89. Forty pubs in Budapest, on business, Sunday 28th August to Friday 2nd September 2005

The opportunity to consume cheap beer whilst on a business trip is not an opportunity to miss. I had the opportunity to do this in Budapest at the Forum Acusticum conference, and took it indeed, with both hands.

First pub was actually at Luton Airport, the quite horrid Bar de Voyageurs, Landside, absolutely lacking in any character. It does however at least look like a pub which is more than could be said for Est which is a poncey looking bar Airside, which I did not rate highly at all, though as I got a reclaimable receipt I thought I might as well sink one.

After navigating the Budapest metro, it was time for a late dinner and a beer which I had in the Bajor Sorok, a vaguely English looking pub with a Bishop's Finger sign outside. The interior had large tables in booths and a low ceiling. The food was good, as was the beer - I selected a foreign import from their list. Probably not the sort of place for a concerted night's quaffing though. On the way back to the hotel I popped into the Gong Lafe, a crappy pavement cafe, still not really a pub.

The next day, after setting up the stand and generally carting boxes of books and journals around in the sweltering heat, I decided to go for a bit of a gallivant using the free bus/tram pass that I had been given and found myself getting some supplies in a market on the Buda side, at Moszkva ter. After stocking up, I realized that there was an extremely basic but cheap bar on the lower level called Dasty Borozo, which had cheap, basic beer in the form of Dreher (normal and bak=brown) and Arany Aszok. It was something like 40p for 0.2l. The brown beer was extremely good, though the 'bar ' was basic with about three tables. More of a place to pop in for a quick beer. Standing rather than sitting was popular. Next door, there was actually another one of these establishments, with Stella additionally on tap but basically the same. This one was called Feny Bufe Sorozo. Despite their basic appearance, the non Hungarian speaker can still order with relative simplicity.

Non Stop Presszo was a disappointing, spartan wood panelled bar near to the Metropol hotel, having bog standard Dreher and Arany which wasn't even cheap. I ended up with a full pint which I enjoyed on a bar stool, but my enjoyment was curtailed when some child ended up having its nappy changed a few feet away. There was however some quite good bus and tram memorabilia on the walls. Venturing out later on, Blaha Sorozo contained a much more polite barmaid and no nappies and you could almost stay for a whole evening! Aszok and Dreher were the beer options and though the bar was quite basic, it was home to a friendly young crowd.

The Suszterinas pub was even more vibrant, though obviously pricier, and had many beers available, for example Leffe, Hoegaarden, Bellevue Kriek, Staropramen, Borostyan, Lowenbrau and Borsodi. For some reason I wasn't as keen on it, even though football was on. Perhaps because it had even less character than our previous haunts. The beer choice however would make it acceptable for an evening. Krudy Sorbar was a bit of a dive with about a dozen middle aged working sorts drinking there although it was by no means dodgy. It resembled a student bar with a large, centrally situated serving area. Cheap Arany Aszok was the only draught beer.

Almost back to the hotel on the Monday, and I was in the mood to slot in a couple more. The Acacfa Sorozo resembles quite a plastic takeaway inside, but the beer is cheap and everything is well set out! Once again Arany Aszok and Dreher were the default beers. I wanted one more and the easiest thing to do was to pop over the road to a pizza place, Pasta Dost, where I had an expensive (600Ft) but very good pint of dark Dreher Bak. The bar area is pretty minuscule essentially being like that in a curry house, but it was possible to drink there, quickly. Not particularly enjoyable, but well worth it for the fine pint of beer. A couple of ancillary lagers were also available.

On the Tuesday, I had a spin on the tram to get myself to the centre of town for a bit of an expedition, and to see whether I could get a decent bite to eat. I also wanted to get to the farthest flung extremity on tram route 41. Vigado in the centre of town was the chosen spot for dinner, a Debrecens sausage and bread, fortunately washed down with a stein of beer, appropriate really as the bar had the look of a German beer garden to it. I ended up with the Dreher to drink, again. Moving to the Buda side of the Danube, at the end of the northern HEV line, I decided to kill a few minutes waiting for a 41 tram with a quick visit to the Polo pub. I was only the second paying customer who was listening to a guy playing a guitar. The bar itself had a strong Irish influence and had a quaint balcony with precarious stairs leading the way. I cannot remember the beer selection fully, but it was extensive and I had Erdinger, although the prices were comparably expensive.

After a long trip to the end of the 41, punctuated by a piss at the terminus, I alighted at Morlez Szigmond Korter and nipped into the Tunde Presszo for a small Dreher. This was quite a basic wooden panelled pub with a surly man and dragon lady serving, but it was vaguely cosy which was good. Getting one of the last buses back to the hotel, I went down a back street to the Colorado Sorbar which had a very poorly done Wild West theme, complete with Hiawatha-like barmaid. The bar was busy and quite friendly, but nothing special and the usual suspects were on tap. It was approaching midnight when I popped into the City Pub for last orders. This was a small cellar bar somewhere near Almassy Ter. There were less than a dozen people in there, but they were all occupying seats at the bar which made service difficult. I opted for Dreher instead of Tuborg for some reason. Pretty cheap and probably quite good with the right crowd.

I resolved to score well on the Wednesday, and slotted in a cheeky bottle after the Applied Acoustics lunchtime editorial board meeting. The venue was the Kocka Bufo, essentially a glorified refreshment tent, but the bottle was cheap and slipped down well as I enjoyed it on an outside seat. After the day's work was over, I went for another look around town and paid a visit to the Helvecia, a cellar bar with vague pretensions of almost attempting to be trendy. In fact it resembled an Oxford college cellar bar, but it was pleasant enough, even though the moustachioed bloke served me a large beer not the small one I requested. And the Dreher Bak was off - I had to settle for the original though the Arany Aszok would have been equally predictable. Heading back for solids, I identified a suitable eatery, but just over the road was a very small Internet cafe called Cafe Daisy which was serving draft Becks for some reason. I decided to stay for a small one. Nothing memorable here apart from the lack of space.

I had a particularly scrumptious steak at the Magdalena Merlo. Yes, it is a restaurant, but you can drink outside and the beer is very good too - Zlaty Bazant, Gossner and Edelweiss were available. And very nice too they were. I cannot remember the exact location of the Jeckyll and Hyde which was another cellar bar, doing ubiquitous Dreher and some Tuborg too. They had some sort of ghosts and ghouls theme running which consisted of fake cobwebs over the place, but apart from this nothing special. Nor was the Amigo, a bar full of trendy sorts that was advertising cocktails, though for once not in a cellar. I paid well over the odds for a Miller (should have had Dreher), but I was on business so I didn't care. Maybe I missed something as there was also a basement. Still, it was pleasant enough.

Korcsma Piskos Fredhel is situated on another side street close to the hotel and is a bar with a distinct nautical flavour although somewhat lacking in punters. I was a bit pissed by this time so it took a few minutes to realized that the bloke at the end of the bar dressed as a sailor was in fact a statue. The beer was good though - Leffe, Stella and Staropramen, all on tap. Yet again this bar was in a cellar. Fair enough and I didn't really feel like exploring. The final stop was the swish looking Kulacs a few doors down, and again really more of a restaurant. There was a Hungarian gypsy band playing who were actually quite good and unfortunately their English was good enough for them to start peddling their wares at me. They were angling for a round of Hungarian apricot, whatever that is, when they had a stage break. I took the opportunity to bolt the Dreher pint that I had been presented with and leave sharpish; fortunately I didn't have to rush the Pilsner Urquell, the other choice, especially at those prices. Mentally scarred from this ordeal, I called a halt (it was about midnight after all) and retired to bed.

The first of September dawned. I thought that the ante could be upped again and set myself a stiff target of ten pubs to be completed upon this fine day. A huge proverbial spanner was almost thrown into the works when I was invited to join Keith Attenborough of Applied Acoustics for dinner that evening. However, thinking on my feet, I had a plan.

The master stroke was pulled just after lunch. Leaving the conference venue in the post lunch dead time at 2.05 pm, I caught a tram a few stops to Boraros Ter. The ultra dodgy Jolly Presszo was earmarked on the way in as a likely candidate for a quick beer and was duly visited. It was full of societal dregs and I decided to stay only for the briefest of picolos of Dreher. It was however the cheapest place visited at HUF 70 for 20cl (about 20p). Around the corner I found the 6:3 bar, bedecked in Ferencvaros bits and pieces. This was another small bar with a scattering of people standing drinking either Arany or Dreher, although the good bar snacks were notable. There was still time to bolt one more so I popped across the main road to a trendier district to have a swift one at Macskafogo, which in fact had four beers on - Zlaty Bazant, Heineken, Dreher and Arany. It was OK with a few interior tables, but most others, including a yappy dog, were enjoying the sun outside. Time was marching on, so it was back to the stand at 2.50pm. Not bloody bad!

I didn't have to find the others until about 7.30, so knocked off at about 4.45 as the exhibition was winding down. This allowed me a couple of hours to take in a few beers and trams, so I went to the market at Oktober 23 utca, and found a string of bars at the top of the stairs. They were just closing up but I did manage to slot in a swift small one at Soproni Sorozo-Kavezo, little more than a counter, which was actually quite an expensive Zlaty Bazant; I should have had the Soproni instead. Across the road was Esolok, a bar that may even be smaller than the one in the flat, though this was wood panelled to a high standard and had a couple of pavement seats. It was a little high class, as they had Gossner in addition to Zlaty Bazant. I did not rate the toilet which was presumably a single cubicle. After having a nice bus tour of old Buda, there was time for one more very quickly on the Pest side. I found the Kissarok Eszpresszo on the corner of Sip and Dohany to meet this need perfectly. This bar was more of a cafe, and there were a few blue collar worker types quaffing heartily on well earned Arany and Dreher, then wiping their mouths with their sleeves. Snacks were good too - quite a friendly place all in all. Six done.

A quick change of clothes and a bus ride later, I met with the Applied Acoustics guys and headed for an expensive restaurant for some nice food paid for on the credit card. The Premier however appeared to have bar facilities so I counted it. Alas I did not get to sample the Tuborg or Dreher opting for wine instead. Some people had early starts the next day which was good as this left me with a little more time to try to hit the target. On the way back I found a sports bar called Champs that was quite expensive for Budapest but that was showing a bit of wrestling on the TV. It must have been a bit trendy as they had Dreher, Kilkenny, Pilsner Urquel, Guinness and Miller on. I followed this up with a swift one at a very down at heel bar on a Dohany utca near the hotel. I am not sure what the actual name was, Jo Eyvagyat perhaps, but they only had Borsodi on. I did not enjoy my stay and drank up quickly. With one more to do before bed I decided that the hotel (Mercure Metropol) offered the best bet. It did, but scored the worst mark of the trip because it was incredibly expensive and the Dreher was off - how does one fuck up lager?

The final day saw me aiming for a different target, namely to get to the 40 mark for the number of Hungarian pubs done on the trip - such a goal would require 6 more. After the conference wound up at lunchtime, I embarked on this mission, hindered by the fact that I had a big bag of books to cart back with me. Undeterred, I made my way to the Papa Joe Koccinta on a little square near Oktogon underground station. This was quite a smart little bar selling two varieties of Dreher and Arany Aszok. I also wanted to sample more of the orange underground line, so got back on to the terminus at Mexiko, and rewarded myself with a quick scoop of Arany/Dreher at the relatively busy Jasa Kft/Randevu/whatever it was called at the station precinct, which was actually quite cafe like. Back on the train and into town for the final push, which started with more of the same beer at Texas Sorozo, a vacuous establishment that actually was nothing special whatsoever. Any Texas influence was few and far between.

On the same road was the Soronok, a horrible bar with a ruddy woman selling very cheap Soproni (I am not even sure if they had taps) at some of the less trendy members of the Budapest population. There were a number of people drowning their sorrows with stronger beverages, and I felt they may have resented a rich Westerner, so drank up very, very quickly. Quite nearby was Potya, a pub with a moderately more advanced clientele, but that was much darker and more like a tavern than the soup kitchen atmosphere of Soronok. I still did not feel easy enough to make my Arany last longer than absolutely necessary.

With time running out, the previous day's excursion to the market near Oktober 23 utca had primed me with an ideal location to slot in a couple more. I struggled up the stairs to the communal drinking area and rewarded myself at Kis Sorozo with a Dreher Bak which shone out like a beacon alongside the ubiquitous Dreher lager and Arany. Why they have half a dozen bars next to each other I don't know, but it did allow the opportunity to slot another one in, a Soproni, at the Szendvics Bar Ital Bar about 20 yards west. Reflecting on my exploits, I thought that I had done pretty well to get 40 done. My contemplation was interrupted however by two middle aged pissed women having a cat fight at the bar, much to the amusement of the onlooking market traders...


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Dan Lovegrove
dan@doctor-lovegrove.com

Last updated 30th October 2005.