Cikkek

Nightlife

Cool new bar on a jaded strip

Aniko Fenyvesi gets inspired by the Instant’s unusual downtown space.

Budapest’s jaded old ‘Broadway’ of Nagymező boasts several bars and clubs, but it hadn’t seen anything inspiring for a while, until a few months ago when Instant came onto the scene. The funky space quickly began drawing big crowds almost every night of the week with its houseparty atmosphere and regularly scheduled DJs in the cellar bellow the courtyard. It’s likely the biggest thing to hit Budapest’s undeground club scene in a while.

The concept of taking over the courtyard of an old building and turning it into a club is not new to Budapest, and the fad is actually waning as new construction quickly claims abandoned sites in the downtown core. But the owners of Instant managed to get a hold of a great space that they converted into a large complex.

It’s not unlike the always packed Szimplakert nearby, except that Instant also has a dance floor, in the cellar, where local DJs have residencies every night of the week to get people dancing.

From the outside, Instant looks like an ordinary apartment block, but as you enter the long foyer, distinguishing features catch your eye. Grab a drink at the entrance bar before entering the main space, the derelict building’s courtyard, which has been roofed over and winterised. A wall covered in ivy leads the eye to a spectacular mobile made of colourfully lit fish shapes – this is the visual centrepiece of the bar.

There’s plenty more to see upstairs. After scanning the hard-drinking clientele from the courtyard balcony, check out the many themed rooms decorated with found objects, from the upside down room to the once functioning dentist’s office, which has retained much of its original furnishings. The musical composers’ bathroom has reams of sheet music strewn about the floor and photos of composers above the tub.

Instant has a surreal house party feel that has already attracted a fun young crowd of locals and foreigners.

Fortunately, there are plenty of bars – two downstairs, one upstairs and one in the cellar. Cocktails are available, but the bar staff’s ability to mix them varies.

If dancing or drinking isn’t your thing, check out the art gallery in the far corner of the ground floor.