Budapest Restaurants and Coffee Houses, Part 1

Arriba Taqueria (between Oktagon and Nyugati on the Korut)
This restaurant is one of our favorites although nothing about it is Hungarian! Until it came to town, my husband and I longed for good American Mexican food, but when Ariba opened up last year, our longings ended. It was no surprise for us to learn that one of the owners is from Publeo, CO because we are also from Colorado and were raised on this style of Mexican food!
The set up is similar to Chipotle Grill or Moe's Mexican food chains--choose whether you want a burrito, taco, or quesidilla and then pick your ingredients. They also have salads, breakfast burritos, and taquitas. If you're still hungry after your main course, you can try their crunchy cinnamon crisps with a scoop of ice cream and have a cappuccino as well. They serve beer and bottled or fountain soft drinks, and one of their little known secrets is that the refills on their fountain drinks are free--a real plus in Budapest.
Food items are approximately $5-$7 and the portions are generous.
The wait staff is always friendly and helpful and most of them speak English well.
The restaurant is decorated with interesting murals that were distressed by a team of church-restorers to look authentic. The angel mural in the picture above says "Thank God for creating the Taco."
Another great thing about Ariba is that they offer free wifi. You can sit upstairs and watch the street cars go by while catching up on your email.
See Ariba 2011 for updates on this restaurant.


Princess Pekseg
You'll find these small bakeries in a number of metro stations and they are definitely worth a stop. I love their small vanilla-cheese (turos vanillas) pastries. You can buy them by weight, but if you don't know Hungarian, just use your fingers to show how many pastries you want and say "darab."

Update 2011: No real changes to this post...still great...still worth a stop.



Central Coffee House
We go to this coffee house to celebrate a special day. It's a little more expensive than other coffee houses, but it's historically interesting and the coffees, desserts, and service are all superior. It was first opened in 1887 and after an interesting history, it was restored and reopened in 2000. It's not as flashy and fancy as the New York Coffee House, but it's comfortable and pleasant, and I don't think that anyone can compete with the elegance of their desserts which cost about $5 each.

2011: Roast beef open faced sandwiches on this side, less than $1 each, salami pizza

Duran Szendvics (Sandwich) Shop
These small sandwich shops are part of a chain and there are a number of them sprinkled around Budapest where you can carry out or eat in. A variety of delicious sandwiches are displayed (on a refrigerated tray) in the window--attractive canapes topped with egg salad, meat salad (made with bologna), cream cheese, shrimp, pickled herring, caviar, roast beef, paprika flavored cottage cheese spread, mexican flavored meat/cheese spread, and more. They are small and inexpensive (less than $1 each), so you can try several varieties before settling on your favorites. And it's easy to point at the ones you want if you can't read or pronounce the Hungarian names. I love the paprika flavored cottage cheese spread, the roast beef atop a tartar sauce spread, and the meat salad sprinkled with grated cheese (even though I am not usually a fan of bologna). You'll need 2-6 sandwiches to make a meal, depending on your size and hunger. These shops also serve a great cappuccino.

Update 2011: This info is still accurate. Try the Duran near Deak Ter, and give their inexpensive pizza a try if you're hungry. It's bready but good.


Cafe Vian (6th District just off the Korut between Oktagon and Kiraly, Liszt Ferenc Ter 9.)
In one of the most beautiful squares in Budapest (named after the famous composer Ferenc Liszt), you'll find a dozen nice cafes and restaurants from which to choose. Our favorite is Cafe Vian because of its interesting menu with a variety of prices and offerings. Some months of the year they also offer a daily special that costs about $5 for soup, main dish and side. You can sit inside, but I'd only recommend this if you aren't bothered by cigarette smoke. Instead, we prefer the outside seating in the summer months and even in the spring and fall when the cafe offers blankets and area heaters on cooler days.

My favorites: The Montmartre Salad with chicken, walnuts, cheese and a vinaigrette dressing and the Renaissance Salad with chicken, green salad and potato salad combined. My husband's favorite: the Bagatelle Sandwich of grilled chicken, mozzarella and tomato on a huge dark roll. These cost about $8 each and are served attractively as are all of their dishes. We also enjoy their spicy chicken soup with peanuts.

Their menu offers several types of mineral waters, and our favorite and one of the cheaper ones is the Hungarian Theodore (with gas).

Update 2011: We spent quite a few fall afternoons at the Vian this year enjoying their special, 1020 forint this year ($5.10 if the dollar buys 200 forint) for soup and an entree. We had some wonderful soups and main dishes. They aren't as fancy as the regular dishes, but they are prepared with a chef's flare. And the daily dessert for 290 forint (less than $1.50) is usually quite good too.  The special is posted on a large signbo

Certain time of year they offer very inexpensive daily specials. Click this link and then click the red
weekly menu button in the upper left. Cafe Vian


Transit Cafe,
Kostolyani Deszo Ter.

This cafe is in the building that once served as the Volan bus station (for buses that travel outside the city). It has large windows, interesting mosaics inside and a wonderful covered patio outside. You can sit at tables or couches inside and out and enjoy free wifi while sipping one of their cappuccinos or lattes and enjoying some of their great sandwiches. Our favorite is the chicken breast ciabatta (about $7). They also run daily specials with soup and a main dish for about $6. The servers are friendly, the atmosphere is comfortable, and the cappuccinos are strong.