Editor's selection
The best fish soup at Lake Balaton: 14 places around the lake
With catfish, with carp, cooked in a kettle: 14 places around Lake Balaton where fish soup is one of the main dishes. With a map, filters and seasonal tips.
Most restaurants around Lake Balaton serve halászlé, the Hungarian fish soup, but it is not the main draw everywhere. This selection includes places where fish soup has a prominent spot on their own menu or in their own description, or where guests go specifically for it.
Most places cook it with catfish fillet, several also offer carp or a mixed version, and a few bring it to the table in a kettle. The groups follow a route around the lake, not a ranking. Out of season many restaurants have shorter hours or close, so it is worth calling before you set off.
The selection on the map
A fish soup tour around Lake Balaton
Find where you are on the map and pick the place closest to you.
What kind of fish soup are you after?
North shore 8 places
Vadkacsa Restaurant and Guesthouse
A third-generation family place by the Vak Bottyán beach. Their own version is the Kenese fish soup with wels catfish fillet.
What to order: Kenese fish soup, then crispy duck leg
Venue details →
Nádas Csárda
A family csárda since 1992, open all year, every day of the week. Fish soup with carp or wels catfish fillet.
What to order: fish soup with catfish, then honey-glazed ribs
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Jóbarátok Halsütöde
A long-standing fish fry at the entrance to Budatava beach, open all year. Carp, catfish or mixed fish soup with fresh bread.
What to order: mixed fish soup with crispy fried bream
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Fogas Bistro
A family-run beach bistro on Alsóörs beach. The fish soup comes four ways: without fish, with carp, with wels catfish or with everything.
What to order: fish soup with catfish, with fish crackling to start
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Víg Molnár Csárda
A csárda in the former miller's house in Csopak, recommended by the Michelin Guide. The fish soup is made with carp or catfish fillet and served in a bowl or a kettle.
What to order: catfish fish soup in a kettle, Somló sponge cake for dessert
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Balaton Étterem
A restaurant since 1894 by the Tagore promenade in Balatonfüred, with a terrace facing the lake. Catfish soup is among the fish dishes. Closed in November, with varying hours in season.
What to order: catfish soup, then pike-perch fillet from the griddle
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Kecskeköröm Csárda
A thatched csárda in Tihany's old village, a few minutes' walk from the abbey. Balaton fish soup with catfish fillet is among the soups. Open roughly from May to mid-October.
What to order: fish soup, then Tihany pike-perch with lavender and almond sauce
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Ferenc Pince Csárda
A family csárda and winery on Tihany's Cserhegy, with a view of the lake. The family says fish soup always belongs on the menu, and guests single it out too. Weekends from Easter to mid-October.
What to order: fish soup on the terrace, then pike-perch
Venue details →South shore 4 places
Öreg Halász Vendéglő
A fish restaurant in a wooden house with a garden in Siófok, since 1999 and open all year. Fish soup is the signature dish, alongside fried and grilled fish. Call ahead on Tuesdays.
What to order: fish soup, then fried fish
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Vitorlás Étterem Balatonlelle
A restaurant turned bistro near the centre of Balatonlelle, since 1999, open every day all year. Fish soup with catfish fillet.
What to order: fish soup, then catfish paprikash with layered cottage-cheese pasta
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Kis Szieszta Étterem és Panzió
A family lunch restaurant on the ground floor of a guesthouse in Balatonboglár, open only in summer at lunchtime. Three fish soups: carp, African catfish or wels catfish, with milt. Next opening in June 2027.
What to order: wels catfish soup with milt
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Gambero Restaurant
A young team's restaurant on Vigadó Square in Fonyód, close to the shore. Catfish soup is one of the two soups the house recommends. Seasonal, from spring to late autumn.
What to order: catfish soup, then catfish paprikash
Venue details →Keszthely and the western end 1 place
Tompos Étterem
A spacious family restaurant in Keszthely-Zámor since 2012, open every day all year. Fish soup with catfish fillet, and Carpathian-style pike-perch among the fish mains.
What to order: fish soup, then Carpathian-style pike-perch
Venue details →Inland from the shore 1 place
Cvekedli Restaurant, Vászoly
A village restaurant in Vászoly, open at weekends all year. The fish soup arrives in a kettle, with wels catfish fillet.
What to order: fish soup in a kettle, then the namesake cvekedli
Venue details →No places match this filter.
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Frequently asked questions
Where can you eat fish soup at Lake Balaton outside the season?
From this selection, Jóbarátok Halsütöde (Balatonalmádi), Nádas Csárda (Balatonkenese), Öreg Halász (Siófok), Vitorlás (Balatonlelle) and Tompos (Keszthely) are open all year. Cvekedli in Vászoly cooks at weekends, and Vadkacsa and Víg Molnár are also open in November with shorter hours. It is worth calling before you set off.
Catfish or carp fish soup?
Most places in this selection cook it with catfish fillet. Carp versions are offered by Jóbarátok, Nádas Csárda, Fogas Bisztró, Víg Molnár and Kis Szieszta, and Jóbarátok also does a mixed fish soup.
Where is the fish soup served in a kettle?
At Cvekedli in Vászoly it arrives in a kettle, and at Víg Molnár Csárda in Csopak you can have it in a bowl or a kettle.
Where can I eat fish soup right by the beach?
Fogas Bisztró in Alsóörs, Jóbarátok Halsütöde in Balatonalmádi and Vadkacsa in Balatonkenese are right by the beach.