Is New York Cafe Worth It? We Went at 7am and Would Do It Again
It gets called the most beautiful cafe in the world, it has a queue out the door by mid morning, and half the internet will tell you it is a tourist trap.
We went. Ignore the people saying it is not worth it. It is overpriced, and it is still worth doing once, and the difference between a brilliant morning and a disappointing one comes down entirely to what time you walk in.
Is New York Cafe Worth It, My Quick Answer
Yes, once, and only if you go at the 7am opening.
We arrived at about ten to seven and there were four or five other people in the entire room. By half eight it is packed and there is a line outside the door. Same cafe, same prices, completely different morning.
Go at Seven, and the Whole Thing Changes
This is the entire trick and it costs nothing.
The doors open at 7:00am. Be outside at about ten to. We did exactly that and walked into what is supposedly the most beautiful cafe in the world with four or five other people in it. No queue, no waiting for a table, no one else's phone in the corner of every photo.
By 8:30 it is heaving. That is not an exaggeration or a hedge, it is the specific time it turned. If you show up at ten in the morning expecting the room you have seen online, you will get the same gilding with three hundred people underneath it.
There is a pianist playing while you eat. At seven in the morning, in an almost empty room, that is genuinely lovely. At nine, with a queue at the door, it is background noise.
What to Order, and What to Skip
Order the eggs benedict. I would give it ten out of ten and I do not hand those out lightly.
Skip the porridge. It was about A$27 and it was bland. That is the single clearest bit of advice in this article: it is the most expensive disappointment on the menu and the eggs are sitting right next to it.
Everything else about the food is fine rather than remarkable, which is the honest position. You are not coming here because it is the best breakfast in Budapest. You are coming because of the room.
So Is It Actually Worth It?
Yes, with the caveat stated plainly: it is overpriced, and it is still worth doing once.
Those two things are not in conflict, and I think the reason people argue about this cafe is that they try to make it one or the other. You are paying a premium to have breakfast inside a nineteenth century palace with a painted ceiling and a live piano. Judged as breakfast, it is poor value. Judged as the thing you will actually remember about that morning, it is fine.
What I would not do is go twice, and I would not go at all if the only slot I had was mid morning.
If You Do Not Want to Queue at All
There is an answer for this and almost nobody writing about New York Cafe gives it.
Cafe Gerbeaud. It is the grand old Budapest coffee house that everyone forgets about while they are queueing at the other one, and we had it saved on our map specifically as the alternative to New York Cafe. Same era, same sort of room, none of the line.
If your schedule cannot accommodate a seven in the morning breakfast, go there instead and do not feel like you missed anything.
Pair It With the Sunrise, Because the Timing Lines Up Perfectly
This is what we actually did, and it is the best morning we had in a month in Budapest.
Alarm at 4:30. Fisherman's Bastion by about 5:30, when there is almost nobody there and the sun comes up behind Parliament across the river. We were finished by about twenty to seven.
Then walk or grab an Uber straight to New York Cafe for the 7:00 opening. The two things slot together as though they were designed to, and by half eight, when the cafe fills up and the Bastion is covered in coach parties, you are back in bed.
The full version of that morning, and what I would do with the rest of the day, is in how many days you need in Budapest.
Staying within walking distance is what makes the 7am opening realistic. Both of these are in central Pest, close enough that a quarter to seven start does not need a taxi.
Hotel Oktogon Haggenmacher
Central Pest. One of the two we tried to book for a night while we had the apartment, and could not get in. The architecture is the reason.
Prestige Hotel Budapest
Also central, also gorgeous, and also full when we tried. If you are only in Budapest a few nights, this is the sort of building to stay in.
Watch Our Honest New York Cafe Review
We filmed the whole morning, including walking in at ten to seven and what the room looks like before anybody else is in it.
Watch our New York Cafe review on YouTube
Still planning? Here is how we would plan the whole trip and everywhere else we ate in a month.
FAQs About New York Cafe Budapest
What time does New York Cafe open?
Seven in the morning. Get there about ten minutes early and you will walk straight in.
Do you need a reservation for New York Cafe?
We did not have one and we walked in at ten to seven with no wait at all. Later in the day is a different story, and that is the argument for going early rather than for booking.
Is New York Cafe expensive?
Yes, by Budapest standards. The porridge alone was about A$27 and it was not good. You are paying for the room rather than the food, and it is worth doing once on that basis.
What should you order at New York Cafe?
The eggs benedict, which I would rate ten out of ten. Avoid the porridge.
Is New York Cafe a tourist trap?
It is touristy and it is overpriced, and I still think it is worth going once. Go at seven, order the eggs, enjoy the room, and do not go back a second time.
What is the alternative to New York Cafe in Budapest?
Cafe Gerbeaud. Another grand old Budapest coffee house, the same sort of experience, and without the queue.
How long should you spend at New York Cafe?
Long enough for one proper breakfast, so about an hour. It pairs well with a sunrise at Fisherman's Bastion beforehand, since you will already be up.
Want your Budapest itinerary planned in a couple of clicks?
Tell it how long you have got, and it lays the days out from everywhere we actually went.
- Two lengths, a short trip or the full week
- Only places we actually went, never a generic list
- Walking times, and when the tram is worth it
- Share it to your notes or send it to whoever you are travelling with
