Café Gerbeaud

Gerbeaud is a historic pastry shop and café in Budapest's downtown. It was the Swiss-Hungarian patissier Emil Gerbeaud, who, after taking over the business in 1884, revolutionized the Hungarian confectionery industry with inventive sweets and pastries.

Today, Gerbeaud is mainly a pricey tourist attraction, but it still puts out delicious traditional Austro-Hungarian pastries, such as Dobos, Esterházy, and Sacher tortes, krémes, and the namesake Gerbeaud cake. In addition, they have two signature treats: konyakmeggy, a brandied sour cherry bonbon enclosed by chocolate, and macskanyelv, a milk chocolate shaped like a cat’s tongue.

The inside is lavish with crystal chandeliers, marble-topped tables, and cherrywood paneling. Even during the Communist era (1947-1989), Gerbeaud remained a see-and-be-seen hangout for Budapest's upper crust (under national ownership and a less Western-sounding name: Vörösmarty Cukrászda). Part of the experience is basking in the historic glow of the space, but note that all to-go orders are half-priced.