Kaptafa

When I go out for breakfast, I usually avoid the Jewish Quarter because it gets too crowded with people, especially its breakfast restaurants. If I stay in the area nonetheless, I usually opt for Kaptafa in Akácfa utca, a hip breakfast-all-day restaurant that used to be a shoe repair shop, hence "kaptafa," which means shoe tree in Hungarian. Yes, one could take issue with the cliched design elements – chipped walls and Edison bulbs – but not so much with the delicious and inventive breakfast dishes.

I usually start with the breaded fried pickles, followed by the "defibrillator/CPR," a savory French toast layered with bacon and oozing melted cheese (the name alludes to its hangover-curing powers). Also good is the Mrs. Molnár, a playful riff on the croque madame, made with a local roll named molnárka and swapping the ham for crisped-up bacon.