Budapest and Hungary.

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The Black Cat Irish Bar - On our never ending quest to find Irish pubs throughout Eastern and Central Europe took us here. Not a  bad place, its underground, and can get fairly packed with a mostly young clientele Thursday-Sunday. Good Guiness! Museum Korut 41

Cactus Juice - Another of these subterranean affairs this time kitted out just like the wild west, proximity to Trayf's flat is also quite handy easily within staggering distance.Can't remember much about this place. It was quite late when we left I think! Jokai ter 5

Morrisons Irish Pub - Are you observing a theme yet? Actually we arrived here at about 2.00 am I think and it was fairly subdued apart from a group of local girls in the back room with a video wall (just like in Ireland obviously). It was looking promising until the  only bloke stood  up and said in a fake English accent "Come on guys lets go someplace else!" Damn we had been rumbled. I suspect it could get very touristy in summer.

Wall Street - Didn't make it in to this particular bar but it deserves a mention because apparently it has a system where the prices of the drinks are displayed stock market style and they change (They're not door numbers you know!). Its on Andrassy utca so fairly  close to the centre of operations! Andrassy ut

Winstons - Under New management now -  Never went here for drinking alone but rather for the grub, yes its an English themed restaurant, Staff are very friendly and the  food is indeed excellent, also they even offered to open early to do  us an English Breakfast!! Jokai ter 3

Iguana Bar - This is a top venue very ex-pat-ish (is that a  word?), however it is packed and they have an excellent 5th of May celebration (Don't ask me I think it's some Mexican holiday!). A bit pricey compared to some but never quiet. Worth checking out if you  are in this part of town.Zoltan ut 16

Pilot Bar - Well it seemed fairly nice but quiet, I fell  asleep after about 3 pints in here, much to the amusement of Trayf and Peter Way. I'm sure it was the Beer!!Vorosmarty ter (I think!?)

Fashion Cafe - Maybe we arrived late or maybe not but the rude inattentive service and the general lack of any interest from the bar  staff, in this bland clone of a bar,doesn't make me rate this one  particularly highly, but hey you make your own opinion! Somewhere on Andrassy near Oktogon.

John Bull Pub - An Authentic English Pub, actually its part of  a chain that does quite well in Hungary. It's quite near Erzebet ter so if you are in that part of town and fancy a drink down near the  river fill your boots! Apaczai Csere J. utca 17.

Anna Cafe - I don't remember much about this one, it didn't leave a big impression on me, but Trayf used to reckon this was a top  place and it's the only place I can remember on Vaci utca. If you are  in this part of town avoid the Konsum girls James you have been warned! Vaci utca.

Fat Mo's - Was briefly in here one night looking for someone or something long long bar it was very busy. Think there was a dance floor at one end ? Anyway quite lively should be just the job! Nyari Pal utca 11.

Citadella Dance Club - This is a dance club that I went to at  the Citadel, unfortunately we went in Hungarian Grand Prix week and the place was full of blokes looking for birds. Well so were we! Was good fun but incredibly loud, yes I know I am getting old! Citadella setany 2.

Becketts - An Irish bar not far from Nyugati Station, last year during the Grand Prix it was reserved by the Jordan team for a  private party so it must have been totty-tastic. It is quite airy and large, the food isn't bad and they have Irish sounding Hungarian barmaids... trust me its true! Bajcsy-Zsilinszky  utca 72.

TGI Fridays - At the West end city centre you will find this  haven of Americana (owned by Whitbread I think). But seriously you  know what you will get, its very nice and the serving staff try very  hard to keep you happy. It's dear compared to other bars and restaurants but if you fancy a Fridays Burger or Buffalo Wings etc this is the place. Westend City Centre 3rd floor.

Lancelot - A medieval themed restaurant, we didn't eat here  because it was so busy we couldn't get a table, apparently caters a  lot to large groups of tourists looked like a lot of fun though. Podmaniczky utca 14.

Marquis de Salade - A really top restaurant, that does lots of  stuff apart from salads, but I must say the portions are huge , the starters would be enough to fill most people. Prices aren't bad and service is good if a little unused to our exacting standards i.e. Trayf " Can we have a bottle of Tokaji " Bloke scurries off  comes back 3 times once whilst Trayf is away to ask "A whole Bottle!" But a really good place nonetheless! Hajos utca 43.

Cafe Leroy - A cafe-restaurant in the West end city centre, it  has a very good menu and I have to say has some fantastic looking  waitresses. Food good, waitresses pretty and you can always watch the women passing by in the centre. I LIKE IT! Westend City Centre 4th Floor

Jazz Garden - An underground restaurant which is the place to go for Jazz in Budapest, although I was told that the group that  played that night wasn't the best music in there, I personally liked it, despite the fact I am not really a huge fan of that genre.  Anyway, lets get onto the food, a good menu and a good wine list, actually the food was very nice, and an unusual setting (Apparently  it was all built by the owner, there are lights in the black ceiling  made to look like stars).

Rock Cafe - Huge Schnitzel and wedgie chips make this an ideal  place to go for comfort food add to that relatively cheap good quality red wine and its splendid. I must say that it is always quite empty when I have been there, and the 1 gold disk on the wall next to  a mannequin wearing a pith helmet doesn't exactly live up to its epithet.

Stex Alfred - Another one that I went to on a morning after the night before kind of thing. It was a good breakfast from what I  remember and it was quite busy there, even so the service was good.

Bombay Palace - A good curry place in Budapest, but to be entirely honest it is the only one I have tried. Actually they are a chain. Food and wine excellent and I have to say that the waiter  impressed Trayf so much with his knowledge of the food, wine and his overall level of service that he hired him for the Grand Cafe Oktagon.

Portside - Only been in here the once, lots of young hungarians trying to get very drunk from what I remember and mostly  succeeding, and all of us feeling quite old!

Old Man's  music pub - From the last review you would  think I would fit in quite well here. Actually it is a top place and  is always incredibly busy, it can take a little while to find a table  if you just want to sit and drink. It is very crowded around the  dance floors and the bar areas. Whilst not the most aesthetically  pleasing nightclub in the world it certainly has a hell of a lot  of  atmosphere. And you can order food very late here which suits if you have the munchees big style.

Millenium - Named after the Metro line apparently, It is  decked out in the manner of the oldest tube line on mainland Europe. No not full of Tramps and stinking of piss. Actually it is a very  nice restaurant with a good menu including a baffling matrix of prices at the back depending on which meat you choose and how you  would like it cooked, the difference between each of the manner of  cooking varying by less than a pound... odd! Good place though.

Normafer Bar and Grill - A bit out of town, actually it is in  the Buda hills and makes a good place to go if you decide to get out  of the city heat in the summer. It was an expat favourite I believe and you can still hear a lot of the tables speaking in English. The  menu and the cocktail list are imaginative and the prices are not too bad. Summer evenings this is a top place to eat outside.

Tortuga - I think this is the name of the place but it has  mutated several times even in the last 3 years I have been going to  Budapest. As with most places in Budapest the food is good, however I seem to remember that the service wasn't that hot.

Cafe Vian - Very popular with the Froggy contingent that I  know in Budapest, A good place to get a coffee and a light lunch if  you are in the area.

St Tropez - A bar on a boat moored along the Danube, also mainly fraternized by the French contingent. The prices are good and the service too. Vaguely recollect there being a dancefloor. Can get  out of action due to flooding Danube!

Columbus -  An Irish pub on a boat moored on the Danube, sounds like a recipe for disaster or a plot for a disaster movie, but it can get quite lively in here as well. There is an upstairs and a downstairs here. Don't think the downstairs was below water level!

 Pizza Express San Marzano

 Rio night club

 Old Vaci Terrace

 Grand Cafe Oktagon

 Time Cafe

 Belcanto Restaurant

 Pub on corner of Jokai.

 Ballet shoes cafe.

 

 

 

 

 Well there you have it its not an exhaustive list but it will do for  now, a link through to another usefull site is here Link.

 

 Also I have missed out several places on Ferenc Liszt ter. Only because I can't remember their names, they are all very good and you can sit outside the cafes there. Also the tourist information office is just on the junction of Ferenc Liszt ter and Andrassy utca and you  can get a pass for the Tram, Bus, Metro funicular railway etc there. You can get a Budapest Kartya which you can purchase for a 2 or 3 day usage which does all the above and discounts at some of the sights all for about 10 quid