Naming your new café after a cult kids TV show is always a good idea, given how much time even non-hipsters spend reminiscing about the idiot boxes of their youth. “Bob and Bobek” (above, with big floppy ears; we’re not sure which is which) may not be as famous as the Transformers, but the mischievous pair of animated Czech rabbits is still remembered with enough fondness in and around Hungary that the owners of District VI’s newest sleek café decided to name their joint Café BoBek.
Despite the clever name, BoBek is anything but another Budapest theme café. Co-owner Roland Török (below, with another shot of his “partners”) is at pains to point out that it is also not another tumble-down hipster ghetto along the lines of nearby Szimpla kert. “We didn’t want to fill the café with furniture we found on the street – we took a lot of trouble over the design,” he says. “Everything you see is our own work.” With the exception that is, of the eye-catching lighting, which is a friend’s design school project. Being firm believers that it is the lights that make the vibe, we give whole the concept a big thumbs up.
With a great location, a real homemade feel and some characteristic rough edges, BoBek could be a winner. As for the crowd, the 70′a retro color scheme, cafeteria tables and pink couches are likely to attract all sorts, from students and businessmen with laptops (wireless internet is in the pipeline) to hair stylists on their lunch break. Add a basic menu of sandwiches, salads and low-key music – i.e. not cheesy techno or the ubiquitous junk that goes by the dubious moniker of “funky” – and the space is just small enough to pull it off. Now if only we can figure out whether in Hungarian you go BoBek-be or BoBek-ba.
we went to bobek yesterday (aug 2) and it was HORRIBLE. first,
the waitress was one of those classic miserable types who looked
at us like she had no idea why we were there. then when we
started to order food she said there was no kitchen. why is there
a menu? we asked. she shrugged her shoulders and took our
food orders. in the meantime we noticed there was a lot of
shattered glass under our table. since we had little kids with us
(and since, well, it’s kind of a basic expectation for there not to
be shattered glass under your feet at a restaurant) we asked her
to clean it up. she looked even grumper and cleared away some
of the bigger pieces but left most of it there. this is at a time
when the restaurant was EMPTY! she had nothing else to do! the
food was incredibly bland and forgettable. salads had no
dressing and none was offered, and the salmon was that sickly
greasy orange type that used to be all you could get here in the
early 90s. i have no idea why anyone would patronize this place
and put up with substandard, surly service and lousy food.
kristin: for all we know it was her interpretation of bohemian?
my question to you is: why did you stay? the place is empty, she is unfriendly and announces the kitchen is closed (but takes food order? wtf)
i would have made a very slow and deliberate exit at that point never mind the glass under the table.
Klara: good point. it was probably foolish optimism, and
unwillingness to pack up 4 lively kids to go somewhere else that
might not be any better anyway. but i really wonder how these
places stay open or why they even bother. it was one thing for
customers to tolerate lousy quality and rude service when there
weren’t alternatives and it was cheap anyway. now neither one is
true.
contrast that with the hid bisztro in our neighborhood, where we
went that night — the place was totally packed and really busy,
but when i asked for a spoon to feed our 1-year-old daughter
her dinner, the ultra-friendly woman behind the bar knew that i
was asking for it for a baby (because she remembers every
customer) and she made a point of taking the time to sterilize it
(something i don’t even bother to do at home!) and the food was
great, too. actually, i would nominate the hid for friendliest and
most efficient waitstaff in the city.
that day it was my birthday, by the way — i don’t normally make
a habit of trundling my kids from one kertkocsma to the next at
every meal