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, Budapest.
Must order: A pálinka shot at the front bar, then move into the back courtyards.
Food program: Limited street food
Tip: Daily 18:00 to 06:00, free entry; the back rooms each have a different soundtrack.
Address: Akácfa utca 49-51, 1073 Budapest
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 in Budapest.
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.
Warm Up on Nagy Diofa utca in the Jewish Quarter is a modern Budapest cocktail bar built on Hungarian spirits like palinka and Unicum, with serious technique and a quiet room.
Signature drink: Modern cocktails on Hungarian spirits
Food: Snacks
Order: The Unicum-and-pálinka highball with a citrus twist.
Tip: Open Tue to Sat from 18:00; book the bar seats for the bartenders' attention.
Kisuzem on Kis Diofa utca in the Jewish Quarter is a long-running local bar with bistro plates, Hungarian wine list and a steady crowd of artists and writers, Budapest.
Signature drink: Hungarian beer and wine
Food: Bistro plates and bar snacks
Order: The duck breast or the daily soup with a glass of Furmint.
Tip: Daily 11:30 to 24:00; the back room is quieter for conversation.
Fekete Kutya on Dob utca pours 25 Hungarian craft beers from rotating taps in a tiny Jewish Quarter front room, where Budapest brewers come to drink.
Signature drink: Hungarian craft beer flights
Food: Bar snacks
Order: A flight of three Hungarian IPAs to compare local brewers.
Tip: Cash and card; the room is tiny, share a table or stand at the bar.
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 in Budapest.
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.
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 in Pest.
Signature drink: Classic cocktails, Hungarian spirits
Food: Snacks
Order: The Old Cuban with a Hungarian pálinka stinger to close.
Tip: Wed 18:00 to 24:00, Thu 18:00 to 01:00, Fri-Sat 18:00 to 02:00; closed Sun, Mon and Tue.
Warm Up on Nagy Diofa utca in the Jewish Quarter is a modern Budapest cocktail bar built on Hungarian spirits like palinka and Unicum, with serious technique and a quiet room.
Signature drink: Modern cocktails on Hungarian spirits
Food: Snacks
Order: The Unicum-and-pálinka highball with a citrus twist.
Tip: Open Tue to Sat from 18:00; book the bar seats for the bartenders' attention.
Kisuzem on Kis Diofa utca in the Jewish Quarter is a long-running local bar with bistro plates, Hungarian wine list and a steady crowd of artists and writers, Budapest.
Signature drink: Hungarian beer and wine
Food: Bistro plates and bar snacks
Order: The duck breast or the daily soup with a glass of Furmint.
Tip: Daily 11:30 to 24:00; the back room is quieter for conversation.
Fekete Kutya on Dob utca pours 25 Hungarian craft beers from rotating taps in a tiny Jewish Quarter front room, where Budapest brewers come to drink.
Signature drink: Hungarian craft beer flights
Food: Bar snacks
Order: A flight of three Hungarian IPAs to compare local brewers.
Tip: Cash and card; the room is tiny, share a table or stand at the bar.
Csendes Létterem on Ferenczy István utca near Astoria is a vintage-junk-shop bar pouring house cocktails and Hungarian beer in a flea-market room with mismatched chairs in downtown Budapest.
Signature drink: House cocktails and Hungarian beer
Food: Burgers, bistro plates
Order: The signature whisky sour with a side of fries.
Tip: Daily 10:00 to 24:00; the back room is the loudest, front room the quietest.
