Scroll down to see our favourite tecently opened venues in the city.
Kalitka Bistro
Breakfast, brunch and fashion walk hand in hand at this downtown boutique-bistro. Located just a few minutes’ walk from St. Stephen’s Basilica on quiet Vadász utca, the stylish Kalitka Bistro awaits guests with delicious spreads, first-rate breakfast options such as the strawberry French toast and the goat cheese-spinach-bacon frittata, as well as gorgeous looking dishes like the chili prawns or the oven baked camembert, served with onion chutney. In addition to the wholesome eats, Kalitka also offers beautiful fashion pieces from Hungarian brand Art on Me and the swanky shoes of Cargomoda.
1054 Budapest, Vadász utca 10.
Belli di Mamma
Although originally it was considered as poor people’s food, through the hard work of creative culinary professionals, pizza has become a sort-of jack of all trades: it can be really basic, but it can be turned into a gourmet treat. The high-quality Neapolitan-style pizzas of Belli di Mamma, ranging from the classic margherita to the luxurious Tartufo (topped with truffle cream, goat cheese, honey and crunchy walnuts) are based on authentic Italian recipes and prepared in the restaurant’s glorious pizza oven, which was brought to Budapest straight from Naples. Fritti, lasagna, pasta, cold cuts and desserts are also available.
1072 Budapest, Akácfa utca 45.
Zincenco Kitchen
The city’s newest addition to its ever-growing home restaurant scene is run by Igor and Zaida Zincenco, husband and wife who have proven their talents by working at award -winning restaurants. Inspired by the success of their Wednesday-night dinner parties, the couple decided to bring their fine dining skills to the apartment of one of their Budapest friends, thus Zincenco Kitchen was born. The seasonal menu changes every 3 months, and is composed of six dishes (inspired by the cuisines of Hungary and Russia), prepared from top-notch ingredients. Each dinner takes four hours to complete, and you have to make an online reservation beforehand.
1055 Budapest, Bihari János utca 20.
Ready Player 1 Gamer Bar
Gamer bars are still considered rare birds in Budapest, so it fills our geeky hearts with great joy to report on the opening of Ready Player 1. Run by two friends from Eger, Zoli and Gyuri, the underground gamer bar has everything you would hope for: five gamer PCs, a dedicated virtual reality room, two PS4s, an Xbox One, retro video game consoles, board games, and comic books for passing the time until it’s your turn at the controller. Drinks range from beers and spirits to kicking video game-inspired cocktails, but if you’d get hungry, hot-dogs and grilled sandwiches are also available.
1092 Budapest, Kinizsi utca 29.
SixLetter Coffee Co.
Located on stately Alkotmány utca, a stone’s throw away from the Parliament building, SixLetter Coffee is the youngest new wave coffee shop of the city, and we’re almost certain that it’s also the best-looking. Designed by the internationally renowned Gáspár Bonta, the downtown café’s light and industrial interior provides a transparent and spacious environment for enjoying a cup of pick-me-up or a nibbling on Croque Madame or a homemade hamburger. The coffee is supplied by Hungarian roasting company Racer Beans, and is brewed by a hand-crafted Synesso espresso machine which is itself a work of art.
1054 Budapest, Alkotmány utca 21.
Eleche
Known as the “Nutella of the Spanish-speaking world”, dulce de leche is a sweet treat from Latin America, made by slowly simmering milk and cane sugar, stirring the mixture almost constantly for several hours. Located a ten-minute walk from the Boráros tér stop of tram 4-6, Vaskapu utca’s Eleche entices sweet-toothed Budapesters with homemade dulce de leche, differently flavoured cup desserts, light cakes, alfajores (a type of Argentinian pastry), and salty empanadas, filled with ingredients such as ground beef, black beans, spinach and ricotta cheese. Delicious breakfast offers (croissants, sandwiches, pastries, coffee and tea) are also available.
1097 Budapest, Vaskapu utca 10-14.
Flaska Borbár
At Flaska Borbár, you can literally drink to your health: Their carefully put-together wine selection is composed only of naturally produced, artisanal items, free of additives, flavour enhancers and colourants. Whether you decide to drop by to pick up a bottle of birthday wine, have an inexpensive lunch with your friends (a three-course menu goes for 1,690 HUF), or spend a romantic evening sampling fine Hungarian wines while dining on seasonal dishes, made from top quality, unprocessed ingredients, Flaska Borbár will not let you down.
1094 Budapest, Tompa utca 17/B.
Gentry Coffee & Brunch
At the homemade heaven of Gentry Coffee & Brunch, everything revolves around the most important meal of the day: breakfast. Regardless of what time you roll out of bed, the cosy downtown café will give your day a new start with their refreshing specialty coffee (arriving to the venue freshly roasted every day from Tata’s Awake roastery), amazing pastries, hearty egg dishes, pancakes, tarts, granola, kombucha tea, and plant-based lunch deals. Driven by the staff’s desire to make Gentry the ultimate brunch spot, the drink list also features sparkling wines and craft beers.
1053 Budapest, Királyi Pál utca 9.