Cocktail barAsian-inspired cocktail bar$$$terezvaros
Tuk Tuk on Paulay Ede in the Casati boutique hotel is a tiny dark Terezvaros cocktail bar with purple walls, red silk curtains and Asian-spiced cocktails.
Signature drink: Cocktails with Asian spices and herbs
Food: Bar snacks
Order: The signature spice-and-ginger highball from the bartender's list.
Tip: Reservations advised, the room is intimate; phone the bar to hold seats on weekend nights.
Cocktail barBar and gallery$$$ujbuda
Szatyor on Bartok Bela ut in Ujbuda is an art-bar with rotating local exhibitions, Hungarian wine and a small Mediterranean food menu shared with Hadik next.
Signature drink: Hungarian wine and cocktails
Food: Hungarian and Mediterranean small plates
Order: A glass of Hungarian dry Furmint with the mixed small-plate selection.
Tip: Daily 11:00-24:00; the gallery rotates new local artists monthly.
Cocktail barRuin bar$$$erzsebetvaros
Szimpla Kert on Kazinczy in the Jewish Quarter is Budapest's original ruin bar, opened in 2002 and at this address since 2004 in an old stove factory.
Signature drink: Pálinka and Hungarian beer
Food: Bar food, street food in inner courtyard
Order: A glass of pálinka with a Dreher beer on the side.
Tip: No reservations, first-come; entry is free, the Sunday farmers' market runs 09:00-14:00.
Cocktail barRuin bar complex$$$erzsebetvaros
Instant-Fogas on Akacfa utca is a seven-room ruin-bar megaplex with 18 bars and 1200 square metres of dance floor across courtyards in the Jewish Quarter.
Signature drink: Cocktails, beer, pálinka
Food: Limited street food
Order: A pálinka shot at the front bar, then move into the back courtyards.
Tip: Daily 18:00-06:00, free entry; the back rooms each have a different soundtrack.
Cocktail barMediterranean ruin restaurant-bar$$$erzsebetvaros
Mazel Tov on Akacfa in the Jewish Quarter is a Mediterranean ruin garden in an early 1900s courtyard, with mezze, shawarma and live klezmer most nights.
Signature drink: Israeli wine and Hungarian craft beer
Food: Full Mediterranean and Israeli kitchen
Order: An Israeli sauvignon blanc with the mezze plate.
Tip: Open noon to midnight daily; book a week ahead for weekends, glass-roof courtyard fills first.
Cocktail barCocktail bar$$$terezvaros
Boutiq'Bar on Paulay Ede in Terezvaros is one of Budapest's serious cocktail rooms, with classic cocktails poured by a tightly drilled team near the Opera.
Signature drink: Classic cocktails, Hungarian spirits
Food: Snacks
Order: The Old Cuban with a Hungarian pálinka stinger to close.
Tip: Wed 18:00-24:00, Thu 18:00-01:00, Fri-Sat 18:00-02:00; closed Sun, Mon and Tue.