Cup & Scoop

Located along Zrinyi UTCA this coffee & cake shop is a must if exploring Budapest. The street runs from close to the river area through towards St Stephen’s Basilica and during the xmas period is lined with xmas market stalls and lit up with an array of lights. Having walked for a while my wife & I headed into this cafe for a hot drink and treat and it did not disappoint. There is a sizeable area of seating, huge counter and display of ice creams, cakes, puddings and a place to order a Chimney Cake (local offering which are everywhere in the city). Plus bar and drinks selections. Extremely friendly staff, nicely decorated cafe and very clean. So we looked through the menu (which is also available online and accessed easily using the QR codes on the tables). We ordered a cappuccino, hot chocolate with Baileys and cream, plus a chimney cake with ice cream filling, plus lemon cheesecake. All of which were delicious. I would go as far as saying of all the coffee’s I enjoyed on this Budapest trip this was the best coffee I had in the city. Good prices for where you are in the city and well worth it for the atmosphere and service.

I ordered Kinder Bueno and Ferrero ice creams. Kinder Bueno taste was very distinctive, while Ferrero was less. There were even couple of hazelnuts in Kinder Bueno. It definitely makes sense to give them a try.

This chimney cake turned out to be somewhat overrated. The pastry itself lacked the softness and lightness one might expect, leaning instead toward dryness. Paired with the dried raspberries, the result felt unbalanced - the crust flaking off so that the fruit and the cake were eaten separately, rather than in harmony. Although advertised with ice cream, the only flavor available was vanilla - limiting what could have been a more interesting pairing. In the end, a dessert for the curious or devoted enthusiasts, but not one I would call universally appealing.

I wanted to try the famous chimney pastry in Budapest, so I picked this coffee shop. I made the mistake of asking for no filling, which might be why I didn’t enjoy it much. It was super plain and a bit hard to eat. I think it would have been much better with ice cream or another filling.

We didn’t check the reviews beforehand—we were just looking for a place to grab a coffee and decided to stop here instead of walking another 10 minutes to the specialty coffee shop we had found on the map. Unfortunately, the experience was disappointing. Although the coffee looked appealing and gave the impression it would taste great, it was actually quite bad—almost as if it had been burnt. I ordered mine with oat milk, and I strongly suggest changing the brand currently used. The oat milk tasted like watered-down oats. I recommend using OATLY Barista—it makes a big difference in quality and taste. Considering the overall quality, the coffee was also overpriced. We've had excellent specialty coffee in the city center for around €5.50–€6.00 for two cups. Here, we paid over €9 for coffee that didn’t come close in taste or experience. The service was also a bit off. Even though we were the only customers at the time, the staff didn’t come across as genuinely welcoming or authentic. The place looks nice, but that's it...