Best of Budapest & Hungary

Budapest's newest, the one and only skybar of the Buda Castle area, the WHITE RAVEN skybar & lounge, opened on 23 July. The view of the city from the top of Budapest's highest located five-star hotel in the immediate neighbourhood of Matthias Church offers visitors an unparalleled experience.

The White Raven skybar & lounge boasts of a breath-taking panoramic view and captivates any visitor with its unique cocktails, food- and design solutions. From here, you can see different corners and colours of Budapest hidden to the eye until now. Margaret Island can be admired from an angle never seen before, while the Danube seems grander than ever.

 In addition to the view, the skybar offers a special selection of drinks and food. The White Raven's seven signature cocktails have been created especially for the bar by Mátyás Barta, bar manager, and Norbert Schök. The drink list does not feature ordinary cocktail names for the signature cocktails, but appellations that define quality, nature, and personality: strength, perseverance, courage, faith, will, honour and humility. The 7 drinks linked to the legend of the Raven's 7 tail feathers were developed in a two-week workshop. Daily ten hours of experimentation behind the bar, followed by 4-5 hours of planning and evaluation - each drink turned out to be a performance in its own right.

 "The names of the cocktails were taken from the mythology related to the Raven's tail feathers and they reflect and support the colour, mood, presentation and experience offered by the cocktails. I don't really believe in half solutions, so we tested, polished, reduced and increased the ingredients until the entire cocktail line matured into a rounded whole," Mátyás Barta explained the process of creating the drinks.

Another important pillar of the skybar's gastronomic experience, in addition to the cocktails, is what Imre Maráczi, culinary director, and Zoltán Graur, culinary chef, have come up with to put on the plates. "It's a rare opportunity to dream up a skybar menu that appeals to all the senses. So, we were full of ideas right from the start. We put our heads together with the team, and the concepts were put on the plates under the professional guidance of executive chef András Kanyó and culinary chef Zoltán Graur. The White Raven's menu features bar-dishes; we've tried to create something new with each course, to be a worthy accompaniment to the amazing signature cocktails Mátyás and his team dreamed up. And what did we have in mind when we started? Just what we always have: to make something, others don’t make." – said Imre Maráczi, who meant not only the basics of the gastronomic experience, but also the interior design solutions.

The 3D ceramic mosaics are the spitting image of the Zsolnay tiles on the Matthias Church. The back wall of the bar, serving as a drink holder, refers back to the church's stained glass windows. The arrangement of the tables and chairs is designed to offer a wonderful view no matter where you sit. The contemporary bar counter is a great place to make acquaintances with strangers, but if you happen to arrive with a group of people, you will find the large round lounge tables equally as comfortable. All this praises the design of Nathalie Rottenburg. The Spanish-born, Brazilian-raised hotel design expert has been working with the Danubius hotel chain since 2015, and the established working relationship is absolutely convincing: an immaculate yet lively experience.

The White Raven skybar & lounge is owned and operated by Danubius Hotels and was opened to the public on 23 July ensuring breath-taking experience.