Two of Europe's great coffee cities go head to head - which side are you on?

Both Vienna and Budapest are historic cafe capitals, famous for cake, chandeliers and coffee culture, but which city shines the brightest? Our experts help you decide.

Mal Chenu: "So when you're popping over to Europe for a coffee, Vienna's grand cafe culture is the primo place for the discerning crema dreamer."

Aussies are fussy buggers when it comes to coffee. We know exactly where to go to pair our extra-hot macchiato with our smashed avo on toast and the perfect smear of Vegemite. 'Coz we come from a land of plenty. In short, we will travel a long way for our caffeine fix.

So when you're popping over to Europe for a coffee, Vienna's grand cafe culture is the primo place for the discerning crema dreamer. Viennese Kaffeehaus culture is so renowned that it is listed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, inscribed for its "traditions, knowledge and craftsmanship techniques".

Meanwhile, Budapest's Intangible Cultural Heritage features embroidery, indigo dyeing and falconry, so have at it if that's what floats your foam.

The Viennese coffee house has been analysed at length, and not just by Sigmund Freud, who used to hang out at Cafe Landtmann and thought he saw his naked mother in his apfelstrudel.

Down the centuries, Viennese coffee houses have been meeting places and melting pots for artists and actors, poets and politicians, writers and intellectuals, revolutionaries and ne'er-do-wells, including but not limited to Beethoven, Mahler, Klimt, Wittgenstein, Strauss and Trotsky. Coffee in Vienna is a lifestyle, and cafes are known as "shared living rooms for the city". Writer Peter Altenberg spent so much time sipping einspanner at the fabled Café Central he had his mail delivered there.

Other celebrated venues include Cafe Sacher beside the Vienna State Opera, the well-preserved Cafe Sperl, and Cafe Griensteidl, the original literary coffee house.

Aristocratic or bohemian, traditional Viennese coffee house interiors are baroque masterpieces. You'll find wooden floors, tall ceilings, chandeliers, walls embellished with artworks (possibly offered in payment by broke artists), marble tabletops on wrought iron stands and legendary Thonet bentwood No. 14 bistro chairs. Over-upholstered sofas along the walls create niches that invite furtive whispers.

Service is a vocation. Waiters are not random backpackers saving up for their next shower, but tuxedo- and white blouse-clad professionals, who will expertly convey your verlangerter in a porcelain cup on a serving tray, or ignore you with practised proficiency.

Your coffee will be accompanied by a glass of water, with an upside-down spoon perched on top. This dates back to when sophisticated establishments displayed the hallmark on the back of the spoon to prove it was solid silver. This is how seriously the city takes its coffee tradition.

Viennese gemutlichkeit is the feeling of warmth and good cheer, and this is on every menu. Aromatic, atmospheric and infused with tradition, Viennese cafe culture is as elegant as a raised pinky.

Amy Cooper: "In Budapest cafes, your barista wears a tux rather than tatts, and your Starbucks name should be something like Count Ludwig Ferdinand von Habsburg-Schlossanger II."

I sometimes wonder what's happened to our Aussie cafes, with their mushroom matcha lattes and kimchi acai bowls and basic decor. If you want a decent breakfast, you'll likely be required to consume it on a milk crate in a situation easily mistaken for a council hard-rubbish pick-up.