Dinitz Caf?©, Prague

[Story]

For the FL folk bouncing around that part of Europe -

http://www.cbw.cz/phprs/2006062609.html

Dinitz Caf?©, well-known for its neo-Art Deco style, is the sister of the Dinitz Restaurant, which opened in Prague in August 2004 on B??lkova street in Old Town. The caf?©‚Äôs main room has high ceilings and an airy feel, while the upper floor is home to a whiskey bar, which opens at 8 p.m.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Very cool. And if I may suggest it, there's a Hungarian cafe in the movie Sunshine that the movie's lead characters go to, decade after decade. An amazing looking place in the film. If you can find it somewhere in Budapest, go there.


.

 

[HistWardrobe]

Gerbeaud Confectionery?

http://www.planetware.com/picture/pest/budapest-gerbeaud-confectionery-h-h058.htm
Gerbeaud Konditorei

Been in business since 1858, under new management in the 1890s. Terrific fin de siecle and a bit earlier atmophere. Was thrilled to find it online and see that it's still going strong and has been restored since I was there although I adored its former post-Communist tattieness.

Here's the website with more pictures
http://www.gerbeaud.hu/gerbeaud_v2/e_index.php?id=1

OK - one more edit -- have the Dobos Torte, lemon or chocolate

 

[HistWardrobe]

Or.more probably the Muvesz Cafe, near the Opera?

http://www.pbase.com/nat13/image/25367496

(if you're in Budapest, also go to the Gellert baths on the Buda side for some more cool interiors & architecture

 

[BellyTank]

Guess what..?

Weirdly enough, I have been to-

D) All of the above.

True!

B
T

 

[Story]

Weirdly enough, I have been to-

D) All of the above.

True!

B
T

...and your comments on each where? (waiting for the other shoe to drop).

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Sadly, none of the ones posted by HistWardrobe seem to be the cafe filmed in Sunshine.

Still, I'd like to hear more about them!

.

 

[BellyTank]

My comments on them-

Well- if you follow the links in the previous post(s), you can maybe get somewhat of an idea of the ambience- nice places for an afternoon coffee/tea and cake- pleasant atmosphere. I wasn't really taking notes when I was there.

They are all actually recommended pitstops, if you're in Prague or Budapest.
If you fancy some cake-munchin' in M?ºnchen, then another absolute classic is 'Caf?© Kreutzkamm', the 'Tree Cake', Cheese Cake and of course the Black Forest Gateaux are all necessities, although when I think about it, I'm not a big cake fan, me. The place was est. post-war, I believe. The service is apparently not what the place is known for, although I don't remember it being so bad. But then I don't remember all that much. I had to follow the links in the earlier post before I was even sure I'd been to those other places.

If in London, 'P?¢tisserie Val?©rie' (Covent Garden) is fantastic-
It was opened as a Tea House in 1725.
Or why not Tea at The Ritz...?

I like my West Country Cream Teas most of all.
Good tea, with scones, jam and clotted cream.

Small World.

B
T

 

[HistWardrobe]

tea in London

ok, the Ritz is sort of a must-do, I guess, but my favourite place for tea in London is Brown's Hotel. Wonderful place if you like feeling like you're in an Agatha Christie novel, more intimate and less touristy than the Ritz.

oh man, I feel a cucumber sandwich coming on....

 

[Salv]

Tea in London?

You can't beat a Classic Cafe
New Picadilly

Peliccis

and the late, great Regent Milk Bar :cry:

 

[matei]

My comments on them-

Or why not Tea at The Ritz...?

The Ritz looks fab, but the imperious little man at the door would not let us in. Apparently we were not dressed appropriately.

Alas... next time I'll wear tails and a top hat. Putting on the Ritz indeed.

We had Tea in Bath (the city, not the aul tub) last weekend, in the Pump Room. Nice, but Tea isn't quite my cup of... emmm... nevermind.

 

[jake_fink]

You can't beat a Classic Cafe
New Picadilly

Oh sweet bird of youth... :cry:

When I lived in London I worked at the Lyric and the the Queen's theatres on Shatesbury Avenue and I went into the New Picadilly pretty much everyday (or the Stockpot). I loved that place. I also love that Classic Cafes site, though over the years it has brung many a tear to my eye seeing favourite cafes closed and destroyed. Ah well. What's been done to most of the pubs in London is also a travesty.

 

[Salv]

Oh sweet bird of youth... :cry:

When I lived in London I worked at the Lyric and the the Queen's theatres on Shatesbury Avenue and I went into the New Picadilly pretty much everyday (or the Stockpot). I loved that place. I also love that Classic Cafes site, though over the years it has brung many a tear to my eye seeing favourite cafes closed and destroyed. Ah well. What's been done to most of the pubs in London is also a travesty.

When were you here Jake? The New Picadilly is still struggling on, but it faces closure due to rent and rate increases. It'll be a sad day when it finally closes. The Regent Milk Bar was my favourite old caff - we took my daughter and a couple of her friends there for ice cream on her birthday, not realising that it would be closed down the following week. It was situated on the section of Edgware Road in Paddington Green and was a real favourite with the local residents. It was replaced by a garish fried chicken joint.

 

[jake_fink]

An appeal to Salv

When were you here Jake? The New Picadilly is still struggling on, but it faces closure due to rent and rate increases. It'll be a sad day when it finally closes. The Regent Milk Bar was my favourite old caff - we took my daughter and a couple of her friends there for ice cream on her birthday, not realising that it would be closed down the following week. It was situated on the section of Edgware Road in Paddington Green and was a real favourite with the local residents. It was replaced by a garish fried chicken joint.

I was "there" (meaning "not here", more or less) from 1988 to 1993. I came home to Toronto for periodic work early in that time frame, and spent a good deal of the latter part traveling.

My favorite caff (come on, let's face it a cafe is not a caf-eh, its a caf) was in Battersea, around the corner from the heliport, it was cheap and dingy like something out of an old ealing comedy. The family at the A1 in Kings Cross looked after me when I was in bad shape - gave me free pie and custard, let me run long tabs - they were sweet. There was on cafe I went to when I first moved to London, the sign was something like EELFISHPIE and the interior was , um, unreconstructed, to say the least. But to me it was local colour writ large. When I went back to that cafe a few months, maybe a year later, it had been turned into something called a Spud-U-Like, which is probably the worst name for - well, for anything, that I've ever heard.

I'm sorry you lost the Regent, it looked cool, and I'm sure I was there once or twice (I used to an awful lot of drinking in the area, and sometimes I had to eat too). Is there any kind of support for saving these places? I mean the New Picadilly is Quadrophenia, Absolute Beginners and Leather Boys all rolled into one. It is swinging London more than Carnaby Street. Please don't let her die.

 

[Salv]

Ahhh, some good memories there Jake and it's always nice to find a man that appreciates the difference between a caff and a cafe.

The only way to keep these places going is to keep eating there, and keep putting money in the till. If I'm shopping in London without the family I'll generally eat in a small caff, and if I'm with the family I'll try to persuade them to at least stop for a drink in a caff. For cheap, filling nosh they can't be bettered. Another favourite place used to be Diana's Diner in Covent Garden, until Diana sold up and moved on. The first time I went there I ordered the bacon, sausage, egg and chips, a mug of tea and some bread and butter, and finished off with apple crumble. I could barely move when I'd finished and it came to less than £5.00. They did the best steak pie I've ever had - big chunks of tender steak in thick, rich gravy, crammed into a delicious shortcrust pastry case, served with chips, peas and gravy.

We were trying to organise an informal London meet a while ago that would have started at the New Picadilly, but, as matei put it, real life intruded.

I'm so hungry right now ... time for dinner I think ...