Kocsis Irma: A tour of our Locals. (A very quick one) - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1993)

down the stairs of No. 19, Krúdy Gyula utca and come up again in a pub on József körút. It is now a brickfaced, conservative place with a lot of higgledy-piggledy passages on several levels. The Krúdy Gyula utca part of it has been refashioned and is now called TotálCar. It is a disco. Only the József körút part of it still functions as a pub.

(However, the Szavanna-Havanna on the opposite side of József körút-a place where you could always be sure to see blood flow-has also closed down, thank God.)

József utcai Pince The Wine-Cellar of József utca

Vili. József utca 4

On the boulevard-side perimeter of the working girl- centre of Pest, in the cellar of one of the first blocks of József körút, with fine partitioned-off boxes. I don’t think there’s any other twenty-four hour cellar pub in Budapest.

Kis Halász Bisztró Little Fisherman Snack-Bar

Vili. Népszínház utca 17

The Kis Halász is what remains of the Szolnoki Halász- csárda (Szolnok Fishermen’s Inn). This is a small pub opposite the tram stop, triangular in shape. The “Nagy Halász” has undergone a radical change. It has been made over into a Chinese restaurant. Someone once said: “It’s easy for the Chinks, they just paint everything red and hey presto, you’ve got a Chinese restaurant.”

Harlem, Karak-Vuk (Aszari 887-es)

Vili. Nagyfuvaros utca 27

A run-down pub on a corner of Mátyás tér, not much to look at, but all the pubs in the neighbourhood are heavy, and worth visiting if only to see the clientele. The name of the place is no joke. I think it’s recently been given a face-lift, or perhaps a name-change, I’m not quite sure. But it was known under this name at some point in time.

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