Coffee & tea

Hungary – and especially Budapest- has a long tradition of coffee houses. Though coffee beans have never been grown anywhere in Central Europe (!), coffee has been ultimately associated with Culture at the heart of Europe.

Hungarian writers from the end of the 19th century till World war II spent most of their time in coffee houses asking the waiters for ink! At that time coffee was even called “fekete leves” which basically means “dark soup”.

Though most of Budapest famous writers cafes had to close during Communism – putting an end to this brilliant tradition of coffee as a fuel for writing – some famous cafes reopened such as Centrál Kávéház (check the Centrál Kávéház article) or New York Cafe. And I don’t really know why but in Central Europe I still feel some kind of coffee cosiness, something that I haven’t really found in Paris (no wonder when you see the price of an espresso there!). For instance, when I lived in Warsaw I used to spend hours in nice cafes, reading the press, meeting people, working…

Alibi cafe is pretty much like that. The design imitates some libraries, the space is intimate and the coffee excellent. The neighborhood is ultimately picturesque, with the Law faculty nearby, and all those narrow streets full of shops and cafes, so typically “Belváros” (the city-centre). At Alibi, they also serve pastries and light lunch offers. And yes, you guess, it’s a cool place for breakfast too!

Népsziget ranks among the least known Budapest beauties. It is nothing more than a calm, tucked-away, fishermen’s favorite peninsula, off Újpest-Városkapu metro stop on line 3 (you can also get off at Gyöngyösi utca the stop before). No one lives there permanently, except for a MAV retired man who raises goats in his backyard…

During the summer season (and not only then), there’s some camping sites open as well as a few Goa-party places (most of them boat-shaped!). And there is also some kind of abandoned house where it’s not really clear what kind of business takes place there. The sight of the sun raising and setting on the Danube is particularly beautiful on Népsziget. Go there till it’s still time! The face of Nepsziget might change altogether soon: there are talks about developing a big real estate complex here…

Right now Népsziget is perfect for a good beer, a nice walk, for camping (there is actually a cool camping where you can drink some very nasty stuff) or make a goulash party, a Sunday picnic, or go fishing!

Litea, just next to the Castle-district canteen, is an oasis of freshness in the baking Budapest sun. It’s alternatively a very warm spot for when the hot weather is long gone. In a word it’s perfect in all seasons and rightly so as it is open all year-long.

So what is Litea about? Books and coffee! Mostly about books though. It’s typically the kind of place you end up spending hours at. Ideal spot for writing postcards (they do sell Budapest arty postcards, not the touristy-chain bridge ones…), sitting down for coffee, eating – unfortunately not home made – pastries. Feel free to read as much as you want to, here.

Besides books, CD’s are also on sale (Hungarian classical music, and some Gipsy + Hungarian Folk music). Books are available in many foreign languages (English, German, French…), and tackle all kind of cultural topics, from Hungarian Jewish heritage to Magyar traditional dishes, and of course Hungarian literature. The only downside of Litea is that it is deprived of wi-fi internet…

If you’re a vegetarian or simply fancy having a good healthy bite in Budapest, going to the butcher’s (to Pinczi’s) for lunch might not be the best thing to do! No worry: wherever you stand, there’s probably a hummus bar around the corner!

Budapest now has 7 “Hummus bars” (it’s a franchise so they all serve the same food in a similar-looking place). To name a few there is one next to the Parlement (Alkotmány utca 20), one next to Ferenciek tere (Október 6. utca 19), one by the lovely Egyetem tér (Kecskeméti utca 1) and my favorite: the one at the corner of Wesselényi and Síp.

At Hummus bar you’ll find hummus (= mashed chickpeas) plates, served with falafels, beans, mushrooms and other ingredients. You can also get a pita bread (called laffa, the Israelian way) full with falafel and vegetables, as well as soups (don’t look for goulash though!), and tasty oriental salads and desserts. FYI 2 Hummus bars are totally meat free.

All that is freshly made, good and filling. Add a quick and foreigner-friendly service, affordable prices and here you go: happy for the day!

These are perfect spots if you’re in a rush, hungry, don’t know what to order, want a break from Hungarian delights… among other reasons to come. They are conveniently located next to the main touristic attractions though local students make up for the biggest part of their customers (you too can get a 10% with you Student ID!). And they do home delivery too!

Noé Cukrászda is not the kind of pastry-coffee shop that you notice easily. Hadn’t my friends told me about it I would have passed it to rush down on Wesselényi on my bike as I usually do!

But you too would be wrong not to stop by!

I’ve hardly found a better place in Budapest to have flódni, a special Hungarian-Jewish cake including apple, walnut and poppy seed layers. But all the pastries and cakes here are delicious, even the pogácsa (a Hungarian scone, salty appetizer that is usually a bit heavy, at least to me!). Ráhel who makes all these delights is a local pastry star with several other places in town.

It’s a tiny little café as well, with a mezzanine floor with wi-fi so that you can enjoy their excellent coffees while trying all the cakes and checking your regular email flow.

Last but not least, the service is plainly nice and smiling, plus there is a little terrace to enjoy the sunshine outside!