The Volkswagen-Dining Guide Restaurant Award ceremony was held on the 19th February in the Várkert Bazár. Not only the best restaurants in Budapest and across the country were revealed, but special awards such as the country's best streetfood, innovative cuisine, confectionery were also given. This year a new category was revealed, the Lifetime Achievement Award. The Dining Guide visits more than 200 restaurants, than decides on the TOP 100 list of restaurants. Anonymous testers then visit the sites several times during the year. The Top 20 restaurants are surveyed by international experts and the Top 10 restaurants are chosen. The Volkswagen-Dining Guide Restaurant Guide contains more than 200 restaurants, lists over 100 street food places and 65 confectioneries. The foreign experts: Enrico Cerea - the chef and owner of Da Vittorio, the three Michelin-star restaurant in Italy, - Fausto Arrighi - a former star of the Michelin Guide in Italy, achieving 180 stars - and Nicola Portinari - the two-star La Peca's chef were amog the secret testers. THE WINNERS The Restaurant of the Year: Costes Special awards: Confectionery of the Year: Mihályi Patisserie The Streetfood of the Year is: Pizza, Kávé, Világbéke (aka Pizza Coffee, World Peace) (NB: this one is in Miskolc, 185 kms from Budapest) Winelist of the Year: Borkonyha The Young Chef of the Year: Péter Kovács (Tama Restaurant) Innovative Cuisine of the Year: Innio (chef Szilárd Tóth and chef Csaba Sajben) The Most Promising Kitchen of the Year: Fama (chef Krisztián Huszár) The Chef of the Year: Ádám Barna (St. Andrea Borbár) Life Achievement Award: Tibor Rosenstein The Michelin star Costes made it to the top with 93 points. The fine dining cuisine, run by Eszter Palágyi, continues to perform steadily and to a high standard. The menu includes Hungarian dishes made from trout, carp, pike, deer and duck liver. Costes is followed by Borkonyha with 92 points, which improved since last year's rankings. Chef Ákos Sárközi, the head of the Borkonyha kitchen, "has been more intensively present at the restaurant after his tour in the television (he was one of the judges at the Hungarian version of Master Chef), which has a good impact on the first Michelin-star bistro in Hungary". 92 points went for Onyx too. "Ádám Mészáros Chef found his way, precise and reliable, and constantly meets the expectations of a high-traffic, downtown, top-class Budapest restaurant. Onyx Restaurant is still one of the best restaurants in Hungary today" - featured in Dining Guide's characterisation. Babel has 92 points too, which this time is carried out solely by chef István Veres. Innovation, "nordic kitchen", contemporary design - these are the key keywords in the restaurant. The Costes Downtown has also earned 92 points, its lunch menu and its value-for-money ratio in this high category is almost unmatched, and is not to be missed as one of the most powerful (hotel) breakfasts in Budapest. 91 points were given to Stand25 as a new entry. Chef Tamás Széll's and Szabina Szulló's market bistro concept is based on the pattern of the long-established market bars in Lyon or Barcelona. "Since Dining Guide primarily evaluates the restaurants according to their expectations, there are two restaurants among the best ones that can not be considered a classic restaurant because they work with a progressive menu, a more informal style and more informal service. However, this is undoubtedly top-notch" says the restaurant guide. Krisztián Huszár's restaurant Fáma has 91 points, also MÁK led by chef János Mizsei has 91 points too, who is a reliable and constant player of the Top 10 list. Last year as a new entrant, this year the St. Andrea Borbár holds 91 points. After many years a countryside based restaurant has been added to the Dining Guide TOP 10 list. Anyukám mondta aka My Mom said deserved 90 points. In the TOP10 + 2 list, one of the oldest fine dining restaurant in Hungary, the Arany Kaviár aka Golden Caviar is still in the chosen ones which is a decisive restaurant in the country for more than 20 years. TOP 10 + 2 RESTAURANT: Anyukám mondta (aka My Mom's said) - chef Szabolcs Dudás (NB: this one is in Tokaj region, in Encs) Arany Kaviár (aka Golden Caviar) - chef László Kanász Babel - chef István Veres Borkonyha - chef Ákos Sárközi Costes - chef Eszter Palágyi Costes Downtown - chef Tiago Sabarigo Fama - chef Krisztián Huszár MÁK - chef János Mizsei Olimpia - chef Ádám Csaba, chef Ádám Garai Onyx - chef Ádám Mészáros Borbár St. Andrea - chef Ádám Barna Stand25 - chef Szabina Szulló, chef Tamás Széll Article via Index and Dining Guide, photo credit: Pixabay