Once in a while aI get the opportunity of exploring bars and pubs where ever I visit. I had read good stuff about this place from their website. What I found was not as described on its website. Although I met some quite nice people to chat with, the pub was not that good. In a Saturday night, service was slow, and lots of workers around, coming and going, and asking for "business" straight away. Apart from that, the dancing floor was much smaller than my living room. I understand that there was a renovation in some areas and there was not served any food nor live music but I doubt if I want to give a try again.
We ordered a round of drinks Before we had even started them the waiter was back trying to persuade us to try "a special local spirit ".
We declined thank God, as when we got the bill it was between two and three times the price of any round we had had all weekend, and include hu for service! We questioned the bill and the waiter brought us a menu with the prices listed as they appeared on the bill. My conclusion In the interest of balance I have to say that we had a great time in Budapest and all the other bars and restaraunts we visited were both cheap and friendly.
I visited the Old Man's music pub, with a group of 25 people - without reservations. The food was great, botht he meat platters, and the cheese plates poffered a great selection of central european varieties. They offer Soprani Demon on tap, which is a black lager type beer, which is somewhat difficult to find amonst the regular tourist restaurants. Bar staff were extremely unfriendly towards women and frequently ignored in favour of men. The place is like a meat market and my friend and I felt extremely uncomfortable in there as locals saw fit to just grab and grope us.
We later heard this bar is frequented by prostitutes so I would seriously recommend you stay away as we felt there was a serious threat of something horrible happening to us. It was a horrible expreience but other than that we had a great time so I would recommend visiting the city, though it is probably safer and cheaper to stick to the city centre at night.
