Budapest: A Critical Guide

Bambi Pastry Shop. (1961. III. Frankel Leó út 2-4..) Named after the little animal from the woods, it miraculously survived the successive modernisation waves. It still has its regulars. A highly authentic place.

Café Centrál (Year: 1887-1949, 2000. V. Károlyi Mihály utca 16.) The quintessential old literary café re-created. (www.centralkavehaz.hu)  

Caroussel - Amusement Park (1908) Part of Amusement Park in City Park, meticulously restored in 1996, with private donations. Patrons - among them the then British ambassador - "adopted a horse". (www.vidampark.hu)

Fészek Restaurant in Winter (1903. VII. Kertész utca 36.) The ‘Nest' or Fészek is an artists' club, one that has always retained some form or other of self-government, but that has become increasingly naff in the eyes of the younger generation, perhaps because of the leadership padded with ‘favoured' artists. The restaurant is closed in summer - the pleasant garden is nice but has no retro feeling. 

Gerbaud (1858, V. Vörösmarty tér 7.) The most traditional café and pastry shop, not even the Communist closed it - just changed the name. Look for the oil painting: "The Altar Boy and the Apprentice Confectioner", on loan from a museum. (www.gerbaud.hu)

Gresham hotel (1907/2004, V. Roosevelt tér 3-5.) Retro luxury, at an unprecedented level. Probably the glitziest café toilet between Vienna and San Francisco. Old Budapest photos in the rooms. (www.greshampalace.com) 

Kádár Eaterie (1960s,VII. Klauzál tér 9.) A charming, legendary neighourhood eaterie in the main square of the former Jewish quarter. Only in lunchtime. You should share a table.

Kisbojtár (1950s. XIII. Dagály utca 17.) "Small Shepherd Boy" is a museum piece of a restaurant that preserves the genuine coziness of the late fifties and early sixties. The small shepherd boy can be seen on an incredibly kitsch oil painting and the iron railings on the windows. (www.kisbojtar.hu) 

Menza café & restaurant. (2004. VI. Liszt Ferenc tér 2.) "Menza" means the cheap students' lunch facility in Hungarian, a curse word emanating aluminium trays and cutlery, heavy, greasy smell and a crowded, cheap environment. This trendikest of trendy retro spaces doe not. (www.menza.co.hu)

Sándor palace (1805/2002, I. Szent György tér) That's where the President works. Half way between retro design and authentic restoration. A fanatastic website: www.keh.hu. 

Tisza Cipő shoes (2003. VII. Károly körút 1.) A yuppie businessman revived a 1971 totalitarian brand name - it was noticed even by some trend-setter world magazines like Face and ID. (www.tiszacipo.com)

Wladis Műhely (1993. V. Falk Miksa utca 13.) A lovely little silversmith retro atelier sells his highly original sterling silver creations that range from rings to neckties. (www.wladisgaleria.hu)