Eating, Drinking, and Walking Our Way Through Prague (pics)

Jonathan and I just returned from four wonderful nights in Prague and three in Vienna. We LOVED Prague and I think it's time the city had it's own dedicated thread.

We left a week ago Thursday evening and arrived in Prague mid-afternoon Friday. Fortunately, we were blessed with excellent weather for this portion of our trip. After checking in at our hotel, we proceeded to the heart of the old city and settled-in at the outdoor patio of the Hotel U Prince for our first beer of the vacation and some people-watching. It's one of several touristy-pricey outdoor patios in the area, but we found ourselves there a few times for their seriously comfortable padded wicker chairs, cold beers, and the sheer convenience of the location. (We often found ourselves passing through on the way back to our hotel.)

Still a bit jet-lagged, we stayed very close to our hotel for dinner Friday night and chose "La Boca," an intimate Italian spot. We shared a fresh salad with goat cheese and each followed with a pasta. For me, Spaghetti with Pesto, Sauteed Spinach, Zucchini, and Eggplant. Jonathan had Penne with Beef and Mascarpone, with he described as "Goulash Pasta." I enjoyed an Argentinian Chardonnay here. Service was pleasant. I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here, but it certainly worked for us that night.

The hotel we stayed in offered a complimentary breakfast buffet from 8:30am-10:30am. However, we discovered on Saturday morning that the pickings are pretty slim for those who sleep late. We grabbed some coffee, vowed to get up earlier the next couple of days, and hit the road for the first of many long walks. We strolled back through the Old Town Square, accross the Charles Bridge and into the Mala Strana in seach of lunch at a spot we thought looked interesting from their website - "BarBar." Found it closed, so walked around the corner instead and stumbled into "Cantina." By no means authentic Mexican, but we were pleased with the freshness of the ingredients, the presentation, and the friendly service. A couple of shared appetizers fortified us for more walking.
Shrimp Tacos:


Quesadilla:


Nothing like a Corona in Prague. (Don't worry, we drank plenty of Czech beer later.)


Back over the Charles Bridge, a walk through the New Town area, and we were ready for our next respite. The Hotel de Paris is an extraodinary art nouveau building whose air conditioned lounge beckoned. This was our most expensive glass of wine and beer in Prague, but worth it for the beauty of the surroundings and impeccable formal service.

We had plans to meet a Chicago couple now living in Prague at our hotel on Saturday evening. A work collegue of mine had put us in touch. Matt, Linda, and their gorgeous dog (Phoebe,) escorted us on a walk up to the Letna Beer Garden, located in Letna Park. This was a wonderful spot with a great view of the city. Not too many tourists here - mostly groups of local friends and family just hanging out and enjoying the Plzensky Prazdroj beer. I think each large beer was about a buck.

In our travels earlier in the day, Jonathan and I had spotted a Belgain restaurant that intrigued us.

Brasserie Les Moules


Linda, Matt, and Phoebe (dogs are allowed just about everywhere,) joined us for dinner. Linda and I both had the mussels/frites (Provancale-style for me, Garlic for her.) Matt went with the Veal Osso Buco, and Jonathan had the Chicken de Bresse on Fresh Pappardelle with Caramelized Leeks. Phoebe just hung out under the table.

The mussels were fantastic - extremely fresh and a huge portion. The frittes, however, were pitiful. Sysco-style steak fries. Sad. The men seemed to both enjoy their entrees. The Stella beers were refreshingly cold.

We managed to get up early enough on Sunday to enjoy the hotel's breakfast offerings. Some wholegrain toast with dill Havarti, smoked salmon, and scrambled eggs gave us the energy for a full day of walking. We stopped at the Mucha Museum and then strolled through Wenceslas Square, stopping for a Pilsner at an old restored tram in the middle of the boulevard that has been turned into Cafe Tramvaj.

We'd had such a great time with Matt and Linda on Saturday that we'd made plans to get together again Sunday afternoon. This time, with Phoebe in tow again, we took a long walk up to Petrin Hill. This was so beautiful and peaceful - lush, green. It was a wonderful walk with the reward of an outdoor cafe at the top of the hill.



A couple hours of hanging-out later, we stopped at a community rose garden on the way back down:



A tour of Matt and Linda's apartment, a tram ride back into the city, ("thanks" M&L for showing us how to use the tram and trains!,) and we found ourselves starving in Prague at 9:30 p.m. on a Sunday. Those circumsatnces brought us to Las Casa Argentina, pretty much the only spot within a reasonable distance to our hotel still looking lively. My green salad with goat cheese was fine, but my lobster ravioli was pretty bad. (I know, I should have known... What's a pesco-vegetarian to do in a house of Argentinian beef?) The side of green beans with garlic we ordered was pretty good.



Jonathan fared better. He liked his "greek" salad and kebob of meat. There was live music and the ambiance was nice.





We slept in a bit again on Monday and so decided to pop into a small bakery close to our hotel for a late breakfast pasty and coffee.

Cafe Pekarstvi:



For lunch, we were on a quest to find Pivovar a Restaurace, an old-school place that brews it's own beers and serves traditional food to go with them. The beers are unfiltered and unpasturized - your choice, light, dark or a 1/2&1/2. We chose a few selections from the "food to go with beer" section of the menu. The simple plate of beer cheese with onions and mustard was one of the best things we had the entire trip. The shrimp with dill sauce, the side order of saurkraut, and Jonathan's order of sausage were all well enjoyed too!

Pivovar A Restaurace:



Mmmm...Beer Cheese!





More walking, a stop at the hotel to "freshen-up," and it was cocktail time again. I'd spotted a wine bar called "Monarch" earlier that we never seemed to be walking by when it was open. Finally caught it at the right time an enjoyed a glass of French Chablis. This was the only place in Prague that I saw California wines on offer.

We had our best all-around meal in Prague that night at Klub Architektu in a cozy, underground dining area. The menu is quite modern.

Perhaps the best thing I ate the entire trip:


This was crazy-good! (I know, cheese again. Can you tell I'm from Wisconsin?) Anyway, Baked Goat Cheese with Arugula, Pistachios, Balsamic, Currant Preserves, and Herbed Baguette.

Jonathan enjoyed a Green Mixed Salad with Herbs and Sweet and Sour Dressing. My entree was Pappardelle with Roasted Tomato Sauce, Green Olives, and Basil. Jonathan really dug his Traditional Dumplings Stuffed with Smoked Meat and Saurkraut.





Managed to have breakfast at the hotel again on Tuesday.

Lunch was a bit of a bummer. We wanted to hang in the Old Town Square and watch some of the World Cup with the masses (a huge big screen TV was set-up for all the games.) We should have just headed back to Hotel U Prince, but wanted to try something new. Cafe Italia was extra-overpriced, served a bland Caprese and a short pour of wine with slow, inattentive service to boot! Oh well, can't win 'em all...

World Cup happenings in the Square:





Started looking like rain, so we popped into O'Che's (Prague's only Irish-Cuban bar,) for a few Gambrinus beers and a little World Cup action - New Zealand vs. Slovakia and Ivory Coast vs. Portugal. Big screen TV, friendly bartender, cozy bar area - a nice afternoon.

Cafe Ebel is near-by, so we stopped in for a pick-me-up. They have a global coffee menu. Jonathan had an African, I enjoyed a Latte.



Farewell Prague! We'll miss you, but we're off to Vienna...

I hate to be the one to point it out, but you didn't seem to have any local food. granted, nobody goes to prague for the food, but there are a lot of interesting local places to try, certainly there are many, many places that have fantastic local beer.

better luck in vienna

I enjoyed the pics of the city and the food you got to eat, thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Jim.

Globtrotter, in response to what seems to be your criticism of our choices, I'll say this - I don't eat meat and it was around 80 degrees for most of the time we were there. Under those circumstances, not much appealed from the traditional Czech menus.

Prior to our trip, I reached out to the forum for recommendations here: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=9628&p=304352&hilit=prague#p304352
While I certainly appreciated little 500's recomendation of Stoleti, we chose Klub Architekto which had a very similar menu of both modern and traditional dishes and was recommended by Matt and Linda. Perhaps if you had seen my inquiry you could have offered some specific places we should have gone.

We sampled quite a bit of local beer. I did not right down all the names, nor did I list every single place we had one. However, just from my post above, beers we had at Hotel U Prince, Letna Beer Garden, Petrin Hill, Pivovar A Restaurace, Klub Architekto, and O' Che's were all local.

Thanks for sharing! If you both enjoyed the trip and liked the food you ate, that's all that matters!

yes, sorry that I seemed critical, the important thing is that you enjoyed yourselves. and, yes, czech food does seem overwhelmingly meat based. enjoy vienna!

LynnB, glad you enjoyed your time in Prague. I enjoyed the narrative and pics. Is the brewpub Pivovarsky Dum? It's run by a US expat and the beer choices are excellent; the food is traditional Czech. Last time we were there we shared a table (common European custom) with a Russian couple. Sadly, we couldn't hit on a language match. My poor Czech, their non-existent English.....

To some extent I agree with globetrotter, though. We do not seek out for example Italian restaurants in Prague, but rather opt for more modern Czech fare offered at places like Stoleti, Kampa Park (on the river), and Palffy Palace. The latter duo feature cutting-edge Czech/Continental fare. Then, we do like a Czech hotdog followed by a trdlo from the vendors around Old Town Square.

That said, if YOU liked it, that's all that counts. Enjoy Vienna and do save some room for "real" Sacher torte.

LynnB wrote:

This looks interesting. Where and what is this?

little500 - yes, it was Pivovarsky Dum and as I mentioned, we had beer cheese, sausage, and saurkraut - traditional Czech items. Both the food and beer was excellent.

Steve - there were several vendors around the Old Town Square related to the World Cup festivities. Here's a not-great shot of one offering sausages:



After sampling a rock hard stale pretzel and a greasy, flavorless sausage, we stayed away from food there. Somewhat surprisingly to us, although I don't have a photo, Ben & Jerry's ice cream had several stands set-up in the square.

I'm feeling a bit reluctant to post on our Vienna experience. These types of posts take some time and effort and I've discovered that perhaps my interests/tastes do not match those of the of the board. I may just put up some photos of the Nachtmarket later this afternoon, which I do think would be of interest to all. Thanks, Lynn

Lynn, we have been enjoying your post appreciate the effort that you had put in to it. I enjoyed the food as well as the scenic photos, please don't be discouraged by a few! I know I will never get to these places so I enjoy traveling through others eyes.

little500 wrote:Enjoy Vienna and do save some room for "real" Sacher torte.

Sorry, there are so many better
pastries to be had that room/time
spent on the uninspired Sacher
torte would really be a shame:

This is the fantastic "Mozart Bomb" -
kinda like a cross between tiramisu
and black forest cake = awesome.

Oh, and F Ben&Jerry's in the A!
There are so many great gelato places in Vienna:

If some of the people on here don't like what you post then that's their problem. I myself am looking forward to a Vienna write-up!

great post , this is on my list of place's to go

Thanks, BlownZ & philw. We had such a great time and I genuinely wanted to share my experience with the community here. Still riding the vacation "high," I guess I was just blindsided by some of the reactions to my post. I know I should have a thicker skin, but I took it personally and for a while regretted that I had posted at all.

It's back to work for me tomorrow. I will take a step back, a deep breath, and perhaps post some details of our train ride to and time spent in Vienna next weekend. -Lynn

LynnB wrote:I'm feeling a bit reluctant to post on our Vienna experience. These types of posts take some time and effort and I've discovered that perhaps my interests/tastes do not match those of the of the board.

Lynn

The board is very diverse and some comments may seem critical even if that was not the intent. I can assure you that your posts, and the effort they take, sharing your wonderful vacation are much appreciated and enjoyed.

One of the best things about LTHForum is the virtual voyeurism of experiencing vacations to far flung places, many of which I will never visit.

Enjoy,
Gary

Lynn,

Just wanted to say that you did a fine job of writing up your time in Prague, and it couldn't have been better timing as my sister left this afternoon for Prague (and also Amsterdam and Paris later on). I forwarded the link to this thread and she was really happy to have a recent report of things currently going on and is planning on taking the walk up to the hillside cafe in your pictures. So, thanks! And I too am looking forward to the Vienna report...

Mike

SCUBAchef wrote:

little500 wrote:Enjoy Vienna and do save some room for "real" Sacher torte.

Sorry, there are so many better
pastries to be had that room/time
spent on the uninspired Sacher
torte would really be a shame:

This is the fantastic "Mozart Bomb" -
kinda like a cross between tiramisu
and black forest cake = awesome.

SCUBAchef, from the pic it appears the "Mozart Bomb" is indeed worth ordering; and, I see it's from Demel's which is one of the only two places in the world allowed to imprint their tortes with the word "Sacher" (the other being the Hotel Sacher). When travelling to heretofore unknown locales I often try the local food "specialty", although it often turns out to be less than advertised. So, in Prague I tried svickova (beef in cream sauce...bad), in Hof, Germany (original home of the bratwurst vendor) I had bratwurst (great!), in Vienna I had Sacher torte...not great. Then I try alternatives, and the Mozart Bomb will be on the list in Vienna. When I lived in Bavaria I ate at truckstops and "schnell imbiss" (fast food) shops alot. But as an intro to Viennese cusine to have the torte in the dining room at the Hotel Sacher, with Wiener melange (cafe au lait), well, the experience ain't bad.

LynnB, I haven't been in Prague for a special event like World Cup viewing in Old Town Square. I'm sure the crowds drew vendors who are out for a buck and not especially good at it. Sorry your experience was less than great. Please do report on the Viennese leg of your trip.