According to many, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. While the morning repast is not absolutely necessary to maintain a healthy diet, it still affects the mood that we start our day with. Therefore, the best option is to consume our first meal amid pleasant surroundings, and to actually like what we eat, as well. The goal at Coyote is to provide hearty breakfasts to its customers, and it has been doing so since opening in 2008. Located just a few steps away from Batthyány Square alongside a route many tourists use for heading up to Castle Hill, Coyote has a fortunate location that allowed it to grow into a cultural collective over recent years.
After the owners returned from a stay in the US, where they visited countless diners and cafés that offer breakfast as a specialty (something that Hungarians could only previously see in films), they decided to open a similar place here in Budapest with a homey ambience and with a nice view of the Parliament. This qualified as an absolute novelty back then – before Hungary's gastronomy revolution in recent years, not many places sold bagels, cheesecakes, and carrot cakes. According to the owners, their guests were rather suspicious of these new treats at the beginning, so they are glad that these foods are now generally known among the public.
In recent years, their offers only improved and expanded. Today, Coyote even has its own bakery where everything is made fresh – however, they do not have a fixed menu, since everything is either seasonal or made based on the morning's inspiration. Lately their biggest attraction has been bagels, which they prepare spontaneously: sometimes they are topped with salmon, capers and red onion, and sometimes with pumpkin-seed cream and mozzarella. Their fried vegetables are also quite popular, often served with feta cheese.
Speaking of vegetables, Coyote mainly features vegetarian dishes, since many of the regulars abstain from eating meat; perhaps this has something to do with the café's proximity to longtime Budapest vegetarian hangout Édeni Vegán located across the street.
Coyote also offers gluten-free sandwiches, but they always warn their customers that these are not prepared under strict gluten-free rules (in a separate room from the regular kitchen), so they are recommended to those on a diet rather than those with coeliac disease.
The breakfast selection includes new interpretations of traditional foods as well, like a croissant with scrambled eggs, a pretzel sandwich, and a variety of salads, all offered for between 450 and 900 forints.
We tasted everything we could, and we have to say that the Coyote crew's dedication to perfection and years of experience are obvious. Our photographer has been craving their New York cheesecake and blueberry almond cake ever since our visit.
Naturally, Coyote has a strong coffee lineup as well: the well-trained baristas prepare the morning java with a La Marzocco machine from a mixture of Colombian, Costa Rican, and Brazilian beans. They pay great attention to freshness; a new coffee shipment arrives every three weeks. Even more good news: we can ask for our drink to be made with soy or rice milk, and we can even take our morning refresher with us.
Coyote is busiest in the morning: after they open at 7:30am, customers simply storm in. After a few hours the traffic decreases, but in the late afternoon and evening, people start to crowd in again... but at this time, the breakfast place transforms into a wine bar instead, where people can chat with craft beers and high-quality wines in hand. With this in mind, Coyote will soon add cheese platters to their selection, as well.
