The recently opened Absinthe Tapas Bar, distinguishing itself with eerie green lights under the arcades of Dob Street, made our compilation as something of an intriguing anomaly. Absinthe is a highly divisive drink – the “green fairy” might have been the favorite of many artists back in the day, but its strong anise flavor reminds some people just a bit too much of licorice. While this place isn’t a classic cocktail bar, there’s no other place in the city that specializes in the wormwood-based beverage. Instead of fancy mixtures, expect absinthe fountains and cups aflame.
Absinthe Tapas Bar
Address: Budapest 1074, Dob Street 33
Opening hours: Monday - Sunday, 7pm - 1am
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András Ódor is a natural-born handyman. He’s the kind of person who doesn’t settle for treating his ideas as unattainable dreams, but instead carries them out in the best and most innovative ways possible. If necessary, he fabricates a glass window or dyes wood all night long. His maximalism and perfectionism would make him an excellent professional in any field. His bijou bar named Barside, located at Madách Square, is a well-shaken mixture of a workshop and a shop of barista accessories, where customers can not only purchase unique shakers, muddlers, julep strainers, or bar spoons, but can also order customized aprons or chef coats. The accessories line up from floor to ceiling, sorted in an orderly chaos, and guide our eyes through the small but rather tall room.
The bar exhibits eccentric decor with a large animal-skull trophy in the center, and soon a a ceiling-mounted table – which will be used for workshops when lowered. Sexy, full-bodied blues plays in the background, to which we can listen to on the summer terrace, too. Watching the fellow partygoers at Madách Square, we can’t help but feel that Barside has an insider circle of customers, including professionals of the field. After all, the baristas are well-read and skilled when it comes to the history and preparation of various alcoholic beverages. They treat alcohol with due respect and are always happy to tell us about the drinks they prepare – just like the foldable maps on the tables that tell us where some cocktails originate from.
The prices are kept friendly enough so that anyone who’s interested in this milieu and would like to understand Barside’s arc poetica can afford a drink, or even an evening of cocktails. The menu is built to stay fresh, so that we always have something to marvel at. We recommend tasting Believe, a vodka-based short drink with pear, elderberry, parsley, dill, and a sneaky bite. It’s the favorite of the house – and ours, as well. We tasted a Cohiba cigar-smoked, manly mixture, but Barside’s strawberry and rose gin tonic also swept us off our feet.
Prices: from 1,990 HUF WLB tip: Believe, A true icon, Donna Negroni, Gin & Roses
Tucked away on unassuming Síp Street not far from lively Dob Street and Gozsdu Udvar, Hotsy Totsy welcomes us with quite a different atmosphere. The common name originates from an urban legend of New York in the 1920s: allegedly, Totsy was a beautiful stripper who furiously slapped Prohibition-era mob leader Jack “Legs” Diamond across the face after he smacked her bottom. Following the memorable encounter, he proceeded to name his nightclub Hotsy Totsy, thus beginning an unexplainable global trend – the nearest Hotsy Totsy is in Belgium, for example.
From the spring of 2017, Budapest has its own Hotsy Totsy in the form of an American-style, multifunctional cocktail bar; beyond the long velvet seating and the bar, stretching in the middle much like a stage, there’s a barbershop at Síp Street 24. The dim lights and soft-yet-cheerful blues would be to the liking of Diamond himself. Instead of giving in to the reality of Budapest, the bar possesses a nostalgic elegance in its atmosphere, colors, and materials. We talked with one of Hotsy Totsy’s enthusiastic owners, Ferenc Varsányi, about bar culture, local trends, and future ideas concerning the place; they have long-term plans likely to come to fruition.
Without Tamás Kocsis, however, they couldn’t be so confident. The passionate bartender’s latest cocktail competition took place in Moscow, where he competed as one of the Hungarian semi-finalists. There’s a clear contrast between his intense presence and his mixed beverages, however, as even his smokiest creation managed to taste creamy. Our favorite mixture turned out to be the biggest surprise, too, as one of its main ingredients is olive oil – this playful blend is worth starting the evening with if we’d like to ease that hangover headache in advance. In addition to cocktails, the bar also offers an impressive wine selection, and will soon brew their own beer in collaboration with one of the most popular Hungarian breweries. Due to the recent opening, the cocktail menu is still under construction, but soon the full selection will be available, complete with personalized drinks.
Prices: from 1,490 HUF
WLB tip: Jacks Smoky Negroni, Goo-Goo Knox, My Old Grans Botanical
