Which are the top 10 ice cream parlors on Lake Balaton?

At the top of the top ten ranking just published is “Kő fagyi?” in Mindszentkálla, closely followed by Bagaméri in Balatonfüred, which this year won the title of ice cream parlor of the year at the Hungarian Confectionery Industry Association competition. The list includes Promenád Kávéház from Balatongyörök, which this year also started selling Vatican ice cream on Lake Balaton, and the Bringatanya Ice Cream Parlor in Gyenesdiás is among the best, whose pastry chef, Renáta Somogyi, won a bronze medal at the European Ice Cream Championship in 2023. The Amaretto Ice Cream Parlor in Balatonalmád also features well in the reviews, which stands out from the region’s offerings not only with its flavors, but also with its products that satisfy special needs (dairy-, sugar-, gluten-free, and all-free ice creams). According to the owner, Tamás Varga, these free products not only increase guest loyalty, but also increase review activity. One of the most prominent new entrants on the list is Füge Fagyiudvar és Kávézó (Veszprém), which won the “Balaton Ice Cream” competition this year and maintains a 4.8 rating based on 457 reviews.

According to the Balaton Tourism Association, online reviews given by guests are not just feedback, but also contribute measurably to increasing the revenue of businesses. “A single star improvement in Google rating can increase a restaurant’s revenue by up to 5-9%,” says Péter Éskovács, the association’s communications consultant, citing research from Harvard Business School.

Reviews not only increase consumer trust, but also directly influence digital visibility, said Tamás Fekete, the association’s president. According to him: “Positive reviews improve search engine optimization (SEO) results, as Google’s algorithms favor fresh, reliable feedback. Tourists’ decisions are now largely based on them.”

The Balaton Tourism Association is now encouraging holidaymakers to not only relax and eat, but also write their opinions about ice cream parlors, but also hotels and bike rental companies. In Hungarian, they should do a little free advertising for those who are doing something outstanding at Lake Balaton.

According to Péter Éskovács, communications consultant for the Balaton Tourism Association, it is debatable which are the ten best ice cream parlors at Lake Balaton – the list just published is just one possible version, based on online reviews from guests. (A different order could be formed based on other criteria – such as a professional jury, technological innovations or raw material quality.) But one thing is certain: the data appearing on the world wide web clearly shows that tourists are now not only guests, but also digital opinion formers.