If anyone asks us about the best Italian restaurants in Budapest (or the best places to go for dinner in general), we usually recommend Trattoria Pomo D’oro among a couple of other spots to hang out, eat nice food and drink good wine.

Well, it is not only us who are fascinated by the friendly Italian restaurant: now the place is officially among the best ones in the world. The professional jury requested by the Ristorazione Italiana Magazine – Italian Style was testing restaurants in several countries, offering original Italian pizza for not quite a short time: for 2 years. Finally, they chose 70 places – including Gianni Annoni and Rosario Simeoli’s Trattoria Pomo D’oro of Budapest – which definitely do have a place on their list.

‘For a trattoria with only one pizza oven, this is something like for a fine dining restaurant getting into the Michelin Guide’ – Gianni Annoni said about the recognition. He added that only those restaurants could take part in the testing process which were nominated by the local Italian Chamber of Commerce.

Using good quality Italian ingredients and wood-fired pizza oven were also important criteria (so the restaurant can represent the Italian kitchen authentically). And critics didn’t forget about the importance of local popularity and opinions, either.

What can be the secret of success? Well, Gianni thinks that high quality, fresh ingredients, good Italian supplier partners, colleagues eager to work and to be inspired and the qualities of their chef, Rosario Simeoli were all needed to achieve this fantastic success.

What to eat in Pomo D’Oro?

Unfortunately, we haven’t tried all their menu yet but we tasted some of their pasta and raviolis. So let us recommend you to try Strozzapreti (priest choker) pasta (hand rolled pasta with tomato ragout, flambéed with parmesan cheese) or any of the classic Italian pastas like lasagne or homemade noodles with Bolognese ragout. Their menu is available here: http://pomodorobudapest.com/en/menu

If you want to try some of their wines (please, don’t miss it), they have an extraordinary wine list. Since nobody wants to spend half an hour with choosing the right wine with their food, feel free to ask for recommendation. The waiters are very polite and know everything from each wine. ;) And they always show you the wine chosen on the wine list so you will see the prices, too.

Don’t worry, it won’t be rip off: for the last time, a dinner for two, a bottle of real good wine and a piece of the world’s most delicious chocolate cake costed like 20 000 HUF (60 euros).