Perhaps thanks to the opening last year of the super-cool Corvintető club/disco on the roof of the old Corvin department store, the entire area around Blaha Lujza tér is becoming a bustling hive of ethnic eateries and new bars. From what I can tell, the best this emerging hipster ghetto has to offer is the Jelen Bisztró, a spacious new pub that, like most such joints these days, serves a mixture of Serbian and Hungarian cuisine.

Most of the menu is devoted to various Serbian and Hungarian grilled specialties. The pljeskavica (pictured) served on a ciabatta with melted cheese rather than ajvar is decent but still pales compared to pljeskavica across the border.

No problem, though, because Jelen is home to one of Budapest's all-time best guilty culinary pleasure: rántott palacsinta (fried pancakes). I honestly don't know if these things are Hungarian, Serbian, or "Serbo-Hungarian," but I do know that they are fantastic. Garlicky spinach, cheese, or a paste of chicken are rolled into a crepe, breaded, deep fried, and then slathered with sour cream. Begin a night of drinking with a plate of these stubbly, stout munitions and your hangover is guaranteed to be decreased by half, while your wallet will be lightened by only Ft 1,050 (€4).

Though Jelen is new it feels like it has been around for a while. It shares a sort of low-rent, Kusturica-chic atmosphere with a list of pubs that includes the original Castro, the short-lived Ötödik Bejáro (now the Tandem Café), Ellátó and peripherally, Szimpla and Csiga. Jazz posters on the wall, found and mismatched chairs and tables, familiar faces behind the bar, it has the look of a place prepared to pack up and move at a moments notice.

Attribute this to the manager, Dutch serial kocsmáros Hans Van Vliet, who made Castro what it was/is, and who seems to drift from venue to venue, along with his Serbian chef. There is a sameness to all the pubs, but a familiar, international one. But Hans never stays at a venue too long and after he leaves his Serbian chef duly follows: so get those rántott palacsinta while they last.