The sturdy corner building where Rákóczi meets Gyulai Pál Street, in the shadow of the Baroque Chapel of Saint Roch, has long been a graveyard for new bar ventures. The wrong side of Rákóczi from the District VII bar vortex, away from the student buzz of the Palace Quarter, this location has jinxed many an ambitious pub landlord. This time, however, might be different, as the bar in question is the once cultish Neked Csak Dezső, which garnered a following from its long-term stint on nearby Dohány Street. With 32 craft beers, new-wave coffee and quality bistro food, what’s not to like?
Still feeling its way, Neked Csak Dezső may take a while before it assumes the same lived-in character of its popular previous guise on Dohány Street. The name still celebrates revered, once banned, Hungarian film The Witness, although here you won’t find quotes from it lining the walls.
All light and dark woods, this one is more bistro in feel than bar. Big, large, huge, even, with high ceilings and a few random photographs on its freshly painted white walls, it is centerpieced by a long bar counter that follows the same L-shape as the main dining and drinking area.
Along it runs a pipe of near Transatlantic length containing the 32 draught artisanal beers which form the bar’s USP. Nowhere else in Hungary can offer as many – at least, not yet. Neked Csak Dezső has made the brazen move from cultish hangout to craft enterprise.
Listed above a back bar of numerous spirits, particularly whiskies, these beers have a range of exotic names that should raise a few smiles as you peruse. Budapest microbrewers Mad Scientist provide varieties such as the Beer Geek Mojito and Candy Man. Stouts, ales, IPAs, Czech-type lagers and beers every shade of dark you can imagine, they’re all here, at affordable prices.
At some point soon, house beers will come on stream, three already listed as ‘Neked Csak lager’, ‘Neked Csak cherry’ and ‘Neked Csak valami más’, the latter (‘Neked Csak something else’) allowing management time to find the right ale combination before launching it on the public.
The ownership also aims to open a retail outlet in the far corner, going toe-to-toe with the successful BeerSelection store just the other side of the Grand Boulevard.
Another change from the Neked Csak of yore is the introduction of a kitchen, and not just any kitchen. The menu has been conceived by the experienced hand of Tibor Tóth, chef at reputable Laci! Konyha!, whose autumn closure surprised many in the city’s culinary fraternity. Here pub meets bistro, with offerings such as egg soup with baby octopus (1,190 HUF), and a house burger at 3,190 forints.
Coffee is provided by Rubens Gardelli, 2017 World Roasting Champion from Forlì, Italy. His Brazilian-Honduran Arabica mix used here underlines the sophistication this new venture is aiming at.
Quality coffee, cosmopolitan bistro cuisine and craft beers a-plenty, a lot of thought has gone into Neked Csak Dezső. What it needs now is the most crucial of elements: people.
