Romance and Charm: the 3 BEST Wine Bars in Budapest

Photo: www.facebook.com/Palack

Budapest is the type of city that never ceases to surprise. As the weather gets milder, walking the streets of Pest in the evening hours or strolling through the classy neighbourhoods of Buda hold a myriad of hidden spaces…

…that are most definitely worth a few glasses of the nectar of the gods.

Cintányéros

Boasting high ceilings and romantic decor, the Cintányéros Wine Tavern is truly a gem of the inner city within district 8. Sealed off between the mysterious streets around Corvin Square, this quaint little bar is the perfect place to wind down and forget the world’s troubles for a while. Mellow lighting, antique photos, little candles, and a faint amber glow from the streets, coupled with moody music in the background, Cintányéros is the place to go for house wines at €1.5 per glass, creative spritzers or “fröccs” in lavender, elderflower, and stum flavours, as well as bottled wines, handcrafted beers, and Hungarian “szörp”, in raspberry, elderflower, lavender, grape, and rosemary variants.

Live piano music at 7 pm on Wednesday and Friday adds to this old-time charm.

Grilled sausage and cheese plates delight the palate, in addition to sandwiches and delicate but honest finger foods. Recalling the bourgeois world of the 1930s, Cintányéros spins visitors back in time. This is the type of bar you go to when you are in that particularly poetic type of mood. A staircase curves up towards the upper level, from where you have the perfect view of the bar and the entrance, as well as vintage “szóda” jugs and green plants in pots. In essence, Cintányéros is simple yet elegant.

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/Cintanyeros/

Located at: 52 Bókay János Street

https://www.facebook.com/Cintanyeros/

Palack

Palack is located just across from Szent Gellért Spa on the Buda side of the “Szabadság” or Liberty Bridge. A delightful corner spot with views of the Danube and Gellért Square, Palack carries more than 100 types of wines from small Hungarian wineries, as well as international variants which you can order by the glass or by the bottle to go. Wines can be chosen from specific regions of Hungary.

Try the cheese plate with four different types of cheese, including smoked cow cheese, Hungarian “gomolya”, a semi-firm pesto cow cheese, and a sharp goat paired with olives, arugula, and dried fruit.

Tapas style appetizers are also available in quite a few variants. The atmosphere is casual, trendy, and ambitious in terms of style. Palack is at once sophisticated and ever still, easy to access.

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/palackborbar/

Located at: 3 Szent Gellért Square

http://palackborbar.hu/

https://www.facebook.com/palackborbar/

Doblo

Doblo is the type of place you go to when you want to impress your dinner date. This wine bar oozes charm from every corner. Located deep within the Jewish quarter, Doblo amalgamates a New York loft feel with a wine cellar mood. Old brickwork walls and a 13-metre-long bar characterise the interior vibe. A huge selection of wines awaits visitors, which they can delight in while listening to live music on the Doblo stage from 8:30 pm onwards. Whites, reds, a few rosés, sparkling wine, Champagne, Prossecco, as well as exquisite sweet wines from the Tokaj region are available. They also have “pálinka” spirits and exciting cocktails. Of note are their wine tastings, which are around an hour in length and can be arranged for corporate events, gatherings with friends, or for tourist groups.