Shawn and I love food. All food. All ethnicities and regions of the world – we love to try different foods. We love food trucks and carts, hole-in-the-wall dives, chain restaurants, fine dining and even convenience store food in Tokyo!
We can be classy when we want and sometimes we would like to visit a place with clean linen, wine, a beautiful presentation and food that is a step above in terms of structure, taste and presentation.
So, I had contacted Laurel Budapest, a fine dining restaurant just 2 blocks from our current AirBnb on the Pest side of Budapest, to see if we could be accommodated – with our toddler. Not all fine dining establishments are appropriate, or even welcoming, for young children so it was wonderful to have Nagy Norina, the Reservations Manager, welcome us happily.
Laurel has a few different options for guests.
For their main restaurant, they have set menus that cater to a variety of diets, such as Vegan and also consider dietary restrictions (gluten or nut allergies anyone?) that are 6 courses.
There is the Wine Bar which is a small Tappas menu with appetizers, main, cold/hot and also a couple desserts. And of course Wine! A beautiful wine selection… not that Shawn and I know anything about wine even though we’ve been to wine tastings many times.
Also, what you don’t see on their website is that they also have a coffee bar and book store.
Upon setting our reservation we were sent an email asking us if we had any food allergies or dietary restrictions. How thoughtful. We have none and replied. I think that any restaurant should do this. Ask all diners upon greeting them if they have any food restrictions. It should be commonplace nowadays. I appreciated the question.
Anywho, the night of our reservation, our 2 year old, Sebastian, had been great and in a pleasant mood most of the day so we were hopeful that he would remain a good listener and sit still during dinner.
He’s a wiggler and roamer and doesn’t do well sitting still for long periods of time. He prefers to eat his food standing or laying or basically any other way than sitting down like a mature adult!
We walked the 5 minutes to Laurel and were met by Nagy Norina. She took our coats and led us to our table. What was awesome for us, with a toddler, was that we were the first reservation of the night at 6pm. Most people don’t eat dinner that early in Europe and with a Toddler, we are all about early! We also don’t like to annoy other diners, especially in a fine dining restaurant. It’s one thing if we are in a McDonalds or a TGIFriday’s to have a screaming Toddler but a complete other, IMO, at a place where you go for a civilized meal and drinks.
The place was beautiful inside.
We chose a seat at the teal velvet booth so we could lock in our son and hope to keep him contained. He was being great so far. Saying Hi to Nagy and our waiter, Shomee.
Shomee chatted with us about the menu and asked us about wines. We told him, quite honestly, that we truly know nothing about wine and usually just leave it up to our waiter to choose something appropriate based on what we ordered. That’s how we roll.
We selected a few items from the menu that we wanted to try and that we thought Sebastian might enjoy. From the Wine Bar menu We ordered the sourdough bread, Cheese plate, Mangalica ham and the olive selection. Shomee brought us two bottles of wine and explained each and poured us the first lighter red wine to go with our selection and would serve the more volcanic bottle of wine a bit later.
Basically, we spent the entire night chatting with Shomee. It was a Thursday night and we happened to be the first and only customers that first hour, so we had the pleasure of getting to know him and of his travels working on Cruise ships for most of his adult life. We are very well traveled and so is he so we also had a lot of fun stories to share. It’s always great when you have fantastic service at a restaurant but we truly love a good conversation with our waiters, and even other patrons, more.
After our food arrived we still chatted the entire time. Sebatian was being really good…but getting restless. He loved the Olives and bread but wasn’t feeling anything else because, well…Toddler. Normally he loves ham and nuts but not tonight of course. So, I caved and gave him a lollypop and my iPhone to watch his YouTube programs so Shawn and I could pretend, for 10 minutes, that we are on a date – alone.
The food was delicious and I must say that I loved the Capers, Ham and the Marcona Almonds. Shawn loved the Ham and Cheeses but everything was excellent and top quality. We also really enjoyed Shomee’s wine picks. They were delicious.
At one point, Sebastian insisted that he had to have some of my Juice (wine) and was about to have a tantrum so, knowing that he’d hate it I gave him the tiniest sip… The look of disgust on his face was priceless and just what I was hoping for and then he asked for water and left me to drink my wine in peace.
Next up was Dessert. We ordered a banana ice cream for Sebastian and then let Shomee pick something else for us to try. We are adventurous.
our waiter, Shomee 
Sebastian ate the entire banana ice cream.
Then, Sebastian gave his opinion on the dessert, which he devoured. #thumbsup
More patrons arrived just before we ordered dessert and that too is when Sebastian started sliding under the table and becoming a bit wild. After dessert we pretty much decided to head out instead of having some after dinner coffee.
Sebastian gave high fives to Shomee and even a hug and we now gained a friend and a new favorite Tappas place in Budapest. If you have the opportunity to visit Budapest, please check out Laurel Budapest. It’s in a really fun area of Pest. Make reservations on their website. They all speak English as well as Hungarian so don’t worry about not being able to communicate with them.
Shawn/Wendy:
You guys are awesome! Can’t tell you how much we enjoyed reading about your trips to Serbia and Japan-Disneyland. You all have good karma to travel and share your experiences with everyone. Loved the photos of Sebastian and the joy of being a kid which touched me deeply.
I miss you all of you and hope all your dreams continue to come true and please keep us posted since I finally figured out how to reach you on the web.
Bill & Cynthia
Hi Bill & Cynthia!
Awwww. So glad you figured out the tech to find us!!! 😉 Shawn told me that you guys still email sometimes to keep in touch. Now you can see us. Hope you are all doing well and that your new year is off to a great start!
Love – The Robinson’s
We have added so many locations to our bucket list after looking at your travels.
My favorite saying…”Life is short and the World is Big”
It really is a huge world. So much to see, do and experience
I love all of your adventures!
Thanks Debbie. We are having a great time
I live vicariously through you guys 💕. Can’t wait to see the next adventure
Thanks Jill. We will try to keep you entertained!!! ❤
I have always wanted to try a tappas bar. The food looks yummy and I love when little ones are adventurous enough to try new things.
I am a wine lover! Sounds like an awesome place. Photos are amazing. Thanks for sharing.
How wonderful that they were so welcoming to you with a toddler. We’ve gotten “the look” from other patrons when we walk into places with our kids, even though they’re better behaved than a lot of adults!
Connections like you had with Shomee are what we love about travel. It’s special when you meet people like that. 🙂
you could devote a whole blog to tapas with a toddler!! Friendly places to go on a date and still have your kid with you!
This sounds like a really great place! I love how they personalized your visit. If I find myself in Budapest, I will look Laurel Wine bar up!
Budapest is on my bucket list, and I’m pinning this for future reference. I love how accommodating they are! I’ll have to ask about bringing the kids on my next fine dining adventure.
This looks like an amazing spot. That you for sharing it with us. That banana ice cream looks pretty amazing too : )
You are definitely courageous to take a toddler to a tapas bar! You inspire me to branch out a bit more with my 15 month old granddaughter.
You should. We’ve found that by taking him places kids don’t seem to generally go, he learns how to act. Now, he’s also the most stubborn of our kids and is the hardest to reign in at restaurants but that said, he still does really well.
These are the kind of dinners my husband and I love so much. So grateful our girls love it too. We just need to have our own crackers or bread for Evelyn. Glad to hear you got 10 mins to yourselves for the ‘date night’ experience.
Sometimes that 10 minutes makes all the difference to us.
Ok… the thumbs up from Sebastian has me sold! What a great little find. If I ever find myself in Budapest, I will absolutely make a stop at Laurel Budapest!
He’s all about the Thumbs up and down. sometimes he gives a sideways…not sure if he even realizes what maybe is! 😉
I don’t know about Budapest but when we brought our toddler to Europe for a summer, we were treated so nicely everywhere we went. People loved seeing a little person and we really were given VIP treatment at every museum. They would lead us to family entrances where you do not have to wait in line. It was awesome!
We find that in Europe too. I think it’s great that they search out kids and really try to make them feel special as well as give us parents a bit of an edge which makes everyone’s lives easier and less stress.
aww this is so cute! I’m not going to lie, my favorite part was your video with your baby giving this place a thumbs up lol ♥
He LOVES giving thumbs up or down on just about everything. Especially food.
Now that is some gorgeous food…love olives and capers. And love that the service was so welcoming and accommodating…especially with a toddler.
I haven’t had a caper in a really long time and I ate them all. Shawn didn’t get one.
This totally looks like something we would try when we travel! So glad we aren’t the only ones that know nothing about wine though!
I like the decor and the food looks delicious
Me too. It was delicious and I loved the decor
We love food too. The food presentation is beautiful. I also liked the inside of the restaurant very comforitable.
The restaurant was very clean and pretty. Posh but not intimidating.
The food looks so delicious and that Sebastian seemed to enjoy it too! I’m a big fan of the Marcona almonds from Spain.
Me too. They are my favorite Almonds for sure. Sebastian wouldn’t let me eat any of the dessert. It was his
My toddler would love this!
Yay!!!!
I want to go to Budapest. This looks like a neat place. I would like to try the banana ice cream.
Laurel Wine Bar looks like a great fine dining experience! Sebastian looks like he enjoyed himself too. That dessert, yum!
This place looks DELICIOUS! I always leave a wine selection up to the waiter/waitress as well!
Food looks fabulous!! Love how Sebastian wanted to taste your “juice” and his look of disgust, LOL! He’s got good taste. I would have eaten up that banana ice cream too!