My son and his GF will be visiting Budapest for 5 days, ending next week. Would love to find them a small, informal venue where they can hear either traditional Hungarian or Gypsy/Romany music. My father, who was Hungarian, visited about 25 years ago and went to a small dance hall a short cab ride away. It was our best night there. Thanks for any ideas!
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
17892 posts
The small dance hall was probably the old casino building near the Basilica. https://budapestxplore.com/en/hungarian-dance-performance-in-budapest-xpZTUYIMzEYW
There were a few restaurants that still had gypsy music, one is https://www.rezkakasbistro.hu/ another is https://kacsavendeglo.hu/ and this is definitely "informal" https://www.facebook.com/gieropub/
But Budapest is home to Klezmer too: http://spinoza.hu/eloadasok/utcai-oromzene-mindenkinek/
And these guys dont play near as much as they once did, but it you get the chance and you dont enjoy, you dont have a soul. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXq_NjuZi60
Which reminds me of a story ... do you mind? Doing it anyway.
So about a dozen years ago I went to an outdoor concert by the Budapest Klezmer in the now gone courtyard of the Hilton in Buda. There was an elderly lady from South Africa (refugee from Hungary after the holocaust). She kept looking around and finally asked me if I ever thought I would see so many Jews in one place. I looked around and asked her what Jews looked like. She smiled and started describing me in the most kind way. Tall handsome, white hair, beard. We had a wonderful evening. I never told her I was Baptist.
Posted by
Beaverton, OR, United States
245 posts
Mister E -- love your story! Ha!