Image by Szilva Eszter

Facades of classic cinemas with their black letters and neon commercials always impress me. The entrance of Szikra Cool Tour House opposite Nyugati station is one of these spots. The name of this complex institution is a Hunglish word pun: kultúrház (yes, to be pronounced Cool Tour House) means cultural center especially since the early socialist era where different events were organized from official celebrations to concerts of local choirs. Szikra’s programs are just as diverse.

Built in the 1920s, Szikra functioned as a cinema until the end of the 1990s. Its main sensation is the roof of its theatre room which can be opened and closed thanks to a clever machinery. When I was there last time at a Pecha Kucha night, the audience gathering to listen to designers and architects was just as amazed by discovering the starry night above their heads as cinema goers of the 1920s could have been. There’s something magical about sitting in a traditional theatre and watching the sky framed by golden stuccos.

Szikra admittedly goes against Budapest’s famous ruin bar trend by evoking a cabaret milieu. The ornate and shiny decors and the posh bar go perfectly with the atmosphere of the theatre. The program ranges from mainstream to alternative, from jazz concerts to independent theatre performances or DJ sets. The building houses a bar and bistro which you can reach from the street from as early as 8 o’clock in the morning. The snacks and drinks keep you sated until the show begins.

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Szikra | Art & culture, Bars, Cinemas, Music, Snacks, Theaters | Espresso HUF 250
Budapest, 1066, Teréz krt. 62. | Central Pest | +3619110911
Sun – Tue 10:00 – 02:00, Wed – Thu 10:00 – 04:00, Fri – Sat 10:00 – 06:00

Image by András Nagy

Narrow steps lead to the basement of an old house in Kertész street. Bricks and painted surfaces vary on the walls of this small bar. If you happen to speak Finnish, you’ll know that the bar’s name has a “slight” sexual connotation. Watch out, if you see pink lights and dancing girls, you’re on the opposite side of the street in the peep show basement. Vittula has some kind of artsy punk feel and I can imagine that in the back catacombs reach under the blocks to the edge of the city.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights alternately entertain with concerts and parties, other nights are for hanging out with drinks. Not Sundays though, that’s for resting. The connecting gallery, Contemporary Art Space presents, guess what, contemporary art, which means funny or confusing stuff worth to see.

Opening times are somewhat chaotic, Vittula might open at 18:00 or not, more importantly they stay open till the break of down, that’s the reason behind most of my visits this far.

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Klub Vittula | Bars, Music | Beer HUF 390
Kertész utca 4 | Central Pest
Mon – Fri 18:00 – 04:00, Sat 20:00 – 04:00

Image by Miklos Zsamboki

“Corvin roof” is a club and bar with an open-air area inside and atop Corvin Department Store, an ugly, grey, communist-era building at Blaha Lujza metro station.

Finding the place is a bit tricky, which lends it a sort of “hidden treasure” charm: you have to walk into a side street and look for a cargo elevator at the end of a short passageway, inside a fast food buffet with the sign “Corvin Kifozde”. You can’t call the elevator – it keeps going up and down every few minutes (or you can take the stairs to the top floor, but that’s much less fun). As a very friendly touch, really thirsty or impatient partygoers can buy some drinks from the friendly elevator attendant’s icebox.

In the club you can buy drinks, sit down at a table for a chat, or take to the dance floor. However, if you’re there during the summer and want to see what’s really cool about Corvinteto, you should look for stairs leading up to the building’s spacious rooftop with its own bar, plenty of seating, and much easier conversation without the loud music that plays sometimes. On a warm evening you can really chill out and chat away with a cool urban backdrop surrounding you – and if you get restless, the dance floor is right below.

Do note that the rooftop closes for the winter; no exact closing or opening date, it depends on the weather.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Corvinteto | Bars, Music | Beer HUF 500
Blaha Lujza tér 1-2 | Central Pest | +36207722984
Mon – Sat 18:00 – 05:00

Image by Miklos Zsamboki

Kuplung is an indoors equivalent of the beergardens that became so popular in the last decade, and is an excellent place to go if you want to see the boho grungy side of Pest but it happens to be winter. The street entrance is a bit hard to spot – make sure you know the house number! -, but it’s worth the search.

Like many other venues of this style, Kuplung was once a run-down building – an auto repair shop, hence the name meaning “clutch” – that was fixed up, the walls graffitied in cheerful colours, some durable tables and chairs dropped in, and some clever decor added, this one dominated by a large paper whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling.

The main room, even though some other venues might beat it in total floor area, feels comfortably spacious, so you and your party can have some elbow space even when the place is full. There’s also a smaller room where they sometimes have concerts, and a third, more recently opened bar room with a generous size, but I just haven’t got around to drinking in that one yet, so opinion will be forthcoming later.

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Kuplung | Bars, Music | Beers from HUF 500
Király utca 46 | Central Pest
Mon – Sat from 14:00, Sun from 18:00

Image by András Nagy

The former Corvin Áruház hosts two spots at once: Jelen [present] on the ground floor and Corvintető on the top floor. This duality lets you combine alcohol and concerts, starting on the ground floor and going high or beginning at the top and slowly sinking down to the very bottom. It’s close to a major traffic conjunction still in a small street, a cozy and spacey pub at the same time with three rooms, as you can see on the photos.

I’ve been wondering why the concert room of Jelen is smaller than the actual pub area. The more the merrier? Indeed. All of my concert memories tell about a heavy crowd although there might have been only 50 people. Nice trick! However, they never charged me for a concert. Regarding the musical profile, I’d tick the ‘jazz’ and ‘world music’ boxes on the query.

The wine bar has a pretty solid assortment of wines from all over the country, also for take-away. Jelen feeds you bistro food, they have a brunch menu, a lunch menu and a la carte meals.

It’s an excellent stop on your downtown bar hopping tour, easy to reach and within a block you’ll have several other places to visit. Due to the late closing time there is no hurry, just make sure you find your way back home.

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Jelen | Bars, Coffee & tea, Music, Snacks | Soproni beer HUF 490
Blaha Lujza tér 1-2 | Central Pest | +36203443155
Mon – Tue 11:00 – 02:00, Wed – Fri 11:00 – 04:00, Sat 16:00 – 04:00, Sun 16:00 – 02:00