3 September 2014

A Foodie’s Guide to Prague

A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about my new freelance gig doing the marketing for Eating Amsterdam Tours. Now, 6 months later, I’ve started doing to same thing for Eating Prague Tours… Cue research trip!

You know how usually when you travel, no matter how much homework you’ve done and how many blog posts you’ve read, you’ll always have that one day where you end up drinking coffee with the strength of dishwater and eating a dodgy burger… just because you can’t prepare for every foodie eventuality? Not so in Prague. Of course, I had the unparalleled advantage of my food tour colleagues (one of whom sent me a 3-page email of tips before I even arrived), the bloggers who write for Eating Prague’s travel blog, and a few locals I’d managed to persuade to meet me while I was there. Net-net, I didn’t have a single bad experience in Prague – and it was all down to the marvellous Prague-ians I had at my disposal.

So, since sharing is caring, here’s my foodie’s guide to Prague (or, more accurately, a guide by all the fab foodies I met along the way, which I just happened to collect together):

Best Czech restaurant: Lokal and Kolkovna

There are a couple of branches of Lokal in Prague, and it becomes pretty clear pretty quickly that this place is highly rated by locals. We tried their fried cheese (which was a bit – umm – simple, but good with a beer hangover) followed by a meaty main course of pork with sauerkraut and bread dumplings. Probably best eaten in winter. I also tried out Kolkovna Olympia with a couple of Czech locals – similarly wintry, comforting food (I had a slow-cooked goose leg with potato dumplings and red cabbage – you can see the theme here!).

Best pivovar (somewhere between a bar and a brewery): U Tří růží

We discovered this brewery-cum-beer bar, whose name translates as The Three Roses, on our first night wandering out of our apartment in the Old Town. I thought I’d died and gone to beer heaven. The amber ale was smooth as velvet, not too bubbly, and with the perfect balance of sweetness and hops. They serve food too – I could’ve spent all weekend there…

And best place to taste lots of Czech beer (in one fell swoop!): Restaurace Jáma

Jáma’s food and general atmosphere is one of an old-fashioned American dive bar; if you wandered into it in Texas or Tennessee it wouldn’t feel out of place. Except for one significant difference: instead of Budweiser (the American rip-off version) and Cors Light, at Restaurace Jáma you’ve got the choice of over a dozen great Czech beers on tap. And for 120 CZK, you can buy a tasting flight of six beers that come in this handy rack 🙂

Plus a general beer tip: if, like me, you prefer Dutch-style beers over IPAs, forget the ubiquitous Pilsner Urquell and try Kozel – it’s a smooth, dark beer but nowhere near as strong as its Dutch equivalents.

Best wine bar: Tempo Allegro

When we wandered into Tempo Allegro, I knew it had been recommended to me, but what I’d forgotten was that I’d already been in Facebook contact with the owner. Premek is everything you could wish for in a sommelier and more: he makes great wine recommendations (he only serves one Czech wine because it’s the only one he says he can stand behind. The upshot? It’s the best Czech wine you’ll taste – reminiscent of a New Zealand pinot noir) and can suggest some delicious aperitivo-style snacks to go with his wines.

Best cocktail bar: Hemingway Bar

Something that takes a little getting used to in Prague is that smoking is still allowed in many bars and restaurants. Although the ventilation generally seems to be pretty good, the waft of cigarettes is noticeable after several smoke-free years in much of Europe. However, don’t let that put you off visiting the Hemingway Bar for an absinthe-laced Illegal Mandarin or an it-would-be-rude-not-to Hemingway Daiquiri. We ended up thoroughly sozzled – but it was worth it.

Best coffee house: Original Coffee

Right around the corner from our apartment, this bean Mecca was our saviour of a Prague morning… The usual cappuccinos, espressos and flat whites are expertly made at Original Coffee, and come with free water and wifi. What more does a writer need?

And, of course, best food tour… Eating Prague Tours!

You know and I know that I’m not exactly unbiased here, but I really believe that I left the best till last: our Prague food tours take you to 7 ultra-local, authentic-Czech locations to sample dishes including sauerkraut soup (surprisingly, most people’s favourite), apple strudel (the Czech Republic lays as much claim to this dish as do Germany and Austria), chlebíčky (freshly topped open-faced sandwiches) and the Czech-est of Czech meals: svíčková. What’s more, it includes a brewery tour – a tour-within-a-tour, as it were – during which you get to sample the local tipple (did you know that Czechs drink around 160 litres of beer per person per year? Cheers to that!).

PS. I also manage their social media – so come and check out Eating Prague on Facebook and and follow @EatingPrague on Twitter!