36 Hours in Budapest

36 Hours in Budapest
By EVAN RAIL
Published: July 28, 2011
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/travel/36-hours-in-budapest.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha210


LIKE much of post-Communist Europe, Budapest has replaced the image of the impoverished East with symbols of international luxury, like the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace and a new branch of Nobu, the high-end Japanese restaurant. But unlike many other cities in the region, the Hungarian capital’s brightest spots are often native-born, rather than imports. From stately Buda in the west to Pest’s shabby-chic streets east of the Danube, a range of new attractions show off the achievements of local artists, producers, vintners and chefs. Even if you don’t end up tasting every last domestic food specialty identified as a “hungarikum,” or tracking down every up-and-coming designer, a weekend here provides a glimpse of the city’s justifiable pride, as well as an authentic sense of place.

Friday

5 p.m.
1) GET YOUR KICKS

Buda has steep hills, while Pest’s long boulevards are seemingly without end. Get ready for legwork with new sneakers from Tisza Cipo (Karoly korut 1; 36-1-266-3055; tiszacipo.hu), the flagship store of a once-reviled Communist-era brand that was revived as a modern line of streetwear in 2003. Though the flashy colors, plush material and quality construction of today’s Klasszik model (19,900 forints, or about $105, at 190 forints to $1) are unlike just about anything from the former regime, no one will ever confuse the distinctively Eastern Bloc retro vibe for a pair of Nikes. Your favorite souvenirs? You’re wearing them.

7:30 p.m.
2) WINE KITCHEN

Home to the oldest classified wine regions in Europe, Hungary is also a fount of excellent Old World cooking. The two combine splendidly at the seven-month-old Borkonyha (Sas utca 3; 36-1-266-0835; borkonyha.hu), or “wine kitchen,” an airy, modern bistro with a list of about 200 outstanding domestic bottles, many of which are available by the glass. Homegrown fare like trout from the northern Hungarian village of Szilvasvarad or braised Mangalica hog cheeks with roasted carrots (2,350 forints) pair gloriously with unusual local varietals like Zoltan Gunzer’s 2009 kadarka (980 forints per glass), an elegant, dry red whose rich blackcurrant and blackberry notes compare with those of a great zinfandel.

10 p.m.
3) GARDEN BAR

In warm weather, vacant lots around the city are transformed into kert (“garden”) bars: grungy outdoor dives occupying a middle ground between beer gardens and anarchist squats, generally with a downmarket vibe. But one of the newest manifestations of the trend, Otkert (Zrinyi utca 4; 36-30-413-1173; otkert.blogspot.com), takes the idea upscale, creating what the English-language news and culture blog pestiside.hu called the “first posh kert” when it opened last summer. Find a quiet corner nook to chill out over a shot of pear or apricot palinka (880 to 950 forints), the local take on schnapps, then join the crowd of beautiful people for a spin on the open-air dance floor.

Saturday

11 a.m.
4) YOUR STYLE

First, check the Our Style online store, ourstyle.hu, in case one of its fashion pop-up shops is operating somewhere in the city. If nothing’s listed, head down to the area between the Dohany Street Synagogue, the Hungarian National Museum and the Danube, where numerous small boutiques like Black Box (Iranyi utca 18; 36-30-41-48-979; blackboxconceptstore.tumblr.com) offer everything from club wear to haute couture confections, all by local designers, often at very affordable prices. At the nearby Eclectick (Iranyi utca 20; 36-1-266-3341; eclectick.hu), colorful linen summer dresses, printed with bird motifs, cost 21,900 forints.

1 p.m.
5) ROCK HOSPITAL

Summers here can really cook. When the mercury rises, seek shelter at the oddball Sziklakorhaz (Lovas ut 4/c; 36-70-7-01-01-01; sziklakorhaz.hu), a former secret hospital and nuclear bunker, hidden deep inside the mountain under Buda Castle, that opened to the public as an unusual cold-war museum in mid-2007. No matter how hot it might be outside, remember to bring an extra layer, as the underground temperatures are always under 64 Fahrenheit. Hourlong tours in both Hungarian and English leave every hour on the hour, after which you can buy a Marka soda (250 forints) and such bunker-worthy tchotchkes as Communist-era military helmets and gas masks (1,000 forints).

3 p.m.
6) OFF THE LISZT

Expect to hear a lot about the local hero Franz Liszt — a k a Liszt Ferenc — this year. An up-to-date Web site (liszt-2011.hu) details the exhibitions, concerts and other events around town in honor of the bicentennial of the composer’s birth, including a “wine of the Liszt year” and even a Liszt-themed locomotive. On a smaller scale, the Liszt Museum (Vorosmarty utca 35; 36-1-322-9804; lisztmuseum.hu) has a single-room exhibition on the composer’s relationship to his city, running through March of next year, while permanent exhibitions recreate Liszt’s final Budapest apartment with tons of his personal belongings, instruments and furniture, including an original writing desk with its own three-octave piano keyboard.

7:30 p.m.
7) OVER THE TOP

Budapesters groaned when Prague became the first post-Communist capital with a Michelin-starred restaurant in 2008. But the Hungarians pulled ahead this March, with the four-year-old Onyx (Vorosmarty ter 7-8; 36-20-386-9157; onyxrestaurant.hu) earning their city’s second French asterisk, after the stylish Costes, on Raday Utca. Jaded diners might find the gold-on-black walls, heavy armchairs and oh-so-formal table service somewhat over the top, but dishes like goose liver torte with strawberry jelly and kolache (4,000 forints) and confit of beef shoulder with creamy carrot purée (7,000 forints) come across as remarkably accomplished, effortlessly bridging the traditional flavors of the country with contemporary international culinary techniques. For cheap dates, the lunch menu, served Tuesday through Saturday until 2 p.m., features much of the same excellent cooking at much lower rates, with three-course menus for 3,990 forints.

9:30 p.m.
8) ANCHORS AWEIGH

For years, the biggest exports from Hungary’s contemporary music scene have been D.J.’s and electronica acts like Yonderboi and Neo, but the country’s indie rockers are starting to make themselves heard. Just steps from bustling Deak Ferenc square in Pest, the spacious, year-old Anker Klub (Anker koz 1-3; 36-70-505-5480; facebook.com/ankerklub) hosts intimate concerts from new-folksters like Kistehen Tanczenekar, a k a Little Cow, and charmingly atmospheric singer-songwriters like Norbert Kristof.

11:30 p.m.
9) UP ALL NIGHT

Some of the best new bright spots here echo the glories of the city’s interwar period. A legendary fashion center when it first appeared in 1926, the giant Corvin department store is now better known as Corvinteto (Blaha Lujza ter 1-2, enter from Somogyi Bela utca; 36-20-77-22-984; corvinteto.hu), a club and after-hours lounge that has taken over the building’s top levels. Inside, concerts of dub, drum ’n’ bass and electroclash run year-round, but if it’s going to be a really late night, the enormous rooftop bar — open only from spring to autumn — might just be the best spot to watch a sunrise over the city skyline.

Sunday

Noon
10) TASTE TO GO

On Sundays, trendy locals and expats meet at the second Pest branch of Culinaris (Balassi Balint utca 7; 36-1-373-0028; culinaris.hu), a lunch counter with a separate specialty-foods shop that opened near the neo-Gothic parliament building in 2008. First, grab a loosely wrapped burrito (1,590 forints) or Cobb salad (1,490 forints) at the cool and bright counter. Then head around the corner to the shop with a collection of cheeses, cookies, crackers, pastas, wines and beers so extensive it could be a costly mistake to gawk on an empty stomach. Before you leave, think of a typical airport meal. Then order a to-go ham-and-cheese, custom-built on a fluffy, house-made black-olive loaf (1,790 forints), for a final taste that will stay with you at least as far as the departure gate.

IF YOU GO

Design hotels can sometimes feel insubstantial. Not so the Palazzo Zichy (Lorinc pap ter 2; 36-1-235-4000; hotel-palazzo-zichy.hu), a stylish, chic 80-room establishment that opened in 2009 in a restored 19th-century mansion, whose thick walls lend a sense of solidity. The mix of original, neo-Baroque stairwells and modern minimalist décor probably shouldn’t work, but it does. Prices vary based on occupancy, though high-season doubles generally start at about 80 euros (about $112).

Closer to the action in Pest, just off touristy Vaci utca, is the new La Prima (Pesti Barnabas utca 6; 36-1-799-0088; laprimahotelbudapest.hu), a self-styled “fashion hotel” that opened this spring. A Web search for mid-August found double rooms with breakfast at 95 euros.

Copyright by The New York Times 2011.