Special brew: Budapest's coffee houses

Steve McKenna is enchanted by the ornate coffee houses in Hungary's elegant capital.

Budapestians have been savouring “black gold” since the 16th century, when it was brought here, in the sackloads, by Ottoman Turkish invaders.

The culture of the kavehaz — or coffee house — really boomed, however, on the cusp of the 20th century, when more than 600 caffeine- fuelled establishments had mushroomed across a metropolis, melded by the merging of Buda and Pest, the neighbouring cities facing one another over the River Danube.

Like their famous Viennese counterparts, which lured characters as varied as Sigmund Freud, Leon Trotsky and Adolf Hitler, Budapest’s coffee houses appealed to a cross-section of society. Famed for their egalitarian, smoky atmosphere, they were setup for lounging and lingering; for discussing and dissecting current affairs, for plotting, perusing and people watching. For procrastinating and skipping the chores of “real life”.

These timeless pleasures, I find, endure. It’s Monday morning and I’m breakfasting in Central Kavehaz, a legend on the city’s coffee-house circuit. Founded in 1887, this downtown Budapest icon was restored by Hungarian millionaire Imre Somodyt at the turn of this millennium but it retains a deliciously antique feel.

Its high, lavishly decorated ceilings are adorned with brass hanging lamps; there’s an old wooden coat stand by the entrance, a rack fluttering with newspapers and a cluster of brown and maroon leather-backed armchairs. I order a cappuccino (whose frothy top is marked with a heart shape), devour a crunchy croissant (served with Nutella-esque chocolate sauce) and admire the vintage setting and nose its espresso-spiked air. I also spy and eavesdrop on my fellow patrons.

Over the din of clattering cutlery emanating from the kitchen, I hear whispering Magyar (the Hungarian language) floating from a nearby table, where two attractive, well-dressed ladies in their late 30s eye each other intensely. Two French tourists — who can’t stop snapping photographs of the antiquated decor — are seated next to a table of big-bellied besuited Hungarian businessmen. A Russian couple are next in. Then three Germans. Then two British. The head waiter — a bald fellow with a neat goatee and a white shirt and red tie — proves to be a paragon of multilingual efficiency.

I’m disappointed not to see any dandyish, beard-stroking intellectuals mired in impassioned debate, or tortured geniuses feverishly jotting down words or sketches. Artists, poets and writers flocked to Central Kavehaz in its pomp and the late Hungarian author Csemer Geza — who died in 2012 — apparently had a table perpetually reserved for him, so he could work here.

Perhaps the bohemians will come later. Housed on the bottom floor of a graceful five-storey building, Central Kavehaz is open until midnight; its menu featuring cocktails, wines and spirits, as well as other caffeinated drinks. Its food section sports traditional Austro-Hungarian fare such as goulash and boiled wienerwurst with mustard and horseradish.

Then there are the desserts. A chilled glass cabinet flaunts an array of colourful, calorific temptations, which I try to resist. And succeed in doing so. Well, sort of.

A little later, having admired some of Budapest’s grandiose architecture (including the daunting St Stephen’s Basilica), it’s time for another caffeine jolt. And some Dobosh.

Whereas Vienna excels in the richly chocolate Sacher torte (invented by Austrian Franz Sacher in 1832), Budapest’s sticky staple is the Dobos torte. Also known as Dobosh, this moist, multi-layered medley of sponge cake, buttercream chocolate and caramel was created in 1885 by Hungarian confectioner Jozsef Dobos. Austro-Hungarian emperor Franz Joseph I and his empress Elisabeth were among the first people to sample it.

I have a scrumptious slice, with another perky cappuccino, from the shady front terrace of Muvesz Kavehaz, a cafe established in 1898 on leafy Andrassy Avenue. Dubbed the “Budapestian Champs Elysees”, Andrassy is lined with elegant old mansions housing a string of up-market fashion stores, restaurants and cafes.

Facing the Hungarian State Opera House, Muvesz Kavehaz — which translates to Artist Cafe — is a fine alfresco spot but its interior is breathtaking. Greedily inhaling the wafting espresso fumes, I survey the cafe’s glittering chandeliers, antique paintings and black-and-white framed photographs of famous Hungarians and, for a moment, think I spot Sigmund Freud.

But no. It’s just his spitting image, perched on a red-lamp-studded table, sipping coffee with a buxom young woman, next to a group of Japanese tourists, who are silently scoffing plates of Dobosh near a voluble gang of fur-hatted Hungarian grannies.

After a pleasant midafternoon’s amble along the banks of the Danube, I reckon I have space for one more coffee and cake.

Budapest has an impressive new wave of cafes — with hip baristas, eclectic furniture and walls splattered with political slogans and multicoloured murals — but I can’t resist the city’s ageing dames.
The only dilemma is which one to choose. Scouring my map — which I’ve earmarked with possibilities — there’s Cafe Gerbeaud on Vorosmarty Ter, one of the city’s busiest squares, a minute’s walk from the Danube.

Dating back to 1858, it’s famed for its delectable decor (such as marble, exotic woods and gold, stucco ceilings and chandeliers) and sweet-tooth temptresses such as konyakos meggy (cognac cherry bonbons).

Rivalling Gerbeaud for opulence, and high prices, the palatial New York Cafe was the haunt of choice for much of the literati at the turn of the 20th century. After spells in the doldrums, and closures, it was revamped and reopened in 2006. Blessed with flamboyant frescoes and gilded stucco columns, it shoulders the five-star Boscolo Hotel on the tram-lined Erzsebet Koruot.

Founded in 1885, Muzeum Kavehaz annexes the Hungarian National Museum and sits opposite a string of second-hand bookstores — some of whose contents, I fancy, were cobbled together in the city’s coffee dens. Another option, Hadik Kavehaz, is a revived olde-worlde cafe.

Mulling things over, I tell myself: whatever I miss today I’ll check out next time. And there will be a next time (fingers crossed). Budapest is one of those cities that you could happily visit time and again.

FACT FILE

• A good central place to stay in Budapest is the five-star Kempinski Hotel Corvinus, where room rates start about $157. The hotel is part of the “Gastronomic Quarter Downtown Budapest”, sharing a building with Nobu Budapest, the slick, informal ES Bisztro, which serves typical Austrian and Hungarian dishes, and The Living Room, a modern take on the bygone Budapestian coffee house; kempinski.com/Budapest.

• Central Kavehaz — Karolyi Mihaly utca 9; centralkavehaz.hu.

• Muvesz Kavehaz — Andrassy utca 29; muveszkavehaz.hu.

• Cafe Gerbeaud — Vorosmarty ter 7-8; gerbeaud.hu.

• New York Cafe — Erzsebet korot 9-11; newyorkcafe.hu.

• Muzeum Kavehaz — Muzeum korut 12; muzeumkavehaz.hu.

• Hadik Kavehaz — Bartok Bela utca 36; hadikkavehaz.blog.hu.

• For more about Hungary, see gotohungary.com.