Although Budapest is better viewed as the sum of its parts, District VII is easily the place where everything is happening. As such, it’s perhaps the district with more top-tier eateries than any other, especially if you’re looking for a mid-morning meal.
Solinfo Café
Cafe, European, Hungarian, Coffee, Tea , Fast Food, Vegetarian, $$$
After the recent renovation, the wide selection of meals, drinks and snacks means that whatever your needs, there’s not much Solino Café can’t provide. The new design is modern and trendy and the café is also a showroom for the home and lighting store. Perhaps a good place to visit if you’ve recently moved to Budapest?
Although it’s unlikely you’ll find yourself this deep in District VII, The Goat Herder is well worth a pit stop. With a range of high-quality sandwiches, muesli and pastries on offer, exceptionally friendly service and devout attention to coffee, this cosy spot is highly recommended.
The aesthetic of this place draws people in, but it has stuck around primarily thanks to the breakfasts, which customers commonly describe as “the best in town.” However true that might be, there’s undisputedly a great deal of quality and energy put into the all-day breakfast menu, and the coffee isn’t to be snubbed either. With such recognition comes popularity, so bear in mind that you’ll have to queue when you visit—but you should.
It’s not much to look at from the outside, but Sock’s Coffee is worth a visit for, yes, the coffee, but also the healthy treats, including snacks for those following paleo and gluten-free diets. They also have diabetic-friendly cakes and savoury bites, too. Sock’s is on the edge of the district, next to the Great Synagogue, which is the biggest in Europe. It’s a good place to start the day, with their wide selection of coffees, including their own house blend. If you stop by, don’t forget to bring a pen to leave your mark on the wall!
You’ll find speciality coffee throughout Budapest, and WarmCup provides some of the best alongside a selection of delicious handmade foods—don’t leave without trying the quiche. When it comes to that oh-so-precious black liquid, there’s more than just espresso here, as the café offers light roast and even filter coffee. The owners want to open coffee culture to a wider group of people and are likely to persuade you to skip the milk or sugar.
Although Gozsdu Courtyard does suffer at times at the hands of tourists—it’s exceptionally crowded at night—it’s hard to deny that it offers something unique to Budapest that few cities have. Blue Bird Cafe makes a name for itself in the morning, though, when many of the party-goers are still asleep. It’s a cute, ornately decorated café with a huge selection of meals, but it’s particularly popular for breakfast and home-roasted coffee beans that are ground fresh.
This place isn’t afraid to show its inspiration, with meats hanging from all sorts of places. It’s been recently revamped but maintains the mission to deliver tasty meat, as sonka means ‘ham’ in Hungarian. Sonkapult is the place you go when you prefer the focus of your sandwich to be on the filling and not the bread.
This quaint, Parisian-style café, adjoined to an interior design store of the same name, only offers tasty French pastries and a range of coffees, but the atmosphere is so pleasant and laid back, that’s really all you need, along with some good conversation.
Take this on board first—El Mondo Cafe is tiny. They’ve made great use of the space, filling it with plants and wood to make it feel far more spacious and outdoorsy than the square-footage should allow, but it is not always easy to get a seat. Luckily, it’s not hugely well known, which is something of a shame; everything about this café is done with love and care. The staff are always friendly, the cakes and pastries are always fresh, and the coffee is some of the best in the city.
This café certainly has the style, but that doesn’t mean it has given up on substance. Whether you’re craving something more filling, something sweet or even just a cup of coffee, London Coffee Society produces the highest quality treats. There’s a good selection to choose from, such as serrano ham sandwiches or freshly baked banana bread. All this under the watchful eyes of the French bulldog that inhabits the place.
This isn’t quite a recommendation for a place to eat, but rather a spot to buy food. Mlinar is a Croatian bakery that has spread across the region with a number of stores in Budapest. The pastries are great quality, and they have some options you don’t commonly see in Western Europe. You can stand and eat here, but we recommend grabbing a couple of fresh flaky treats and sitting beside the pond at Deák Ferenc Square or the newly built pop-up park just opposite Madách Imre Square.
