What is Csendes?
Csendes Létterem, to give this former literary café its official name, is done out with all the ruin-bar accoutrements of mismatching furniture and random décor. Offering decent wine and cocktails, it’s very much a sit-down experience rather than a wild party place, but puts on occasional acoustic nights and is particular about the music it plays.
Is it worth visiting?
Very much so. Original and inventive, Csendes provides a flavour of authentic Budapest within a minute of the Astoria Hotel and two of the National Museum. And it does so without making you feel that you’re a forint flytrap, ready to be shaken down for your last penny.
What should I order?
Csendes stocks the kinds of sought-after spirits that collect dust in other ruin bars, where speed and quantity are paramount. Here, you can order a Malfy blood orange fizz, a mix of Italian gin, artisanal cordial (referred to in Hungarian as szörp or ‘syrup’) and soda for little more than a pint of Czech beer, and let the night take its course.
What’s worth going to nearby?
Csendes has a partner outlet a few doors down, Csendes Társ (‘Companion’), essentially a wine bar with quality snacks, which puts out tables by the entrance to the pretty urban park of Károlyi kert just opposite. The gardens were landscaped by the noble Károlyi family in the 1700s and today contain a children’s playground, well-tended flowerbeds and sundry statuary.
Still hungry? Check out the best restaurants in Budapest.