Time Out Market Budapest: the Best Hungary Can Offer

Time Out Market is the world's first food and cultural market, carefully curated by experts to bring the best of a given city together under one roof. In 2014, a historic market building in Lisbon was turned into the first Time Out Market and today, there are twelve such markets globally in cities like New York, Montreal, Dubai, Barcelona, Cape Town and Osaka – the execution of each is distinctly local to give a true taste of the city it is in. This fall, the Hungarian capital joins the ranks of these communities, marking the inaugural Time Out Market in Central & Eastern Europe. It presents a curated mix of the best chefs and restaurateurs, drinks and cultural experiences of the city and the country, showcasing top local talents and making them accessible and affordable in a casual space.

Across some 2,500 sqm, Time Out Market Budapest offers food from eleven local award-winning and rising culinary talents, three bars, five event spaces and around 540 seats. Guests – whether they come with family, friends or on their own – get to enjoy a variety of food options while coming together around communal tables, surrounded by open kitchens and a uniquely designed space. The Market also hosts a vibrant year-round cultural program alongside its curated food and drink offerings, providing an experience that is both accessible and affordable. Created in a former department store building, now Corvin Palace, on a busy square of the city, it is a project managed by two brothers, Olivér Balogh and Viktor Balogh as management agreement partners of the global Time Out Market brand.

Not just Budapest
As Olivér tells Diplomacy&Trade, the point of Time Out Market wasn't to feature only restaurants that had been awarded stars or appeared in food guides, but it didn't exclude them either. “The Time Out editorial team, including local experts, wanted to bring everyone in, from Michelin-starred chefs to the coolest street food vendors, because they wanted the brand to reflect the gastronomy of the city in question, places that they think are essential to showcasing the gastronomy – not only food but also drinks – of a given city. That's actually the essence of the concept.”

He also indicates an important, and unique, feature of this Market here in Budapest compared to the others elsewhere in the world. “We wish to showcase not only the gastronomy of our city, but that of the entire country. Among the rural restaurants, ‘Casa Christa’ joined us from Balatonszőlős, ‘Anyukám Mondta’ from Encs and István Pesti from Tata, the latter setting up his new concept ‘CANTEEN’ here. We believe this is an added value for locals compared to other Time Out Markets, because here, we can show Budapest residents restaurants that they might not be able to visit on an average weekday.”

His brother, Viktor points out that experts at Time Out not only select which restaurants to include at the venue, but they are also looking specifically at what dishes these restaurants serve and helping to determine which restaurant serves which dish and at what price to ensure the offering appeals to a wide audience including locals and visitors. “It is important and worth emphasizing that we are talking about an affordable service here. This is not a luxury product that only Michelin stars and fine dining can offer, but rather an experience that is offered uniquely by Time Out Market and makes high-quality dining accessible to many, in a casual environment.

Restored to old glory
The Time Out Market Budapest concept also includes respect for the city’s heritage and past. Viktor Balogh believes it is important to go back in time a little and talk about the location. “This building was completed in 1926, almost 100 years ago, and from the very beginning, the Corvin department store was a huge success. For example, it had the first escalator in the country, but it attracted such large crowds from all over the country that they had to install the first traffic light in Hungary here at Blaha Lujza Square. We saw from archive footage that there were three million shoppers a year. Today, it would be impossible for a department store to achieve this number.”

The Balogh family acquired the building in 2001. As Viktor explains, “our father wanted to sell it after a few years, but we loved it very much, it inspired us greatly, and we convinced him not to do it. After we both came home, having completed our university studies abroad, there came a moment in 2019 when we felt ready to embark on this renovation project. There was a big family meeting and, in the end, we were given the confidence to set out on this path.” From the very beginning, the brothers’ goal with this project was to restore the building to the importance it once held in the city. Since they realized that this could no longer be achieved with a department store, they looked for functions and tenants that would actually bring Corvin back into the heart of the city dwellers. They found that Time Out Market is clearly the concept that can achieve this. “In addition, we are creating a 181-room hotel, the Ruby Hotel, here but it is the Time Out Market that we believe will bring in hundreds of thousands of people a year. As an introduction to the building, there will also be small exhibitions about its past, and, during the renovation, we have tried to keep everything as they used to be. At our Time Out Market, guests are able to see sculptures, either restored or reconstructed, depending on whether we found the originals or only saw them on pictures,” Viktor adds.

An event venue
Time Out Market Budapest is also a stage for culture. Olivér highlights that there will be some kind of activation or live music event every day. On Mondays, there will be bar pianist evenings; on Tuesdays, jazz and wine tasting evenings; on Wednesdays, acoustic concerts; and on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, DJs will be playing. Sundays will be family days with entertainers and various children's programs. “This will allow us to present Hungarian musicians and local culture to foreign visitors across a wide spectrum.”
Viktor finds it important to note that they will have other programs, such as bringing Budapest's largest Oktoberfest here, where original Munich beer will be served in large mugs. They are also planning book launches. “I think it's worth mentioning that the Time Out Market will open a rooftop terrace where the old Corvin roof used to be, with a huge rooftop bar and kitchen, which will also be a great venue for events. We plan to open that next year.”

Olivér stresses that “although our main focus is clearly on walk-in guests, tourists and locals, Time Out Market Budapest has been designed to be very suitable for various events. We have five event spaces that can be used for anything from a large birthday party to a corporate presentation. These can accommodate between 30 and 90 people, depending on the layout and seating arrangement, and we also have the option – but we only want to use that in very, very rare, truly exceptional cases – of allowing a guest to rent the entire market for half a day or a whole day.”