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

G László ütöm Kocsma The Pub in Ulászló utca

XI. Bartók Béla út 86

One of the “cardinal” pubs of the city. The bus stops at a red light, you can see down the old men’s throats as they send down their wine-and-sodas, standing before the row of round shaving mirrors fixed head-high to the wall, staring musingly at their own reflections. I withdraw to the back door, preferring the draught to the stench. Look back to B. Ilonka’s nude on the wall, look out into the street, it’s green, the bus trundles past, with a farewell belch of fumes.

Borpatika

Wine-Pharmacy

XI. Bertalan Lajos utca 26

A superb cellar, not far from the old editorial offices of the Mozgó Világ. This is where the city's best and largest sandwiches are sold. Forty kinds of sandwiches! There is a large pile of them on display in the cold cabinet, they are exquisite. You have to take care, for you’ll find them as distracting as the sirens’ song, and never reach the cellar. But no need to fear, there is a display counter with the whole assortment down in the cellar as well. This pub is one of Pest’s best secrets.

Drönk

XI. Bartók Béla út 17

A word made up of rönk (log) and drink. This pub is built of bulky logs. Should you wish to enter the students’ hostel, it is advisable to contribute to raising the janitor’s standard of living, or so they caution you in the Drönk. They cultivate the friendship of the janitor, who demands to see the identity papers of anyone entering the hostel. Having got by this Cerberus of the hostel, we go down into the cellar. White-tiled corridors reminding you of hospitals wind this way and that until you come upon the door that leads even further down, to the wooden staircase which you stumble down to reach the Drönk and so find yourself among the university students. This is one of the best hidden pubs in the city.

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