real and the vegan one is thinner, so check the day’s spread when you arrive.
• Q5: What are the time limits?
  • A: Two hours for a weekday lunch at Trófea, Ape Regina and Rózsalugas. Two and a half hours for dinner and weekends at Ape Regina, and 2.5 hours flat at Itoshii. Three hours at Trófea for dinner and for the whole of weekends and public holidays. Rózsalugas also sells a one-hour weekday lunch at a lower price, flagged in advance.

The short version

If you want maximum food for minimum money and do not mind the tram ride, Rózsalugas. If you want the beer included and a Hungarian spread, Trófea Király utca. If you want pizza made to order and can absorb the 15%, Ape Regina. If you want sushi and a bill that behaves at dinner, Itoshii. If the table cannot agree, Wasabi’s belt. And if the plan is a slow morning near the Dohány Street Synagogue, Memories opens at 07:30.

Jó étvágyat.

Menu prices, opening hours, buffet times, service charges and child rates read at trofea.hu, aperegina.hu, itoshii.hu, wasabi.hu, rozsalugasetterem.hu, levantebudapest.hu and hotel-memories-budapest.com on 5 September 2026.