Budapest rooftop bar Toprum now offers breakfast with a view

Since opening in spring 2018, rooftop destination Toprum has been reconfigured, completely changing its concept. An outstanding duo of chefs now makes bar food in addition to weekend brunches here, even on weekdays. Csaba Sajtben and Szilárd Tóth pressed reset and have activated Plan B.

Toprum is an all-year rooftop restaurant with a 360-degree panorama. In the beginning, it focused only on brunch, offering avocado sandwiches and Mimosa cocktails to Insta girls. The new team have left this concept behind and now Toprum serves breakfast every day, bar food all day and brunches at weekends.

Photo: Zsuzsanna Forgács - We Love Budapest

For breakfast and brunch, international favourites feature: salmon bagel, pastrami, Eggs Benedict, waffles, American pancakes and shakshuka. As brunch time here starts at noon, there are a few hearty options such as goulash soup or chicken in breadcrumbs with mashed potatoes and cucumber salad. Dishes cost between 1,550 and 3,450 forints.

Bar food is available every day – think servings bigger than tapas but smaller than a regular meal. The aim is to encourage sharing – ideally each guest would order two or three dishes, with everybody sharing theirs. And if something takes your fancy, order it again, just for you. They do not wish to match dishes to drinks, rather vice versa. Quality champagne or an exciting cocktail is recommended with Csaba and Szilárd’s creations.

There are three ‘zones’ on the menu, mostly representing different price categories, as well as a separate dessert section. From zone one (1,950 forints), we tried hurka (a Hungarian sausage speciality) that came served with apple and roast nuts. Despite the heavy ingredients, it tasted creamy and silky.

From zone 2 (2,550 forints), we tried an Asian bun stuffed with sticky meat and radish. Both the steamed bao and the stuffing were really impressive.

Photo: Forgács Zsuzsanna - We Love Budapest

Of the options in the third zone (3,950 forints), the tonkatsu sandwich is most popular, a Japanese-style snack with breaded meat. It was perfectly saucy and quite special. So was the beef served with tabbouleh.

Choosing a dish from each zone, the bill comes to 7,700 forints.

The desserts are all pretty impressive, and while the chestnut-chocolate brownie was tasty, our favourite was the dill cottage-cheese pie. It might not be a classic combination, but it is intense, special and a little bit nostalgic.