My Thanksgiving dinner was a little different this year.

It was the first time I’ve ever been away from family on Turkey Day, and it was really, really hard. I always told myself that there would be rough spots to this whole living abroad on my own thing, and this was a major case in point. I missed my loved ones, and my pups, and all my usual traditions.

But, a unique foodie experience with the man in Budapest was a nice consolation prize.

I found Costes Downtown through some good old fashioned Googling. It is the sister restaurant to one of Budapest’s Michelin-rated restaurants, and was less than a 5 minute walk from the hotel. Yes, and yes.

The meal itself was along the lines of the other fine dining experiences we’ve had. Tasting menu with tiny portions, a ton of courses, and unique well-I-wouldn’t-have-thought-that’d-taste-good-but-heyo-it-does type dishes.

They started us off with fried pasta chips and aioli dip.

Plus bread and spiraled, “burnt” butter.

Amuse bouche to get things rolling. Salmon caviar.

And Hungarian wine!

First course: roasted root vegetables.

(Hi from Snapchat me.)

Second course: scallops.

Third course: pumpkin risotto (my favorite dish of the night).

Fourth course: beef & brussels sprouts.

Fifth course: dessert, part one. Chocolate cupcake and a cheese plate.

Sixth course: dessert, part two. Pumpkin dumplings and chocolate moss.

And, to end off the night, cute little mini sweets. These foodie restaurants almost always send you on your way with complementary baby chocolates and macarons. I am a fan.

Before we finish, though, here’s a little tour of the place.

The restaurant is connected to this fabulous lobby. So shiny.

And here’s the kitchen…

And…tour complete.

Our reservations were for 8pm, and somehow we ended up closing out the place. Look at that – actually not eating like grannies for once.

When we got back to the hotel, we had these adorable Parliament cookies on our pillows. The sweetest little sugarplum goodnight.

xo