Cornered in Bavaria

Bajor Sarok (Bavarian Corner)

A mixture of German and English pub décor could exacerbate feelings of disorientation in this haven for lost tourists

A FourBees review

King Ludwig II of Bavaria was considered something of a fruitcake, but was blessed with a great imagination. The personality of ‘loony’ Ludwig, brother of Hungary’s favourite queen Sisi, has been analysed by psychologists, historians and tourists. No other 19th century monarch has come under such intense scrutiny.
The majority of modern studies about Ludwig label him as a selfish, pompous man who despised his subjects, however Ludwig hated governing and governments, and who can blame him?
In the picture above, he looks wonderfully winsome.
Rather than spend time attending to affairs of state, Ludwig took moonlit sleigh rides and when a blizzard hit he would take shelter in a peasant’s mountain cottage or country inn.
The owner, woken by a knock at the door, would pull back the gate to reveal the amazing sight of the king dressed in his velvet frock coat and wide-brimmed hat, studded with a diamond hat pin.
Ludwig the loon was often accompanied on these trips by a young trooper named Thomas Osterauer. The king and Osterauer were travelling through a tiny village in the Tyrol at 2am when Ludwig noticed a skittle alley beside an inn.
He wanted to try the game and the trooper set up the skittles for him. After about three shots and much giggling, they were confronted by the irate inn-keeper who thought that drunks were attacking his property. Ludwig ran for his life up the village street while Osterauer stayed to reassure the inn-keeper that all was well.
If he were alive today, Ludwig’s favourite watering hole would definitely be the Bajor Sarok or Bavarian Corner for this little piece of Germany in the heart of Pest’s seventh district has a unique atmosphere that really only Ludwig could have appreciated. The interior decorating comes from an unusual conglomeration of styles best described as a cross between a traditional English pub and Maria Theresa’s front room decorated by Franz Beckenbauer, Bayern Munich’s former wizard on the wing.
A strange light emanates from the pink lamp shades which dangle over every table, giving a not entirely unflattering hue to the skin.
The Bajor Sarok is just around the corner from the Emke hotel on Blaha Lujza tér and appears to have quite a passing trade in lost tourists. A quick survey of clientele revealed a German hausfrau, a Canadian gentleman and a Japanese couple, all looking slightly stunned.
My companion insisted that she wanted to drink something called on the menu ‘Bishop’s Fingers’ (sic) which sounds faintly repulsive.
However, as it was fortunately not available on this particular occasion, we both settled for a brown German beer called Diebels, which gushed from a ceramic tap on the crowded bar. At 240 forints for a small glass (33cl), it was rather expensive but on a wet, pre-footie match evening, it perked up the mood no end and warmed the cockles with its sweet, meady taste.
Giant wall paintings of Germanic villages made a pleasant change from the Budapest bar favourite theme of black and white photos of obscure mid west American towns and lots of foliage and greenery soaked up the tobacco smoke fairly efficiently.
Salted almonds under cling film eventually proved too tempting to resist, but were a big, soggy disappointment and added 120 forints to the bill.
The cuisine is of the ‘slabs of fleisch’ genre, hearty food for wet Mittel Europa evenings.
The bar was relatively empty on our visit, but the waiter insisted that we sit by the door, possibly to create an impression of popularity.
I wouldn’t have minded if there hadn’t been a chilly draught shooting right up my shirt, undermining any feeling of warmth created by the Diebels. Mysteriously, every table has a large ‘reserved’ sign on it, yet all suitable entrants are immediately directed to these places.
Whether this is as a result of an elitist door policy, we shall never know.
To keep up the Teutonic ambience, the German pop group Modern Talking who assaulted eardrums and musical sensibilities throughout the eighties blasted out over the stereo system and my companion insisted on having a long and heated debate over whether Ludwig II was really crazy or just misunderstood.
Unfortunately, I did not have the strength for this and required several more shots of Deibels before I could tackle such a weighty topic.
Prost.

Bajor Sarok (Bavarian Corner)
Budapest - District VII
Akacfa utca 7
Getting there: Metro 2 (red line) to Blaha Lujza tér
Tel: (+36 1) 268 0535
Open: 10am-midnight daily

THE STING
Décor 6/10
Cuisine 6/10
Service 7/10
Wine List 6/10
Ambience 8/10
The Bees' Knees 7/10