5Massolit Books & Café in Budapest
Combining an English-language bookstore with a café, Massolit is a snug hideaway within Budapest's old Jewish Quarter. The book-lined interior eschews the usual trappings of specialty coffee shops, instead featuring worn-out furniture and a well-earned patina (everything about Massolit bears the fingerprints of its wonderful owner, Judit Pecák). Fortified by caffeine, it's easy to spend hours in one of the nooks and crannies accompanied by a page-turner. That is, if you can find an open seat, which is rare during peak hours because local students and brainy tourists often monopolize Massolit.
The book selections span pulp fiction, history, biographies, classical literature, and English translations of Hungarian novelists such as Ferenc Molnár, Sándor Márai, Magda Szabó, Péter Nádas, and László Krasznahorkai. In the warm months, the nondescript outdoor section opens in the back of the space. A true-to-Budapest treasure. FYI: it is possible to purchase Offbeat Budapest t-shirts here!
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