Food and Drink in Prague
It turns out there was simply too much to write about in Prague for just one article.
So, we thought that we’d write a bonus piece on places to eat in Prague, the food, and famous Czech beers.
After all, it is one of the most important aspects of any trip away.
It’s a change of pace to our normal content, but here it goes anyway…
We Take our Food and Drink Seriously
Hopefully you all enjoyed reading about our experience of Prague in our previous post.
You can find it here if you haven’t already read it.
Now, anyone who knows us will tell you that we love our food and drink.
We consider it to be a really important and integral aspect of our trips and weekends away (as you have no doubt seen from our other blog posts).
And, we’ll usually plan where we are going to eat well in advance.
Given the chance, we eat out whenever we can – home and abroad.
So, perhaps it’s only natural that we are writing this article!
Eating and Drinking in Prague
During our visit to the City of Hundred Spires, we ate and drank our fair share (Ben actually drank more than several people’s fair share) and were pretty impressed with what we found.
As with most things in Prague, we found the food and drink to be excellent value for money.
Prices of beer in particular are remarkably cheap in comparison to the UK and not forgetting, Czech beer is considered to be some of the best in the World.
Places to Eat in Prague – Where We Ate
You won’t have to look far to find a good bar and/or restaurant in Prague – they are everywhere.
Our advice however is to stay clear of the Prague Old Town Square if you fancy something to eat or drink.
Heavily reliant on tourists not knowing the conversion rate from Czech Krona to their domestic currency, the establishments there will rip you off.
Typically, we found prices there to be around three or four times greater than you can find if you literally walk 100 metres in any direction away from the square.
Our List of Restaurants
Invitaly
Yes it may be a bit of cliche eating at what is effectively the hotel restaurant, but we are standing by our choice.
Invitaly is on the corner across from the Franz Kafka statue and it currently has a 4.9 star rating on Google Maps out of nearly 100 reviews.
So that tells you a little something about how good it is.
We ate the breakfast included in their hotel price there every morning and could not fault it.
The first night saw us trying it out for dinner after arriving in Prague in the late afternoon.
We shared a lovely starter of Tagliere di Formaggi, which featured numerous Italian meats, cheeses, and other nice bits.
Ben had Fettuccine tagliata for main and Tanith Bigoli salsiccia e funghi misti – equally delicious.
All of it was washed down with Zichovec 12 Mosaic American Pale Ale – a fruity little local number.
All in all, it cost around 50 pounds and would have cost even less if we had used our 20% discount from the hotel desk (but forgot).
We’ve included a copy of the menu here in case you fancied a look.
Hard Rock Cafe Prague
Ben insisted on going here since he’s been to a tonne of them.
The one in Prague is actually really good. The Hard Rock Prague website tells us that it’s one of largest Hard Rock Cafes in Europe and is spread across three levels and a basement.
One of the awesome features of this Hard Rock Cafe is the amazing guitar-shaped chandelier that hangs over the atrium.
This bespoke piece of art was created just for the Prague branch.
Outside Seating Area – Hard Rock Cafe Prague
There is a brilliant little outside seating area where you can happily people-watch all evening long and listen to the live music going on inside the restaurant.
This is exactly what we did – obviously.
There is live music on here every week and a happy hour, which you should definitely check out.
Not that the drinks are very expensive anyway!
This was one of the only places that we found that served the unfiltered version of Staropramen, which Ben prefers.
Even at the Hard Rock Cafe, the beers were only about 2.50.
We can’t say we ate anything particularly local or cultured here – Tanith ordered chicken strips and Ben had cheeseburger sliders.
Both were great by the way.
It was more location and cool guitar chandelier that impressed us enough to ‘write home’ about it.
U Pavouka Bar
As we alluded to in our previous post, (in the What we liked about Prague section) we visited the U Pavouka Bar to attend a very cool medieval themed night.
This was effectively a ‘dinner and show’ deal where our meals and bottomless drinks were included in the price.
Here, we sampled one of the famous local dishes – Roasted Pork Knuckle.
Quite in-keeping with the medieval theme, it came with a knife stuck through the top of it and all the usual trimmings one would expect.
It was fine.
It did take some pretty nimble knife skills to tease the meat away from the copious amount of bone.
But, this visit was more about the unique experience of having sword fights and fire juggling 10 inches from your head, than the food.
We’d definitely recommend it to anyone considering visiting Prague.
There are some videos from this place on our Prague Instagram reel – check out our profile here.
Lobkowicz Palace Café
The most picturesque place that we ate was within the grounds of Prague Castle.
We found The Lobkowicz Palace Café to be pretty quiet during our visit – a welcome respite from the busy castle in actuality.
The staff are friendly and they have a good selection of cafe food.
The best feature of this restaurant however is the simply majestic views over Prague it provides when sat out on the balcony.
In our opinion, you’ll struggle to find a better view whilst enjoying your lunch anywhere else in Prague.
Beer & Burger U Čížků
It did exactly what it said on the tin. This was a beer and burger place – a pretty good one.
You can usually tell how good a place is by the amount of locals that are eating there and this place had quite a few, even during a midweek lunch time.
As you expect with Prague, it was very reasonably priced.
Nice big tasty burgers and big beers to boot. Nuff said.
Food Delivery Apps in Prague
If you don’t fancy heading out of your hotel, there are a couple of food delivery options such as Wolt and Bolt Food – which offer the same app based service as Uber Eats and Deliveroo in the UK.
But, don’t be a misery guts, get out and explore the city!
We personally didn’t use either of these apps this time around, but Ben definitely recommends Wolt having used it extensively whilst being in Croatia during lockdown a couple of years ago.
We love Trdelnik
We couldn’t possibly write a blog about food in Prague without mentioning our new favourite thing to eat!
This bundle of delightfulness is called a Trdelnik – and it is effectively a big churro that is used as an ice cream cone.
They are all made from scratch right in front of your eyes from any number of little shops in and around the city.
Perfect for a really warm day, we picked ours up from next to the Charles Bridge when the temperature was pushing the upper 20’s.
Absolutely delicious. Don’t leave Prague without trying one.
Beer in Prague
Prague brewers claim to brew the best beer in the World.
I think the Germans and Belgians might have something to say about that though.
Still, it’s very very good stuff, plentiful, and cheap.
You can pick up (nearly) a pint of Czech beer in Prague for under two Great British Pounds without breaking too much of a sweat.
Ben managed to pick up a pint can of Staropramen in a supermarket for 60 pence.
The way of pouring the beer in Prague does differ from how we English like it.
A giant foam head on the top is customary, which would cause outrage in most pubs in the UK.
Having said that though, the Czech Republic actually has the highest beer consumption per capita in the whole world, so they must know a thing or two.
Five Great Czech Beers
1. Pilsner Urquell
Pilsner Urquel is the largest brewery in the Czech Republic.
This was the World’s first pale lager and its name “Pilsner” is now a recognised type of beer that is replicated by many brands throughout the world.
This makes it one of the most well established and famous Czech beers in the World.
This golden coloured brew can be found throughout Prague and is available practically everywhere throughout the City.
2. Budweiser-Budvar
Not to be confused with the Anheuser-Busch InBev American lager, this pale Czech beer is from České Budějovice, and is certainly one of the country’s most famous.
A little less gassy than some other Czech beers, this beer is an easy-to-drink beverage that is enjoyed on a warm summer’s day with friends.
3. Pravha
From the famous Staropramen brewery comes this premium pilsner.
It is a crisp, light tasting beer that is perfect to be enjoyed with burgers and barbecue.
Pravha is aimed towards the younger, modern drinker.
4. Lobkowicz
Named after the House of Lobkowitz, this beer is brewed in the South of Prague and spread all over the Czech Republic.
You won’t have to look too far to find this beer and is the default lager on-tap in many pubs in Prague.
5. Staropramen
Staropramen In Czech, translates as “old fountain”.
It was the original beer brewed in Prague and is the second largest brewery.
Due to its distribution, this is probably the most recognisable Czech beer brand of all
Its superior quality and brewing technique makes their beer stand out from the rest.
Ben believes it is the best all Czech beers.
