I was first alerted to this Renaissance beauty in one of the blogs I follow. There is something irresistibly curious about the grandeur of the past – the idea that this was the highest manifestation of beauty is fascinating and it never fails to awe me how the architects of the past were so advanced in their aesthetic imagination and engineering prowess. The New York Cafe used to be a joint for literary superstars of the late 19th and early 20th century. Influential newspapers were even edited here. Apparently writers would come here to dine and write,  and given papers to scribble on by the staff.  It tickles me to imagine of the opulent scale in which social observers lived and worked back then. It’s part of the New York Palace hotel, which is part of the Marriot Bonvoy family currently. We had coffee and cake here and it was literally, a morning of not just gawping at this Budapest institution but also of gawping at the multiple gawpers that crowded both outside and inside of the most ‘beautiful cafe in the world’. If you are interested to have a meal or a snack here as you partake in the copiously photographing-fray, then my only advise is for you to make a reservation online days beforehand on their website here (or risk standing in the absurd queue).

If, on the other hand, you are not into spending your weekend morning watching/ participating in this tourist-in-a-zoo-palaver, sipping overpriced coffee amidst a visually extravagant dining set-up, then simply enjoy these photos…