Oh, hot summer days! Oh, endless summer nights! I wish they’d last forever. Outdoors, that’s where you should be now, in the shades or under the orange-black city skies. In a garden of the “Kazinczy street pub axis”: Kőleves Kert. A fine example for utilizing an empty, deserted site other than turning it into a parking lot.

Kőleves, the “mother ship” is a good place to have a lunch or dinner, and the garden also offers a row of great dishes from noon till late in the night. In this time of the year I definitely prefer eating outdoors.

The place looks really cheerful with colorful tables and chairs, swings instead of bar chairs and other odd accessories. There are small stones spread all over the garden which makes simple walking quite a challenge, especially after a few drinks, so be prepared to leave the bar with enough supplies!

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Kőleves Kert | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks | Large Soproni beer HUF 480
Kazinczy u. 37 | Central Pest | +3613221011
Sun – Thu 12:00 – 02:00, Fri – Sat 12:00 – 03:00 (closed in case of bad weather)

Before entering the city and becoming a channel forced between concrete quays, the Danube is actually a living river. On the Buda side, north of the Újpest railway bridge there’s a long green esplanade called Római part stretching on the riverbank towards Szentendre. “Római” means Roman, since the ruins of the ancient town “Aquincum” are located nearby.

Római part is full of bars, restaurants mostly serving the same food and lacking a distinct character. The iconic dish, “hekk” is a fish, the number one fish consumed by Hungarians which is funny because it’s a sea fish. You go to lake Balaton, you eat hekk from the Atlantic. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

If you get past the crowd and the twelve-in-a-dozen places, you’ll eventually reach Fellini, this colourful circus car placed near the water with its own beach. Other bars simply don’t use the opportunity to get closer to the water than 10 meters, thus it’s a relief to finally find a place with deck-chairs on the stony beach.

By character I mean that Fellini has a certain atmosphere. The colors, the car, the beach – a very simple idea and it works, because it brings you close to the water in a green setting. Plus they have several Belgian beers on tap, don’t miss the cherry-flavored one!

Downsides? Not too many, not too serious: a bit expensive to my taste, only has a mobile toilet and the water attracts bugs.

I can live with these until I have my cherry beer.

Want to see some pictures?

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Fellini Római Kultúrbisztró | Bars, Coffee & tea, Relaxing, Snacks | Glass of Floris Kriek beer HUF 520
Kossuth Lajos üdülőpart 5. | Outer Buda
Mon – Thu 14:00 – 23:00, Fri 14:00 – 00:00, Sat 11:00 – 00:00, Sun 11:00 – 22:00

Centrál is a very elegant, old style coffee house and restaurant, a bit on the expensive side, but worth a look if you want to know what Pest was like a hundred years ago.

Thanks to Hungary’s proximity and, let’s say, historical contact with Turkey, coffee culture has always been big around here, but probably never so much so as in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Coffee houses were meeting points of the intellectual elite and the regular haunts of artists and journalists, some of who actually lived in coffee houses. Centrál Kávéház already existed back then, and even though it fulfilled other functions during the communist era, the new management is reaching back to the golden age for inspiration, and as far as looks go, they’re doing a good job.

The place looks exactly as it must have looked back then, and the selection of freely readable newspapers by the entrance is also a fitting touch.

The place is divided into a restaurant area, and a coffee house which is more appropriate for sitting down for a bit of a rest while sipping some tea or coffee. As for the food, it’s always been good when I tried it, but a bit pricey. However, if you want to sit down somewhere in the middle of the day to chat and look at passersby, Centrál has the perfect ambience for that – and a few teas or coffees won’t break the bank.

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Centrál Kávéház | Coffee & tea, Restaurants (European) | Main from HUF 1300
Károlyi Mihály utca 9 | Central Pest | +3612662110
07:00 – 00:00 daily

Arioso is a coffee-, furniture- and flowershop very close to Deák Ferenc Square. It’s a small, friendly place where you can sit down in the middle of the day for a tea and a hot sandwich, or maybe a salad, and have some peace away from the rush of the street. Besides the street front area, Arioso also has an even mellower garden in the back, open whenever the weather is nice.

They also have furniture and other home decoration elements like candelabras for sale, and if you walk a few meters down the street, you’ll find the Arioso flower shop (which is where the photo was taken) with a wide selection of really elegant potted and vase plants, bouquets and the like.

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Arioso | Coffee & tea, Shopping, Snacks | Tea HUF 350
Király utca 9 | Central Pest | +3612663555
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 19:00, Sat 10:00 – 16:00

Treehugger Dan’s Bookstore & Café is owned – very appropriately – by “Treehugger” Dan Swartz, an avid local environmental activist. As such, the selection of second-hand books includes quite a few titles on environmentalism, politics, sociology and the like. Dan also uses the venue for various public lectures and events, such as “Free Independent Financial Advice” and “Greenpeace Friday”.

The place’s name includes “& Café” for a reason. It offers a selection of tasty Fair Trade teas and coffees, which you can drink in the back of the store at two tiny tables – don’t plan on bringing more than 3 friends!

Treehugger Dan also has two other venues in Budapest: a larger one in Lázár Street (just behind the Opera house), which also acts as a tourist information centre as well as a regular venue for Budapest’s premier English-language poetry reading series, The Bardroom; and a third place at Süto Street 2.

Besides selling used books, Dan also buys them, but only at the Csengery Street location.

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Treehugger Dan’s | Coffee & tea, Shopping | Books HUF 900
Csengery utca 48 | Central Pest | +3613220774
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 19:00, Sat 10:00 – 17:00

You’re walking on Kazinczy street (where Szimpla (check the Szimpla article) can be found too) and the color strikes you: striking pink and blushing green. Hard to resist the temptation, so you enter the bar which you thought was a candy shop judging by the color.

A welcoming and warm interior, comfortable couches await you and two rabbits appear frequently in different situations as part of the design. Many of you from the region surely remember Bob and Bobek from the Czech cartoon series. They started their day every time with some gymnastics after jumping out of the hat. Czech cartoons were frequent guests on Hungarian television in my childhood.

In such a cheerful place there’s only one thing you can do – smile. And then come food and drinks, daily menu or a la carte.

Bobek has a garden in the backyard for those hot summer nights, which turns into a heated winter-garden when leaves start falling. Don’t panic if there’s no place in the pink-green oasis at the front, just boldly walk by the bar and grab your chance outdoors. Still no place to sit? Come on, then grab a drink, think of the rabbits and keep smiling.

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Bobek | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants | Ciabatta from HUF 790
Kazinczy utca 53 | Central Pest | +3613220729
Mon – Thu 10:00 – 00:00, Fri 10:00 – 02:00, Sat 11:00 – 02:00

This quite new bar received its name from Tivadar Mika who was a successful iron and copper-ware factory owner in the last century. Luckily the factory turned into a trendy pub, one of our 7th district hot spot, where you can’t help catch the Budapest night vibe. Although there are 2 floors, the place is almost always full of an arty crowd, mostly from late 20s and upwards.

At the upstairs bar you can drink, sit and talk. Downstairs is the dance hall and concert hall, where you can enjoy DJs, VJs and concerts. In summer  the doors open to the outside bar in the garden (a former parking lot). You can order food such as lángos or french fries, play at the table soccer or just sit (usually there aren’t any free tables) and enjoy the happy mass.

This spot is not a simple café & bar; it is more a “Culture Office” where various types of programs are held such as art performances, film screenings, mini festivals. The concerts offer suit every musical preference – styles range from jazz to swing and from funky to reggae.

I highly recommend Bridzs Party club on Wednesdays, which is an electro/hiphop/jazz/improvisation/freestyle party with vibrant DJ’s and their guests, but jazz Tuesdays are also awesome.

Mika is a lush nighttime playground with flirty atmosphere and all night party. I always have fun time there. Great place to be on hot summer nights!

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Mika Tivadar Bar | Bars, Coffee & tea, Music, Festivals & events | Beer from HUF 450
Kazinczy u. 47 | Central Pest | +36209653007
Mon – Sat 17:00 – 05:00

For the first time when me and a friend visited Briós, a nice cozy cafe located at Pozsonyi Street, we were so hungry, that we were shaking to hear about the menu, but the offer was too good to decide fast. Finally we succeeded, ordering 4 dishes which saved our life. Thank you!

Briós is a friendly and cozy cafe, just the right place to have a breakfast out of home. It is a simple and friendly spot run by a family, who was traveling a lot and wanted to show what they think about hospitality. Nóri the owner, who is a mother of 3, wanted to open a child friendly spot, where menus appeal to both children and adults alike. Briós managed to build its reputation really fast, not only because upstairs there is a playing space with activities to keep kids playing while their parents enjoy their meal, but also because of the open minded atmosphere, not to mention their excellent coffees.

They offer a satisfying menu from which it’s hard to decide, because every single dish seems to be delicious. They offer omelettes, baguettes, salads, bagels and marvelous desserts – I bet on the brownies, but carrot cake is also a big favorite. But they also have a nice wine selection for those who desire peaceful moments on their new terrace which is open from April.

I guess if you are on holiday to Budapest, you don’t want to prepare breakfast at home, so Brios is worth a visit!

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Briós Cafe | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Ham & eggs HUF 690
Pozsonyi út 16 | Central Pest | +3617896110
07:30 – 22:00 daily

Hungary – and especially Budapest- has a long tradition of coffee houses. Though I guess 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. 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 over 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 too, with the Law faculty nearby, and all those narrow streets full of shops and cafes, so typically “Belvaros” (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!

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Cafe Alibi | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (Hungarian) | Espresso coffee HUF 350
Egyetem tér 4 | Central Pest | +3613174209
08:00 – 23:00 daily

The beauty of this building amazes me every time I step in. There is the smell of wisdom in the air – heaps and heaps of books. A lifetime would be too short to read all 3.217.759 documents. Having accepted this fact I have already given up my plan to go from “A” to “Z” and I can choose randomly with an easy heart. Thank God I don’t have to read all Danielle Steel books!

The building is known as Wenckheim-palace, Budapest has acquired it in 1927 to host the library. The renovation between 1998 and 2001 opened all the buildings of the palace to visitors. Ervin Szabó was one of the first directors of the library from 1911 who created a real public library open to all members of society.

Most of the visitors are students which brings back good old memories about studying and making up plans to pick up girls here as I always found that the library is somehow loaded with the prettiest ladies.

There are 15 reading rooms in the building where you can read but not borrow the books. Pay a special attention to the “bölcseleti” or arts reading room with all the old wooden furniture, the chandeliers, huge mirrors and golden carvings that add to the palace-feeling.

With a registration card or a daily ticket you can visit the library for free, you only have to pay if you want to borrow books.

The streets next to the library were transformed into a nice pedestrian area you shouldn’t miss.

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Szabó Ervin Central Library | Art & culture, Coffee & tea | Free
Szabó Ervin square 1 | Central Pest | +3614115000
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 20:00, Sat 10:00 – 16:00