Centrál Café Budapest: Menu Prices, Live Music and When to Go

Centrál Kávéház, the grand café where the literary magazine Nyugat was born in 1908, has been serving coffee at Károlyi utca 9 in District V since 1887. It opens every day at 9:00 and stays open until 22:00 from Sunday to Tuesday and until midnight from Wednesday to Saturday. Order the Hungarian cake trio for 4,590 HUF (about $14) or an all-day eggs Benedict from 4,690 HUF (about $14.50), and time your visit for the live music, which generally plays from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 18:00 to 22:00.

It is the calmer sibling of the New York Café, run by the same group, with similar high ceilings and marble tables and usually without the New York Café’s long line. Below: what to order, what the bill comes to once the 15% service charge lands, how to book, and the story of the room.

Centrál Kávéház at a glance

What	Details
Where	Károlyi utca 9, 1053 Budapest (District V), a few minutes’ walk from Ferenciek tere and Astoria
Open	Sunday to Tuesday 9:00 to 22:00, Wednesday to Saturday 9:00 to midnight
Live music	Generally 10:00 to 14:00 and 18:00 to 22:00
Breakfast	All day, every eggs Benedict included
Coffee	Cappuccino 2,190 HUF (about $6.50)
Cake trio	Dobos, Eszterházy, Rákóczi túrós: 4,590 HUF (about $14)
Service charge	15%, added to the bill
Booking	Online at centralgrandcafe.hu; within 24 hours by phone, +36 30 945 8058

Source: address and hours from the café’s contact page, live music from its homepage, all-day breakfast from the FAQ, booking from the reservations page, read on 12 October 2026.

What to order at Centrál

Coffee and cake, the classic order

The plate that tastes most of Budapest is Tasting Hungary, 4,590 HUF (about $14): three of the city’s signature cakes side by side, which beats choosing one.

• Dobos torte, sponge layered with chocolate buttercream under a caramel top, 2,790 HUF (about $8.50)
• Eszterházy, walnut sponge with walnut buttercream and a fondant glaze, 2,790 HUF (about $8.50)
• Rákóczi túrós, the cottage-cheese cake with a meringue top, 2,890 HUF (about $9)

Two desserts honor the Nobel laureates Imre Kertész and László Krasznahorkai: Mascarpone Wild Raspberry and Vanilla Pear, 3,890 HUF (about $12) each.

A cappuccino is 2,190 HUF (about $6.50) and a hot chocolate with whipped cream 2,290 HUF (about $7). The house cappuccinos are the fun part of the list: the crème brûlée cappuccino, and Léda’s Tears, a cappuccino with a rose-water spray, are 2,490 HUF (about $7.50) each. Léda is the name the poet Endre Ady, a Centrál regular, gave his muse.

Come for the cake, the specialty coffees and the room. If all you want is a quick espresso on the run, a specialty coffee bar will serve one for less.

Breakfast and brunch, all day

Breakfast never stops here: every eggs Benedict stays on until the kitchen closes, so a 15:00 brunch is perfectly normal.

• Centrál Benedict, English muffin, pancetta, baby spinach, poached egg, sun-dried tomato and hollandaise, 4,690 HUF (about $14.50)
• Royal Benedict with smoked salmon, 5,790 HUF (about $17.50)
• Steak Benedict on a croissant with beef tenderloin strips, 5,990 HUF (about $18.50)
• Add salmon caviar for 2,890 HUF (about $9) or truffle for 2,290 HUF (about $7)

Sharing? The brunch towers for two are 9,980 HUF (about $30.50) each. The Paris Tower is the sweet one, with the three Hungarian cakes, croissants and fruit; the Central Brunch Tower is the savory one, with salami, ham, cheese, hummus and bread.

Lunch and dinner: the Hungarian classics

Fotó: Centrál Kávéház

• Goulash soup with green pepper and sour cream, 3,790 HUF (about $11.50)
• Chicken paprikash with buttered nokedli and cucumber salad, 6,380 HUF (about $19.50)
• Duck “goulash” with confit duck leg and paprika oil, 6,890 HUF (about $21)
• Centrál Wiener schnitzel, pork, with warm potato salad and cucumber salad, 7,690 HUF (about $23.50)
• Centrál smashed burger with cheddar sauce and potato wedges, 6,790 HUF (about $21)

The menu also has vegetarian, vegan, lactose-free and gluten-free choices across the mains, desserts and drinks. Mention any allergy when you order.

Source: dishes and prices from the café’s current food menu and drinks menu (4 October 2026 edition), dietary options from the FAQ, read on 12 October 2026.

What a visit to Centrál costs

A 15% service charge is added to the total of every bill. Plan with the second column:

Per person	Menu prices	With the 15% service charge
Cappuccino and the Tasting Hungary cake plate	6,780 HUF (about $20.50)	7,800 HUF (about $24)
Brunch: Centrál Benedict and a cappuccino	6,880 HUF (about $21)	7,910 HUF (about $24)
Lunch: goulash soup and chicken paprikash	10,170 HUF (about $31)	11,700 HUF (about $36)

The service charge is already in the total, so read the bill before you add anything on top. If the card terminal offers a tip screen, the choice is yours to tap. With a group, ask for the total per person before paying, so everyone’s math matches the bill.

The café takes cash, cards, contactless payment and the SZÉP card. Euros are accepted in cash, with change given in forint.

Source: service charge as stated on every page of the café’s food menu; payment methods from the FAQ, read on 12 October 2026. Totals rounded to the nearest 10 HUF.

Prices are in HUF, which is what you pay at the table. Converted at 1 USD = 327 HUF, the ECB rate on 12 October 2026. Rates move, so treat the converted figures as indicative.

When to go: music, crowds and the terrace

Plan around the music. Live music generally plays from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 18:00 to 22:00: piano, or a piano and violin or viola duo. The programme can change with the season or for events, so a late-morning coffee or an evening meal is the best bet for the full Centrál; between 14:00 and 18:00 there is usually no music.

Book the busy slots. The café recommends booking for weekend brunch, dinner and music evenings.

Leave a little slack. When the room is full, service runs at a relaxed grand-café pace. If you have a show or a train to catch, ask for the bill when your dessert arrives.

Take the terrace in good weather. It faces Károlyi utca and is the people-watching seat for breakfast or an afternoon coffee.

Working is fine. During the day the café welcomes laptops, and the Wi-Fi is free.

Source: live music from the café’s homepage; booking advice, terrace and Wi-Fi from the FAQ, read on 12 October 2026.

Booking and house rules

• Book online on the reservations page. For a table within the next 24 hours, call +36 30 945 8058 instead.
• Dogs are welcome on a lead, and indoors they wear a muzzle.
• No takeaway. Everything is served at the table.
• Wheelchair access: the café is wheelchair accessible.
• Photos: phone pictures of the room are welcome; professional shoots are arranged with the café in advance.

Insider tip: while you wait for your cake, pick up the Centrál Krónika, the café’s free 12-page newspaper in Hungarian and English about the house and its history.

Source: reservations page, FAQ and the Literary Class page on centralgrandcafe.hu, read on 12 October 2026.

A short history of the Centrál

Fotó: Centrál Kávéház

The café opened in 1887 on the ground floor of a house designed by Zsigmond Quittner, with eight rooms, two game rooms and a coffee kitchen. Its golden age began in 1905, when it became one of the centers of intellectual life in Pest. The literary magazine Nyugat was founded here in 1908, and its writers met at their regulars’ tables: Endre Ady, Dezső Kosztolányi, Mihály Babits, Zsigmond Móricz and Frigyes Karinthy among them. Karinthy spent many afternoons here between 1934 and 1938. He noticed the first symptoms of his illness at the café, and after his surgery wrote the first sketches of A Journey Round My Skull.

After the war the café became an espresso bar and closed in 1949. The rooms served as a factory canteen and, from 1965, as a university club. The restored Centrál reopened in 2000, and in 2021 the Eventrend Group, which also runs the New York Café and Gundel, took over. The café still keeps its literary side alive with free literature classes for secondary-school students.

Source: history from the café’s history page and Literary Class page, read on 12 October 2026.

Getting there and what is nearby

Centrál is at Károlyi utca 9 in the inner city, a few minutes’ walk from two metro stations: Ferenciek tere on the M3 blue line and Astoria on the M2 red line. It slots easily into a downtown walk. Pair it with the Hungarian National Museum on the Astoria side or the Great Market Hall at the end of Váci utca, and compare cakes with Gerbeaud on Vörösmarty tér.

Source: address and nearby stations from the café’s FAQ, read on 12 October 2026.

Is Centrál Kávéház worth it?

Yes, for coffee and cake with live music, or an unhurried brunch in the room where Nyugat was born. It suits travelers who want the grand-café experience usually without the New York Café line. The trade-off is the price: these are downtown grand-café prices with 15% service on top, so come for the room, the cake and the music rather than for a quick espresso.

For more coffee across the city, see the best cafés in Budapest; for more morning options, the breakfast guide; and for the city’s cakes, the Hungarian desserts guide. The same group’s Gundel is the occasion dinner by City Park, and more places to eat are in the food and restaurants hub.