Budapest: a gluten-free guide

Posted: June 26, 2022 Updated: May 7, 2024

Gluten free heaven is real and it’s called Budapest. Within 48 hours of arriving I saw six gluten free bakeries, bought from four of them and dined at two dedicated gluten free restaurants. It is unreal. 

Gluten free in Hungarian is Gluténmentes. It’s a great thing that the word gluten looks the same in just about every language.

Budapest, Hungary. 

I visited Budapest in November 2021 for about five days and had a really great time. I also got to eat a lot of awesome gluten-free food. One thing I noticed looking at other guides to Budapest was just how out of date they were – this isn’t against the other bloggers out there but rather an example of how hard the past two years have been for hospitality. Many venues had closed during various lockdowns and restrictions and sadly not all of them reopened.

Since travelling to Budapest and getting around to writing this guide (seven months later) unfortunately one cafe I visited has closed. I’ve left it off the list, everything below is still open. 

Cöli Bisztró

When I visited Budapest five years ago (2016) there was just one gluten free bakery. This one @colibisztro ! I have such happy memories of stopping by here and picking up baked goods to eat on my travels around the city. Back then I got a bun that was generously filled with Nutella. 

Fast forward to 2021 when we stopped for lunch. My husband ordered a mushroom and salami pizza, and I got a salami baguette. The pizza was immense – honestly we could have just shared that. There was no gluten free downsizing going on here. The base was fantastic, crunchy and with a real charred bottom. 

While waiting we sampled some traditional Hungarian pastry filled with poppy seed paste.

The small cafe also offers a range of gluten-free groceries. A huge range of Schar products, as well as many Italian gluten free brands. It’s a great spot to drop in to pick up some bread or cereal so you’ve got breakfast sorted for your stay. 

Location: Budapest, Jókai u. 40, 1065 Hungary
Website: https://www.facebook.com/glutenmentesbisztro/

Bohémtanya Gluténmentes Vendéglő (Gluten-Free Restaurant)

I came across Bohémtanya while searching Google Maps for gluten-free restaurants. Surprisingly, it wasn’t on any of the gluten-free blogs I read ahead of the trip. 

I think it’s because the signage and website aren’t very clear that they are gluten free (they definitely are 👌). Note: I’ve just checked the website and it’s been updated since we visited. It’s so clear with great details on all their menu items, including prices.

What I loved though, they have so many, hundreds, of positive reviews on Google Maps from people who don’t even realise it’s a fully gluten free venue. To me that’s a huge plus and didn’t make me feel at all guilty for it being the fourth gluten free restaurant I’d taken everyone to that week. 

Would you look at the size of that schnitzel?! No gluten-free shrinkage going on here. As you can see it’s bigger than my massive dinner plate, definitely authentic! My husband also ordered the crumbed camembert cheese which came with two pieces and blueberry jam (not to mention rather tasty rice). 

My friend got the goulash which came with traditional Hungarian dumplings – I didn’t see these on offer gluten free anywhere else so keep that in mind. 

The prices were great too, no more expensive than regular venues in the city.

Location: Budapest, Paulay Ede u. 6, 1061 Hungary (near St Stephen’s Basilica)
Website: https://www.bohemtanya.com/

Dolce Farina Niente 

I came across Dolce Farina Niente while searching Google Maps. They opened in 2020 so there aren’t a lot of blog posts yet but trust me there will be. This place is gorgeous! 

I had been daydreaming of lasagna for three weeks when I visited Budapest. At the time we’d just moved from the UK to Finland and the effort of making a lasagna (let alone finding the gf ingredients in a foreign supermarket) was low on my list. 

The interior is beautifully decorated in lush green with arty touches. The menu has so many pizza options, including flavours like pear and ricotta and truffle mushroom. Of course, needless to say my lasagna was delicious!

If you’re staying on the Pest side it’s a little bit of a journey but it’s 100% worth it. We got a bus back after dinner and it was super easy. If you’re visiting the caves of Budapest then it’s an excellent post tour stop. 

Location: Budapest, Csévi u. 7, 1025 Hungary
Website: https://dolcefarinaniente.hu/

Free

More gluten free dreams being made right here in Budapest. My visit to Free couldn’t have come at a better time. We’d spent the morning hiking up and down the hills seeing the Statue of Liberty, the fisherman’s bastion and everything in between. Free is entirely gluten free with a few vegan options as well and very good allergen labelling (egg free!). 

I got three or four items, my husband got about six (we’d missed lunch 😅) and two hot drinks and it was less than £10. I had some savoury batons sprinkled with seeds or cheese and a little strawberry pastry. The pastry was nice but could have had a more generous filling.

The coffee was good and they had a number of tea options. Oh and a rather cheeky T-Shirt for sale. I’ll post it some time.

Location: Budapest, Fény u. 16, 1024 Hungary (the western side of Budapest, about a five minute walk from Széll Kálmán tér metro station)
Website: https://www.freepekseg.hu/

Tibidabo

Gluten free bakery goals. We stopped in Tibidabo bakery on our first morning in Budapest while on a mission for butter chicken paste (a friend joined us on our trip and it’s her favourite so I made it for her on our first night together). 

This bakery is located just off a main road with huge clear signage. Inside there are self-service shelves full of different bakes. There is clear allergy labelling with at least six allergy groups listed. 

There were about twelve pastry options when we arrived, half savoury. We both got a pizza twist, pastry with rich tomato paste sprinkled with sesame seeds. Surprisingly no cheese but I actually prefer it without, plus it’s great for our gluten-free and dairy-free friends.

I also grabbed a cocoa scroll, same thought as a cinnamon scroll but with rich cocoa powder. It was great the next morning, I warmed it in the oven and had it with my coffee.

The pastries are sold by weight rather than unit and are very reasonably priced. 

Location: Budapest, Dohány u. 7, 1074 Hungary (a two minute walk from the Dohány Street Synagogue)
Website: https://tibidabopekseg.hu/

Pata Negra

What do you do on your first night in Budapest? Of course, you go eat Spanish food! 

Pata Negra is a tapas restaurant on the Pest side of the city. The extensive menu is clearly marked with gluténmentes. They even have gluten free bread available to order! 

We ordered a few small dishes to tide us over after a large lunch. We ordered duck with apple, grilled eggplant with salsa verde, roasted veg (not pictured), garlic mushrooms in cream and veal with padron peppers. It was all delicious but the duck was the highlight for me. 

We finished our evening with a Spanish flan. I cannot say no to eggy custardy goodness after a delicious meal 

Location: Budapest, Kálvin tér 8, 1091 Hungary
Website: https://patanegra.hu/en/tapasbar/home/

Drumf

“I could not tell you this was gluten free unless you told me” – husband’s review of his magnificent burger. 

Drumf is yet another 100% gluten free restaurant with a large and varied menu. This is the Drumf burger, obviously you can’t say no to an egg on top. 

I was feeling a bit under the weather when we visited so I went for a nutritious soup with ginger, veg and rice noodles (plus added chicken for protein). 

They also offer pierogi, something you don’t often find gluten free. I got the chicken and mushroom one and it was filled to the brim as you can see. I told the manager it’s the main reason I went there. He said it’ll stay on the menu as it’s very important to them.

The prices at Drumf were great and the menu is flexible. My friend was able to swap out a pulled pork filling for chicken and there was no hassle. The desserts sounded amazing too but we were too full for that and unfortunately didn’t make it back for second visit. 

Location: Budapest, Teréz krt. 9, 1067 Hungary (right near Oktogon metro station)
Website: https://drumf.hu/

Kata 

Kata @katarestaurantbudapest offers 100% gluten free and lactose free food. There aren’t words to describe a bread basket landing on your table that you can actually eat. 

They have a large menu including international and local dishes. We got a bowl of goulash soup each and the shakshouka to share. The goulash was amazing and came with homemade seeded baguettes 😍 so perfect for dipping. The soup was rich and had a generous number of juicy beef pieces. Honestly we should have just got this, it was so filling.

The shakshouka was also delicious and beautifully made. I haven’t had one in years – it’s definitely a popular breakfast item in Australia, usually served with eggs.

Kata is definitely worth a visit, it’s located just a few minutes walk from the Hungarian State Opera House. I can highly recommend this 100% gluten free location!

Location: Budapest, Hajós u. 27, 1065 Hungary
Website: https://katarestaurant.com/

Other places

There are plenty more venues around Budapest that have gluten-free options, you really are spoiled for choice in Budapest.

Lidl

Just a quick mention that discount supermarket chain Lidl has gluten-free bread in the bakery – fresh! It’s wrapped up so it’s safe from cross contamination. 

I didn’t buy any as I saw it just after my massive dinner at Bohémtanya but it’s great to know its there.

Aldi

Aldi in Budapest also stocked a number of gluten free breads around the bakery section. Even in the tiny store we went to they still made room for GF items.