Budapest’s cafes house some of the most interesting souls in this exciting city.
Many of these coffee houses generally function as big student hangouts, playing an important part in incubating the city’s edgy, creative atmosphere (something which also means you’re rarely far from someone with a valuable skill which might help your project).
For years most reliable wifi was to be found in the loud surroundings of chain cafes and (shhh) McDonald’s, but while Americanisation certainly continues, Budapest is also home to a fully-fledged independent coffee scene. Indeed, eight coffee houses in the city have teamed together to create a transferable loyalty card system. With all these great new cafe options opening up in the city, we’ve dug deep to bring you a list of the ten best places to hang out, get your creative juices flowing and get some work done!
10. Madal Cafe
Madal has a very relaxed atmosphere, thanks in no small part to its friendly, approachable staff. In terms of coffee, their espressos are renowned for their subtle fruity flavours. This place is perfect for coffee connoisseurs and is in with a shout of being one of the city’s best, but ranks at the end of this particularly list because its wifi isn’t quite as strong as other cafes; ideal for casual browsing and writing, but not for a Skype.
9. Fekete
Fekete does a very busy take out trade but its seating area is somewhat underrated. As this place provides such spacious seating arrangements, it’s a solid place to post up for a couple of hours and get some focused work done. This isn’t much of an option in cold weather however.
8. Tamp & Pull Espresso Bar
Brilliant hearty coffees served up by very attentive baristas. Handy location just by the Danube but not the easiest to spot, this diminuitive looking cafe actually stretches to include a comfortable but still quite cosy seating area. While an awesome cafe, this would have featured higher on our list if it had a little bit more seating space away from the counter. Nevertheless, this is a great spot to jump into for some quick work in the middle of town.
7. Espresso Embassy
Embassy’s elegant tunnel features are indeed a sight to behold. Trendy locals flock to this spot and its also quite a hit among tourists, being conveniently located among the top historical sites of the city. This is a pretty social spot and as such conversations can be boisterous and prolonged, making it difficult for some to get work completed. For more laid back work however, there’s hardly a location in the city that can beat it for contemporary picturesque looks.
6. My Little Melbourne Coffee
In aiming to recreate Melbourne’s cafe culture in one single unit, this cafe brings a refreshing focus on providing a wonderful range of healthy snacks and drinks to the Budapest scene. Melbourne has a lovely, quaint exterior in a tucked away part of the city centre near the busy tourist trail.
5. Ecocafe
Outdoes pretty much every other cafe in terms of healthy food and drinks, having a diverse range of delicious smoothies as well as special teas, all without breaking the bank. This spot is busy but avoids being hectic by virtue of its relaxed, efficient staff. This is an ideal place to work through the day eating, and feel great about what you’ve consumed!
4. Spinoza
Spinoza is the type of cafe that the specific phrase “oozes charm” seems to have been created just to describe. Located in the Jewish quarter, it retains a historically-sensitive food menu to compliment its appearance, serving primarily kosher and Hungarian dishes. This is an inspiring little cafe to pass a few hours at work. Stick around until evening time and you’ll probably catch some classical piano being played.
3. Kontakt
This is a cosy cafe that’s perfect for both networking and holding group meetings. Their own signature cold brew, Roket, is very well renowned, and funnily enough goes down perfectly when sitting out front admiring Kontakt’s incredible cobbled street location.
2. Kiado Kocsma
This cafe/restaurant is plentiful with quirky design features. This place attracts people for daytime wifi work, coffee conversations, couples for dinner and many more. This open minded establishment encourages this type of mixing of groups, making it a great place to strike up an interesting conversation at a time when your work needs a little push, or for when you’re in search of much-needed respite.
1. Kino
Kino goes further than anyone else in providing the type of environment you simply won’t want to leave. As well as wholesome coffee, refreshing fruit juice and tasty pastries, this place also has a modest cinema which screens intriguing international films and additionally serves as reliable place to pick up international newspapers. Kino’s airy, high-ceilings and its interesting denizens constitutes the best place in the city to get work done.