Want to have a full pint of Guinness for a reasonable price? Come here! Only 690 forints for a korso. Want to try some other interesting foreign bottled beers? Come here. At least six different kinds of beer, including San Miguel and, for all the Israeli expats, Maccabee. Want to have a good, drinkable dark beer on tap? Come here. The bar’s own brand of dark beer plus Soproni for the local crowd.

I’m taking a little extra time introducing this bar, which just opened right before the end of last year, because I wasn’t even certain I wanted to write about it. At first I didn’t want to share this wonderful find with anyone so it won’t be too crowded when I want to go there, but the locals found it anyway and have already claimed it as their own.

Where is it? Just a few minutes from Deák Tér. Walk under the Madách Tér arch, then keep going along Madách Imre utca a little farther, past the entrance to the underground parking lot and, on the right, presto! There you are. The Public Bar!

I went there on a recent Friday night around 9:30, and the place was packed. Packed with people actually talking to each other without the distraction of televisions and loud music. People spread around at bar tables and regular tables and faux-leather sofas on two levels. People talking and smoking (a little too much for me, but this is Budapest, after all) and drinking and actually having a fun time just being themselves.

The ambience is great. The bartenders and wait staff were hopping, and seemed to be able to serve pretty near everyone who wanted service, on a more or less timely basis (although I never did get the saslik snack I ordered). The Public Bar is set up like an English pub, complete with Big Ben and a big red English telephone booth and large old kegs of whiskey over the bar and old wood and books lining the walls. There’s even a card room down the stairs.

It’s exactly what the Guinness House should have been. It’s what every expat and local has awaited for too many years. It’s the closest thing to an Irish pub we have, and it’s definitely the type of pub one would expect to find in the heart of London.

There’s even an open Guest Book for visitors to sign and make their comments. I didn’t see any negative comments at all in the book; of course, most of them were in Hungarian and I’d already had a few beers that night.

A few caveats. Two seconds after I walked in the door, the bar ran out of Guinness. Not good planning. The smoke is pretty bad for non-smokers, no ventilation at all. The summer should be a lot better when the windows are open. Since there’s no ventilation, it’s also about 35 degrees inside during the winter, so dress accordingly.

But these are minor items. Overall, if you want a real atmospheric pub with no televisions and no food, just a place to have a drink and relax and talk to some friends, then The Public Bar is the place for you. I’m sure it will be the place for me for many evenings to come.

Words by Gary Lukatch for XpatLoop.com