Starting with perhaps the grandest of them is the New York on Erzsebet korut in the New York Plaza Hotel.
The decor is grand art nouveau. Cavorting satyrs, nymphs and cherubs with lashings of gold leaf decorate the walls. We did not sample the edible wares here merely came to gawp and take photos.
The Astoria, a grand turn of the century coffee house-cum-bar on the ground floor of the Astoria Hotel was more to our liking. We had a lovely cup of coffee made to our specifications and cake. We ask for American coffee here (shame) as the local coffee is far to strong and bitter for us.
The Muvesz (Artist) on fashionable Andrassy ut just on the other side of the Opera was described as a stunning old coffee house in our guide book so we tried it. It was quite disappointing, pleasant but not stunning and the prices are triple what they are elsewhere. You certainly pay for the privilege of drinking on Andrassy.
But I did have a lovely iced coffee and it was nice sitting there soaking up the atmosphere. Andrassy ut is the most elegant of boulevards in Budapest. It was built on the Paris model with the street wide enough for a horse carriage to turn around.
Another grand one is in the Parizsi Nagyaruhaz Alexander Bookshop on the first floor, also on Andrassy ut. I think it is called the Book Gallery Cafe.
We had the nicest diotorta (walnut cake) here. But the coffee was lukewarm.
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| The beautiful windows |
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| The ceiling |
One of our favourite cafes however is not any of the grand ones above. It is opposite but to the left of the Dohany street synagogue and I think it is called Cafe Kamara. The cafe beside it, right opposite the synagogue called Zenit is for some inexplicable reason much more expensive than ours - I don't recommend going there. Andrew is seen sitting outside in the wonderful shade provided by some ancient trees - very welcome in the Budapest heat-wave we have been experiencing.
This photo was taken at a cafe in Szentendre and I only included it as the theme was cafes.
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