Here’s a secret: we love a narrow European street, but we deeply miss spacious cafés with interesting design. The local specialty-coffee scene tends to favour takeaway or a quick breakfast over a place where you actually want to linger for a few hours. Which is exactly why we couldn’t walk past a new spot in the fifth district.
Café Arkitekter lives up to its name and to its creators — the architecture studio Studio Arkitekter, whose office sits in the very same space. Naturally, designers couldn’t settle for a random building. The café and office occupy one of the most beautiful modernist structures in central Budapest: the corner building designed by architect Gedeon Gerloczy, built in 1941–1943. The curved facade, horizontal balcony lines, large ground-floor windows and stone cladding made it so recognisable that its silhouette inspired the team to create something entirely unique in the city — an edible miniature of the building itself.
But back to the café. The authors of dozens of well-known restaurant interiors — the studio worked on Velvet Bar & Café, Mazel Tov, Coffee Stay, and many others — have finally made a café that reflects their own vision. Minimum clutter, maximum air.
And the strongest impression here is, without question, the space itself. As unfortunate as it is to admit, Café Arkitekter is more of a visual experience than a gastronomic one. The coffee menu doesn’t impress yet, the espresso was too bitter, and the breakfasts and brunches don’t quite justify their price. But it’s still a place worth supporting, because it’s a huge step for Budapest in terms of this kind of concept. And the concept works — people come here to spend a couple of hours in a beautiful room.
Shall we look at some photos?
