Budget Budapest: Kiadó Kocsma

The first thing you notice about the Kiadó Kocsma és Étterem (“Publisher Pub and Restaurant”) is that there are always bicycles stacked thick around the doors, sign posts, anyplace they can be propped and locked. Welcome to little Amsterdam on Jókai Tér. Despite the increasingly upscale trend on Andrássy út, there are still a good number of inexpensive places to eat around the sixth district’s main artery; pubs and cafes which are frequented by students, locals and expats alike. And for a cheap, filling meal, or just an afternoon coffee or glass of wine, Kiadó is about as good as they come in the “off Andrássy” category, and a place I find myself more and more often, particularly on Sundays when so many of the city’s eateries rest.

Is Kiadó a pub, a restaurant or a café? Like Castro, APA Cuka or Ellátó, it is all these, though the downstairs space is more suited to dining, and the upstairs (separate entrances next to each other) is better outfitted for lounging or taking a casual meeting. Food can be ordered from the downstairs kitchen that services both spaces.

Over the past year I’ve tried much of the menu, though I’d be hard-pressed to choose a standout idem, or to name the cuisine it is derived from, except maybe Italian pub-cum-International Airport food court. On one visit a bit back, I found a grilled chicken (pictured, with green curry sauce) that could also be ordered as stir fry, with mozzarella, or with “fried fruits,” each costing Ft 1,490 (€5.70). The food itself is usually pretty good: the catfish dishes (Ft 1,790-Ft 1,990) are among my favorites, and the salads (Ft 1,390) are huge, though somewhat marred by the watery iceberg lettuce.

Though nobody could tell me why the pub is actually called Kiadó, there is a literary theme downstairs, with old books lining the walls and pictures of famous Hungarian writers. It is a dimly lit space with lots of dark nooks should you want to entertain a private reading. Like Castro in its glory days, Kiadó is the new hop-spot for Budapest low-rent intelligentsia. Dying to meet a philosophy student moonlighting as a bike messenger? This might just be your place.