Tuk Tuk Bar in Budapest sits in the lobby level of the Casati boutique hotel on Paulay Ede utca, with heavy crimson drapes, 1920s Shanghai styling and an Asian-leaning cocktail list led by Dori and Miriam.
Tip: Book ahead; the room seats twenty. Order off-menu, the bartenders prefer to riff to your palate.
Address: Paulay Ede utca 31, 1061 Budapest
AlterEgo on Dessewffy utca is Budapest's main gay club, a below-ground room with four bars and two dance floors that programmes drag shows at midnight and DJs through to dawn on Friday and Saturday.
Tip: Doors open at 22:00 but the room only fills after 00:00 once the drag set is done. Coat check fills quickly, leave coats early in the night.
Elysian Budapest on Akácfa utca runs a zero-waste, Hungarian-sourced cocktail programme, pulling apricot, plum and quince from local farms and pairing drinks with ZenEatery Asian small plates next door.
Tip: The Plum and Smoke and Apricot and Rum are the menu's two clearest builds. Cocktails sit around 5,000 HUF, ice carved per glass.
AlterEgo on Dessewffy utca is Budapest's main gay club, a below-ground room with four bars and two dance floors that programmes drag shows at midnight and DJs through to dawn on Friday and Saturday.
Tip: Doors open at 22:00 but the room only fills after 00:00 once the drag set is done. Coat check fills quickly, leave coats early in the night.
Why Not on Belgrád rakpart in Budapest looks across the Danube to the Liberty Bridge and Gellért Hill, with daily karaoke from 22:00 on Tuesdays and Fridays plus bingo, drag and acoustic nights through the week.
Tip: The river-side outdoor tables are the daytime move; karaoke nights pull a packed crowd, queue for the mic from 22:00.
Múzsa in the Four Seasons Gresham Palace in Budapest is an Art Nouveau lounge with live piano, cymbalom and harp programming several nights a week and an Asian-Hungarian small-plates menu beside the cocktail list.
Tip: Live sets run Thu 21:00 to 23:45 and Fri to Sat 21:45 to 00:30. Book a booth on the Danube side rather than the bar seats if you came for the music.
The Poet Bar inside the Anantara New York Palace in Budapest leans into the room's literary history, with live piano nightly through to 01:00 on weekends and a signature cocktail list referencing Hungarian poets.
Tip: Sit in the side parlour off the main lobby for the calmer piano set; the cafe-side seats catch more crowd noise. Drinks are about 4,000 to 5,500 HUF.
Szimpla Kert on Kazinczy utca in Budapest is the original 2004 ruin bar, occupying a former stove factory with nine bars, mismatched salvaged furniture and a Sunday farmers' market that takes over the courtyard.
Tip: Sunday's 09:00 farmers' market is the quietest way to see the courtyard; weekend nights are tourist-saturated from 22:00. Cash works at every bar; cards only at the main one.