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Booking, menus and what is included

Sir Lancelot dinner: what you get

What the Sir Lancelot medieval dinner and show in Budapest includes, how the show is paced, how to choose a menu and when to book online or by phone.

By Sir Lancelot Budapest · facts last checked

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Quick answer

Choose the online dinner and show for the whole medieval night: your pick of menu, a welcome shot, a draft beer, and short acts from swordsmen, jugglers and belly dancers. Cancellation is free until a day before, and payment can wait. A table reserved by phone gets you the restaurant but not the show bundle. Allow about three hours.

Two ways to book Sir Lancelot

Dinner and show, onlineTable, by phone
Booked throughThe booking page, in your languageThe restaurant, by phone
NoticeAny open date72 hours ahead
ShowIncludedAsk when you call
CancellationFree up to 24 hours beforeAsk when you call
Best forThe whole night, locked inOrdering from the menu

What Sir Lancelot is

Sir Lancelot is a medieval-themed restaurant at Podmaniczky utca 14, in Terézváros, Budapest's sixth district. Candles stand on the tables and the portions are large. The dinner-and-show booking is run by Lancelot XIII Kft and sells a single evening: a meal, drinks and live entertainment in costume, all in one room. It is a themed night out, not a reconstruction of a real Hungarian medieval banquet, and the fun is in the swords, the noise and the hall. Treat it as dinner with theatre rather than theatre with a snack. Come hungry and ready to join in.

What the booking includes

The booking bundles the main parts of the night, so you are not assembling it piece by piece. You pick a date, choose a menu, and the rest comes with it. You also get a mobile ticket, which you show on your phone when you arrive, so there is nothing to print or collect beforehand. Anything beyond the bundle is paid for at the table.

  • Dinner from the menu you pick when you choose your date
  • One welcome shot to open the evening
  • A draft beer with dinner
  • The medieval show: swordsmen, jugglers and belly dancers
  • Not included: extra food and drink, tips and hotel transfers

What you pay for on the night

Extra food and drink, and tips, are not part of the booking, and neither are hotel transfers. Anything you add is paid at the table. The restaurant's own website lists cash in forints and the major cards, including Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and American Express, so a card is enough. Keep a little cash anyway for tips. If you plan to drink beyond the welcome shot and the draft beer, check the drinks list on the table before you order a round for the group.

How the show is paced

Two jugglers in medieval-style clothes throw clubs on the grass in front of a stone wall and a white tent
Jugglers at a medieval fair in Provins, France, shown for the style of the acts, not the cast at Sir Lancelot · Photo: Thesupermat, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This is not three hours of non-stop performance. The show is made of short acts, spaced between servings so that you can eat while it goes on. Swordsmen, jugglers and belly dancers take turns, with pauses in between. Some reviewers say they wanted acts more often; others like having time to eat and talk. If you want a continuous stage show from start to finish, this is the wrong format. If you want dinner with theatre breaking out around you, it fits. Sit back, eat while the acts run, and let the pauses be part of the pace.

Choosing a menu

You choose a menu when you pick your date, and each one comes with the same welcome shot and draft beer. The menus are meat-based and generous, and their descriptions flag lactose, gluten, celery, mustard and nuts among the ingredients. The restaurant's own site stresses large portions, so arrive hungry rather than planning a second dinner. If you eat vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free, do not book the dinner and show on hope: contact the restaurant first, because the menus on the booking are not built for those diets.

Booking online or ringing the restaurant

The restaurant's own website takes table reservations by phone only, asks for 72 hours' notice and confirms within 48 hours. That route suits someone who wants to order from the menu and has no need of the show package. The online booking suits everyone else: you choose from open dates, see the start time in your confirmation, cancel free up to 24 hours before and pay later.

Dates, groups and planning the night

Open dates appear in the booking calendar, each with its own start time. Evenings like this tend to fill, so lock in a date once your plans settle rather than on the day; a cancellation up to 24 hours ahead is free, so an early booking risks little. Pick the date, then the menu, then read your confirmation for the start time. Put one reservation in for your whole party so you arrive together, tell the restaurant about allergies before the night, and decide how you will get home before you sit down.

Read next: Sir Lancelot: how to get there

What reviewers say

The evening has a 4.2 rating from more than 1,600 reviews. Guests praise the generous portions, the atmosphere of the hall, the costumes and the performers, and the belly dancers come up often. The recurring complaints are practical: long gaps between acts, and slow service on busy nights, when plates can take a while to clear. That fits the format: a full room and a show on a schedule leave the staff little slack.

How it differs from an ordinary Budapest dinner

A normal restaurant gives you a quiet table, a long menu and the pace you set yourself. Sir Lancelot trades some of that for theatre. The menus are fixed and meat-based, the room is loud, and the evening has its own rhythm of acts and pauses. That is a fair swap if you want a night out with a story to tell afterwards, and a poor one if you want to talk quietly or eat lightly. Decide which kind of evening you are after before you book, because the two do not overlap much.

Another way to see medieval Hungary

Vajdahunyad Castle in Budapest's City Park, a turreted castle of brick and stone reflected in the lake
Vajdahunyad Castle in City Park, built in 1896 for a national exhibition · Photo: Felix König, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A themed dinner is entertainment. If you also want medieval Hungary in stone, spend a daytime on it. Vajdahunyad Castle in City Park was built in 1896 for the Millennial Exhibition and mixes several historic styles, while Buda Castle and Matthias Church hold the real medieval history. None of them is part of this dinner booking, and each sits well on a different day, so the castle can be your morning and the tavern your evening. The guide on medieval Hungary shows how to fit them in.

Read next: Medieval Hungary around Budapest

Who this isn't for

It is not for wheelchair users, since the booking states the evening is unsuitable for them. It is not for vegetarians, vegans or anyone avoiding gluten and dairy, because the menus are meat-based. It is not for guests who want a quiet, formal dinner, since the room is loud by design. And it is not for anyone expecting a polished, continuous performance or a historically exact reconstruction of a banquet.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Sir Lancelot booking include?

Dinner from the menu you choose, a welcome shot, a draft beer and the medieval show, plus a mobile ticket. Extra food and drink, tips and hotel transfers are not included, and anything you add is paid at the table.

How long does the evening last?

Plan on about three hours at the table. The show is a run of short acts between servings, not a continuous three-hour performance, so there are pauses for eating and talking between the swordsmen, jugglers and dancers.

Can I cancel the booking?

Yes. Cancel at least a day before the start and you lose nothing. Paying can also wait, so clicking to book charges nothing that day.

Is there a vegetarian menu?

The menus on the booking are meat-based, and their descriptions flag lactose, gluten, celery, mustard and nuts. If you eat vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free, contact the restaurant before you book.

Can I book a table by phone instead?

Yes, the restaurant takes reservations by phone, with 72 hours' notice and confirmation within 48 hours. That reserves a table at the restaurant; the dinner and show is the online booking, so ask what is included.

Is it suitable for wheelchair users?

No. The booking states the evening is not suitable for wheelchair users. If you have another accessibility need, contact the restaurant before booking and ask what it can arrange.

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Sources

  1. Sir Lancelot restaurant, English page (venue site)
  2. Sir Lancelot menu page (venue site, Hungarian)
  3. Podmaniczky utca 14 on OpenStreetMap
  4. Medieval minstrels (Wikipedia)
  5. Vajdahunyad Castle (Wikipedia)
  6. Terézváros (Wikipedia)

More things to do nearby

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