Now that I’ve had you consumed with the glamour of the Hungarian State Opera House, it is important to note that as you gallivant your way out after an extravagant performance, or if you’re waiting for a performance, I recommend a stopover at one of the oldest coffee houses in Budapest which is just diagonally across the street. Művész Café is truly a Hungarian institution on its own right and is famous for its faded elegance and décor, as if inviting you to step back in time when famous local composers frequented the Hungarian Opera House.
“Művész Café is truly a Hungarian institution on its own right and is famous for its faded elegance and décor.”
Since the time when I enjoyed a tour around the Hungarian State Opera House, I opted to try their traditional goulash soup and a plate of chicken wiener schnitzel with fries, which certainly pleased my appetite.
The soup was extremely heavy where it could be a meal in itself. It can definitely warm you up on a cold day.
The schnitzel dish was also quite generous and the fries were wonderfully crispy.
The thing to also learn about Budapest is that the country has a significant coffee and pastry culture. Truly, Művész Café is an essential stop when you truly want to immerse yourself to the city’s remarkable, authentic, coffee and pastry culture.
I sampled the Sacher torta Alain Ducasse chocolate cake and the Golden Dumplings cake which was locally called Aranygaluska torta. Don’t ask me to pronounce that for you but just know that it had the sweetest sauce dripping deliciously down from the top to the bottom of the cake once you slice it. It featured an exquisite harmony intervening between the cake and cream textures.
“The thing to also learn about Budapest is that the country has a significant coffee and pastry culture.”
The Sacher torta Alain Ducasse cake was a smooth-tasting and pure chocolate cake. It’s exactly what I would expect from an Alain Ducasse quality cake. I had enjoyed the cakes with some coffee and it was a truly notable experience.
For an hour, I imagined how it would be like to be a musical artist in the Hungarian State Opera House, playing with the likes of Ferenc Erkel and Franz Liszt. And believe me, reveling in this discolored yet still very much dazzling part of the musical history of Budapest certainly gave me a kind of unique excitement knowing that I’ve trailed upon the footsteps of the country’s greatest and time-honored musical composers.
Thanks to Művész Café | Budapest, Andrássy út 29, 1061 Hungary | +36 1 343 3544