New Delhi, Oct. 21 -- I am in awe as I walk into the New York Cafe in Budapest. The shimmering gold leaf on the arches, frescoes dancing across the ceiling and sparkling chandeliers above seem like I had stumbled into a ballroom rather than a cafe. I realise the glamour is what lures people in - the fluted marble columns, mirrors that double the light, and velvet drapes to soften the gilt.

The New York Cafe welcomes nearly 2,500 visitors a day, most of them tourists. The queues start forming well before opening time and remain all day. It may be an Instagrammable hotspot now, but Budapest's most glamorous coffee house was once the city's intellectual heartbeat.

The story began in 1894, when the New York Life Insurance Company opened its...