How to Turn a Really Poor Night Into A Really Good One

We hadn't gone out since we come to Budapest. Of course I could find plenty of reasons for that, but the bottom line is that this Saturday night out is our first one since our first step off the bus a few weeks earlier.

So we were exited. Expecting to go out the whole day. Finally when the time was right we went out and made our way through one of the random streets of Budapest on the edge of city center. Place we chosen to go wasn’t any fancy establishment or something. I would actually say it was on the opposite side of the scale of fancy. What grabbed our attention was the pool table inside. Didn’t play pool in ages. Once I had a friend in England which was always saying that good table pool skills are a sign of misused youth. Very odd statement coming from a bald man in his 40ts whom I can only describe as a professional alcoholic with Irish origins.
Anyhow we bought ourselves a beer which cost just a little bit more than the same beer in a convenience store. The whole place was covered in futuristic graffiti with disco lights flashing on. In the television witch was in the corner, Titanic was on the screan.  The jukebox was playing some Hungarian rock.
Pool table was in the middle. Table itself was very small. We got the balls and started to play slowly drinking our beer. After a while I started to look around and observe guests of this unusual establishments. Mostly there were middle aged men but there were some women as well. All of them had their best days far behind.

After a game and few beers we went on through a dark alley to the next place. To a place which got my attention first time I saw it. It was a black door with big light green sign which was saying “cocktail bar” and nothing else. No commercials, no neon’s, no flashing light. Nothing. And this was so eye catching that first time I past next to it I knew that I will have to visit it and see what is behind those black doors.

When we finally got to the place it seemed like the party was already well started. It was late Saturday evening so this is exactly what we expected. There were a few people outside, smoking cigarettes and chatting. We got to the mystical doors. When I opened them I instantly heard the music and saw a staircase straight down. We went in and it ended up being a disco club. I have nothing against such a places but just not a guy who goes to this kind of parties. Quick glance at the place, even faster look on the menu and we were standing outside on the street. What next? It’s a middle of our first night out and we just visited some ordinary club and alcoholic’s factory. As we didn’t go out on the empty stomach, if you know what I mean, we were already quite done with drinking. Hour wasn’t right to go downtown either. We decided to go home as some wine was waiting there for us.

Accidentally while coming back we bumped in to a sign. Sign was saying “private cocktail room”. Hmm we were thinking. Next club with fancy way of promoting itself by hiding? Let's give it a try we said. Why not. We wore going back home anyway and far as I know when somebody has such destinations rarely will there be some exciting story behind it. We wanted this evening to count as well. For now we could call it “struggle for fun” at best.
We went in. It was amazing. At the entrance were glass cabinets filed with rare cocktail books and some unique equipment. Whole place was small but realy cozy. Styled as a Cuban place. With themed pictures and nifty decorations. What I liked the best was the sofas. All the sofas in the places were back sets from old cars. How cool is that? Bar at the end was what we came for. Bartender quickly spotted us and took good care of us. As for Cuba themed place main instrument playing in the shelves was rum. Mostly Havana Club but competition was there as well. After short chat with the bartender there came order time. My girlfriend was a lady took herself a Pina Colada. It was little bit more difficult for me. Bartender was trying to “surprise me” with Daiquiri but this didn’t rock my boat. Finally I chose Old Fashioned. Rum Old Fashioned of course. All cocktails were prepared with great precision and with good care for details. I know something about that as I'm an bartender myself, and have been one for more than six years now. One thing that got my attention was using the same glass as shaking glass and glass for consumption. This technique meant that “old” shaken ice wasn't replaced with fresh one in the fresh glass. That was not imaginable by the school I was following. But as a guest I restrained myself from comments and kept observing style of my neighbours. After a while it was all clear why they made it this way. As the place and especially bar wasn't to big and lack of space was visible, this technique saved them on extra glasses, ice and washing. Clever if you ask me. Bottom line is service and our guests. Sometimes things have to be done not by the book to be able to deliver this service.

Few other drinks were served and the night was saved. This is a story about how a poor night can be turned around and become one of the best discoveries of the year. This won\t be my last visit to this “private cocktail room” without a name.

Did I mentioned that I’m a bartender myself? I think I did. Here are recipes* for those cocktails we had that night:

 

OLD FASHIONED
Before Dinner Cocktail

• 4.5 cl Bourbon or Rye whiskey
• 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
• 1 sugar cube
• Few dashes plain water

Place sugar cube in old-fashioned glass and saturate with bitters, add a dash of plain water.
Muddle until dissolve.
Fill the glass with ice cubes and add whisky.
Garnish with orange slice and a cocktail cherry.

PINA COLADA
Longdrink

• 3 cl White Rum
• 9 cl Pineapple juice
• 3 cl Coconut milk

Blend all the ingredients with ice in a electric blender, pour into a large goblet or Hurricane glass and serve with straws.
Garnish with a slice of pineapple with a cocktail cherry.

DAIQUIRI
Before Dinner Cocktail

• 4.5 cl White rum
• 2.5 cl Fresh lime juice
• 1.5 cl Simple syrup

Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.



* All recipes and pictures come from International Bartenders Association [IBA]