Kocsis Irma: A tour of our Locals. (A very quick one) - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1993)
night the waitress told me that the Visegrádi’s proper name is ARTISTA (ACROBAT) “Because this place used to be the haunt of clowns and acrobats, love.” If I had to evaluate my favourite places, the ARTISTA would get five out of five from me. Flecken Bisztró Barbecue Snack-Bar XIII. Váci út 28 Not far from the Kossuth cinema, sharing a block with a taxidermist, the Flecken stands practically on the corner. It is a rough place where the smoke’s so thick you could cut it with a knife, thick enough to tan your skin to leather. One of the taxidermist’s advertisements reads: IMMORTALIZATION OF DECEASED PETS AND OTHER SMALL ANIMALS FOUNDED IN 1957 Above a stuffed sparrow with a dejectedly drooping head flies a glassy-eyed fox... Szajna Seine XIII. Váci út 109 Strictly speaking, it is named after the Rákos brook. It is on the right-hand side of Váci út, in the last house before the brook, and only those who know it can find it. The atmosphere is kind of cool, the place is sort of empty and hollow. Unadorned. Ilka utcai Étkezde Borozó Eating-House and Wine-Tavern, Ilka utca XIV. Ilka utca 34 If you turn right off Thököly út into Ilka utca, you will see one pub following hard on the heels of the other all along the street. The best of these is this basement eating-house, as it keeps a good table. This is the haunt of Béla, the blind comic. While the boss tells stories 54
