Hadik

Hadik is one of the lovely traditional coffee houses with which Budapest abounds. This one is on the Buda side of the Danube, not too far from the Gellért Hotel on Bartok Bela it 36 - 38.

The first time that I visited Hadik was in early spring with Me and Myself. Then, we selected an upstairs seating area in a nice little alcove where we settled into a a chair and sofa and enjoyed our coffee and cakes.

Then our sojourn was enlivened by the arrival of a number of individuals in most unusual costume who we discovered were a Steampunk group. It was fascinating to watch their interactions and witness the variations in their interpretations of the genre.

I mention this because although you’d be lucky to be there just at the right time to observe a meeting such as this, it's evidence that Hadik is the kind of place where the unusual fits in perfectly and nothing feels out of place. The size of the Coffee House and it’s layout and decor lend themselves to a variety of moods.

I returned to Hadik on May Day. Spring had turned into summer and it was lovely to see that outside there were plenty of seats and a friend and I, after a short walk up and down Gellért hill, had a well earned stop for refreshment.

Sitting outside my friend had aubergine spread on pitta bread with a little side salad while I was naughty and had chocolate brownie with ice cream. The aubergine dish was declared to be very satisfying while the chocolate brownie was very pleasant but I’d have liked it to be a bit stickier and with some walnuts. I had a great ice coffee to round off my holiday treat.

The prices and range of food and drinks are very acceptable. Hadik is more than just a café as it serves other food so it can be a good place to stop for a light lunch or an early evening repast.

As an outdoor venue Hadik is not particularly quiet with the traffic and trams running alongside. If you only see the outside you definitely miss something as the interior is lovely, so if your visit is in summer, and you want to enjoy having a drink and something to eat in the open air, remember to go back again when the weather is less clement and you can experience the interior too.

Overall, a good venue, reasonable value for money, fair choice and no complaints at all about the quality of what we had or the service.