Émile Budapest Review: Gerbeaud's Buda Villa for Brunch and Afternoon Tea

The tables you want at Émile are outside, under the cabanas, with a Gerbeaud slice on the plate and the Buda hills around you. Gerbeaud opened this house in 2015 in a 1920s villa in Pasarét, far from the crowds on Vörösmarty tér, and it now works as an all-day breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea house rather than the fine dining room it started as.

That shift matters if you are deciding whether to book. Émile is a daytime place: it closes at 18:00 and is shut on Mondays. What you get is eggs Benedict at noon, a Viennese tafelspitz in two courses, Gerbeaud cakes and a three-tier tea stand, in a villa where locals bring their families for birthdays. It suits a slow morning or a long lunch on the Buda side. It is the wrong pick for a dinner date.

Breakfast for two costs 22,900 HUF (about $70), and a 15% service charge comes on top.

📋 Émile Budapest at a Glance

What	Details
Where	Orló utca 1, 1026 Budapest (District II, Pasarét)
Getting there	Bus 5 from Széll Kálmán tér to Gábor Áron utca / Pasaréti út
Hours	Tue to Fri 8:00-18:00, Sat and Sun 9:00-18:00, closed Monday
Breakfast	All day, from 2,890 HUF for eggs your way
Breakfast for two	22,900 HUF, or 28,500 HUF with sparkling wine
Business lunch	7,900 HUF (2 courses) or 8,900 HUF (3 courses), Tue to Fri 12:00-15:00
Afternoon tea	10,500 HUF per person, 14:00-18:00, booking needed
Service charge	15%, added to food and drinks
Booking	Online via emile.hu
Skip if	You want dinner, or a cheap coffee stop

Gerbeaud’s house in the Buda hills

Émile takes its name from Emil Gerbeaud, the Swiss confectioner behind the famous café on Vörösmarty tér, and the restaurant calls itself Gerbeaud’s little sister in Buda. The team found the villa in autumn 2014. It was built between 1921 and 1928, and the restaurant opened in 2015.

Émile began as a fine dining restaurant. Today it describes itself as a more relaxed brunch and lunch house, and the menu reads that way. In April 2018 a café and bakery called Cacao opened on the ground floor, selling bread, pastries and Gerbeaud cakes to take away. The kitchen is led by chef András Frideczky, who cooks seasonal dishes built on classic home flavors, according to the events page.

The house has three levels. Cacao is on the ground floor. The Salon on the first floor is where breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea are served, with a Petite Salon behind a curtain for up to ten guests. The Separé on the top floor seats 18 and has its own terrace over the garden. In the garden, cabanas and parasols go up from spring to autumn.

Source: history, rooms and chef from emile.hu, About us, Cacao and Events, read on 24 October 2026.

Before you go: a few things worth knowing

Ask for the garden on a dry day. The garden is the main draw, with cabanas and parasols from spring to autumn. When booking in the warmer months, ask for an outside table.

Expect families. Émile is set up for them, with a children’s menu, and the house hosts birthdays and family celebrations. If you want a calm table, ask for the Salon upstairs when you book.

Say which room you want when you book. The upstairs rooms also host private events, so a table up there is not a given on the day. Name the Salon in your booking if that is where you want to sit.

Leave time. Service is friendly, but when the house is full it can be slow, and some breakfast dishes are cooked to order with a preparation time of 20 minutes or more. Book for a relaxed meal, not before a fixed appointment.

Budget for a treat. Prices sit above an ordinary Budapest café, and the service charge adds 15%. For the best value, come for the weekday business lunch.

What to order, and what it costs

Breakfast runs all day, and that is where the menu is strongest on paper. The lunch side covers Hungarian and Central European classics with a few brunch staples.

Dish	Price
Mangalica ham and eggs	3,390 HUF (about $10)
Eggs Benedict	5,250 HUF (about $16)
Émile breakfast for one (avocado toast, omelet, chia pudding, coffee, juice)	8,590 HUF (about $26)
Breakfast for two	22,900 HUF (about $70)
Breakfast for two with sparkling wine	28,500 HUF (about $87)
Beef consommé with smoked beef gyoza	3,950 HUF (about $12)
Mains, from sweet potato gnocchi to spiced beef brisket	5,850-7,950 HUF (about $18-$24)
Viennese tafelspitz in two courses	8,450 HUF (about $26)
Gerbeaud cake slices	2,190-2,690 HUF (about $7-$8)
Espresso / cappuccino	1,250 / 1,950 HUF (about $4 / $6)
Children’s menu	2,990-3,650 HUF (about $9-$11)

The weekday business lunch is the value play: two courses for 7,900 HUF (about $24) or three for 8,900 HUF (about $27), Tuesday to Friday between 12:00 and 15:00. Prices include VAT, and a 15% service charge is added to food and drinks, so breakfast for two comes to 26,335 HUF (about $80).

Afternoon tea is served on a three-tier stand: mini croissant sandwiches, cheese and seed sticks, then a Gerbeaud selection that includes Esterházy and Gerbeaud slices, Somlói sponge cake and a Gerbeaud cognac cherry bonbon, with loose-leaf tea or coffee. It costs 10,500 HUF (about $32) per person, or 13,990 HUF (about $43) with a glass of Gerbeaud Brut or Sauska Rosé Brut. For two people with the service charge, the plain version comes to 24,150 HUF (about $74). The menu changes with the seasons.

The menu marks gluten-free, lactose-free and vegetarian dishes, and there is a vegan Black Forest slice. Émile accepts Mastercard, Maestro, Visa and JCB, plus OTP, MKB and K&H SZÉP cards.

Prices are in HUF, which is what you pay on the bill. Converted at 1 USD = 328 HUF, the ECB rate on 23 October 2026. Rates move, so treat the dollar figures as indicative.

Source: menus, prices, service charge and payment details from emile.hu, à la carte (Hungarian version), breakfast, business lunch, afternoon tea, cakes and drinks, read on 24 October 2026.

How to book

Book through the reservation link on emile.hu, which opens an online booking form. For afternoon tea, pick a time between 14:00 and 18:00 and write “afternoon tea” in the comment field: the restaurant asks for this. You can also call +36 30 585 0602 or write to emile@emile.hu.

For private events, the house takes inquiries at emile@emile.hu or +36 30 459 3925. Gift vouchers are sold by email or on site. If you cannot make it out to Pasarét, Émile also delivers through Wolt and Foodora.

Source: booking, contacts and hours from emile.hu, Contact, read on 24 October 2026.

Who it suits, and who should skip it

Émile suits a slow weekend breakfast, a family lunch, or afternoon tea for two when you want Gerbeaud cakes without the crowds of Vörösmarty tér. Families do well here, with a children’s menu and a garden. It also works as a half-day out if you are staying in Buda, or before a walk in the hills.

Skip it if you want dinner, as the kitchen closes with the house at 18:00. Skip it, too, if you are on a tight budget: with the service charge, a cappuccino comes to about 2,240 HUF. And if the weather is poor and you only came for the garden, wait for a better day.

Getting there

Émile is at Orló utca 1 in District II, in the leafy Pasarét neighborhood of Buda. From Széll Kálmán tér (metro M2), take bus 5 toward Pasaréti tér and get off at Gábor Áron utca / Pasaréti út. The villa is a few hundred meters on foot from the stop.

Source: bus route from the BKK FUTÁR route page for bus 5, read on 24 October 2026; check the BKK journey planner before you go.

Émile or Onyx?

Both belong to the Gerbeaud group, and they are opposite ends of it. Onyx on Vörösmarty tér serves one long tasting dinner, ÆTHER, to a communal table for sixteen, at 69,000 HUF (about $210) per person plus 15% service, before any pairing. Émile is daytime only, on the Buda side, and a full breakfast for two costs about a third of one Onyx menu.

Go to Onyx for a story-driven evening you will plan a trip around. Go to Émile for a relaxed morning or afternoon with Gerbeaud cakes and a garden. For the café on the square itself, see our Gerbeaud review, and for more morning options, our guide to the best breakfast in Budapest.

Source: Onyx menu and prices from onyxrestaurant.hu, and the group’s restaurants from gerbeaud.hu, read on 24 October 2026.

The verdict

Émile is not the fine dining address it once was, and that works in your favor. Book a garden table for a late breakfast or the afternoon tea, order a Gerbeaud slice whatever else you eat, and plan to be done by 18:00.

More places to eat are on our food and restaurants page, and our best cafés in Budapest guide covers the coffeehouses in town.