Into its second year now, Instant, on bar, theater and club speckled Nagymező utca, continues to draw a regular crowd. It’s packed most nights, which is no mean feat considering its size. Having commandeered an entire apartment block previously earmarked for demolition in 2008, the owners went about making the venue’s three levels suitable drinking grounds.
As is the case with so many of the city’s so-called ruin pubs, enter Instant and you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d crossed the threshold of a squat – albeit it’s one with tables and benches on the exposed cement floor and a paper mache penguin hanging from the ceiling. Make your way inside, and you’re in the courtyard of the ex-apartment block, its centerpiece being hundreds of suspended fish lit by cool, blue lighting. This time, the reliably bizarre décor looks more aesthetically pleasing than it perhaps sounds. Grab a drink from the bar, stocked with its own pálinka, cider on tap and the house cocktail, Ungarikum – a combination of pálinka, paprika, lime and honey (better than it sounds), then take a better look around. Head downstairs for a basement dancefloor reigned over by local and international DJs, or take the stairs to the left to explore signs of the upper levels’ former lives – including a dental surgery which remains complete with some of its original features, dental chair included.
A network of small rooms make up one side of the upper level, resembling kitchens and ingenious decorated living areas, making the whole thing feel close to a stumbled upon, grimy house party. On the opposite side you’ll find another bar, more intimate than the three downstairs. Before heading over, take in the view of the beer swillers and fish from above, then grab bar munchies like basic sandwiches or pogácsa inside.
Back downstairs, in the far left hand corner, is an art gallery, which shares the bar’s opening hours, so you can head in with a drink and muse over local, contemporary creations. It feels a bit like a nightly art opening, but with less people and you have to pay for your drinks. The work on display tends to be interesting stuff, with a bent often as bizarre as the look of the venue itself.
Instant attracts a reliably foreign crowd, alongside arty, urban locals. Open late, it’s often where groups head after the likes of comedy nights, book launches and aforementioned exhibition openings in the area, as its street level area offers space enough for larger groups. At weekends, it’s packed, attracting serial drinkers on a trip of the area’s bars and nightclubs. During the day, and if you’re after a more small-scale evening, there’s a café at the front of the building with a similar vibe. Swing by the vintage lángos house next door on your way home.
Instant art. bar. garden.
1065 Budapest, Nagymező utca 38.
Tel.: +36.1.311.0704
www.instant.co.hu