The 7 best Budapest ruin bars

Mazel Tov is a relative newcomer on the ruin bar block in Budapest, but its sophisticated elegance and award-winning dishes have redefined the ruin bar experience. In the atrium courtyard, verdant vines tumble down from the ceiling creating a sense of indoor-outdoor calm, while rows of string lights twinkle overhead. It’s at Mazel Tov where Budapest’s discerning sippers and diners congregate over authentic Israeli-fusion dishes like chicken with couscous, sun-dried tomatoes and pickled sumac onion. Wash your meal down with a gin-infused Jewish Punch cocktail, or if you’re feeling brave, opt for lethal local tipple palinka – a fruit brandy of epic strength that’ll put hairs on your chest.

Part bar, part restaurant, part theatre and all-round cultural hotspot, Púder Bárszínház is a lively ruin bar just moments from the busy Kálvin Square. Located next to Budapest’s only Michelin star restaurant, Costes, it certainly keeps good company. On any given evening, you could catch a theatrical workshop, live music performance or literary reading. But star of the show at Púder is undoubtedly its mesmerizing floor-to-ceiling mural, courtesy of artist Bertalan Babos Zsili. The eclectic ruin bar’s globally inspired menu is the big draw – be tempted by their goose liver terrine with red wine or porcini cream soup with roasted gnocchi. Follow dinner with a Hungarian craft beer or theatrically inspired cocktail like To Be or Not to Be, a marriage of gin, elderflower and cucumber.

More refined than ramshackle, Doboz is a ruin bar that puts a little more pizazz in your night out in Budapest. Adorned with stylish art installations by Hungary’s coolest artists, Doboz (meaning, ‘Box’) centres around a vast square courtyard floodlit a deep ruby-red, from which grows a 300-year-old tree, complete with a King Kong sculpture. Imaginative, masterfully mixed cocktails are the order of the day – try the Can-Can, a fruity medley of vodka, Frangelico, strawberry, apple and lime. Two dance floors guarantee that whatever tickles your musical fancy there’s a flavour for all denizens at Doboz, be it heavy hip-hop beats, Latin vibes or pulsating house.

You’ll have to hop over the Danube to reach Szatyor Bar and Gallery. Unlike other Budapest ruin bars, this one is located on the chic Bartók Béla Boulevard in the well-heeled 11th District. Here, exquisite plates like venison steak or salmon tartare are served with a side order of history – the place is attached to the infamous Hadik coffee house that was a magnet for Budapest’s literary set in the 1920s. Indeed today it still draws an artsy crowd, lured by the bohemian ambience, ever-changing cultural program and of course, excellent coffee. Szatyor Bar and Gallery’s extraordinary décor is exceedingly in keeping with ruin bar whimsy. A crazy array of lampshades dangle from the ceiling while furniture in all colours of the rainbow rests upon gigantic Persian rugs.

All gilded Doric columns and chandeliers so vast they look like they’re about to buckle the ceiling, Csendes Létterem is as surreal as it’s unique. One of a kind vintage items adorn the walls, while artfully mismatched furniture lend a playful vibe. From morning ‘til night, this buzzy bar slowly mutates from a chilled breakfast café to an alluring drinking den that attracts Budapest’s hip crowd. Serving up tasty regional dishes like goulash, Csendes Létterem is a superlative spot to unwind an evening over a bowl of hearty beef stew accompanied by lashings of local wine. Hungary has a long (but little known) history of producing incredible wine, like Tokaji. Sip and savour while the music’s tempo gradually quickens as the night unfolds.

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