For one foreign tourist, dinner at a downtown Budapest restaurant turned into a nightmare: The bill for four people came to more than $6,000.
The May 2 incident wasn't isolated, Hungarian consumer rights groups and foreign embassies said. Foreign visitors to Budapest are regularly charged exorbitant prices at some restaurants.The Nepszabadsag newspaper reported the Danish host entertained another Dane and two Hungarian women at the restaurant. He reportedly paid by credit card and left Budapest, disgusted, the next day.
According to a photocopy of the bill published in the paper, four shots of Remy Martin cognac cost $330, four steaks came to $920 and the round of drinks for the Gypsy musicians $3,200.
Part of the problem appears to be the menu: While the Hungarian-language menu lists prices, the English, German and French language menus do not.
The Hungarian menu lists a bowl of goulash soup for $3, while the Danish party was charged $65 for two servings.
And there was nothing the foreign patrons could do.
"This is not a police matter," national police chief Laszlo Forgacs told reporters. Tamas Karovits, president of the Hungarian Caterers Association, agreed.