Prague

[ziggystardust]

I'm travelling to Prague next month, I'll be staying in the Mala Strana district. I'm hoping people can suggest good restaurants that aren't too expensive. I come from a pretty multicultural city so I'm not interested in sushi, Mexican, burgers and so on. What I do want to eat is Czech and other Eastern European cuisine. Any suggestions?

[chefathome]

Wonder how the OP did on his/her trip? Am looking forward to hearing about it - Prague is one of my favourite cities of all time. And, contrary to many opinions, the food can be fantastic if you know where to look and have a spirit of adventure.

[Johnny West]

Me, too. I haven't been to Prague since 93 and imagine a lot has changed.
I've got some links to CZ forums, met a knife maker on line , and hope to go
back one day.

Will have to look up the beef and sour cream dish - am Czech heritage and
missed that one. Please pass the jaternice and kolaches.

[chefathome]

Our last trip there was four years ago - Prague was terribly touristy (we were there in October) but as you know if you leave the main drags you'll find the best foods, shopping and so on.

Although I am not Czech I am curious also about the beef and sour cream dish. Prague will always have a special spot in my heart.

[S_B_Russell]

There's lots of suggestions for Prague if you use the search function. If you're looking for inexpensive Czech joints, I tend to eat in neighborhoods that aren't in the dead-centre of town. I usually take the tram across the river to the Prague 7 neighbor and eat at one of the many pubs and restaurants that are centered around Dukelských hrdinů street.

Most Czech places will serve similar things, so here's a few of my favorite dishes to watch for:

Svickova na smetane (my favorite Czech dish) - slices of roasted pork in a creamy gravy topped with a dollop of cranberry confiture and bread dumplings.

Hovezi Gulas (second favorite dish) - hearty beef goulash served, once again, with bread dumplings.

Pecena Kachna - roast duck usually served with sweet-ish sauerkraut.

Smazeny kureci rizek - a chicken schnitzel served with potato salad.

Smažený Sýr - a breaded and fried mild cheese served with tartar sauce - a heart attack on a plate, but very delicious.

Ovocné Knedlíky - fruit dumplings for dessert!

Also don't miss trying Velko Popovicky beer. It's dark, and looks like Guinness, but it's surprisingly light on the palate and goes great with Czech food.

[ziggystardust]

Thanks for your reply. Are you familar with the city? If I just wander in that area (Mala Strana) will I find typical places? If possible I want to avoid touristy places.

[S_B_Russell]

Yes, I've been to Prague many times, last being a year or so ago. I've actually stayed in Mala Strana before - it's a beautiful neighborhood, but if you're looking for an inexpensive traditional Czech restaurants, it's not the right neighborhood. Mala Strana has some very nice higher-end places to eat and a lot of tourist traps.

Frankly, a lot of the places in Mala Strana, Stare Mesto, Nove Mesto, Josefov etc are tourist traps.

I've always had better luck going outside of the immediate city centre to eat - like Prague 7, or around the Dejvicka metro stop in Prague 6 or Praha 2 in the Vinorady neighborhood. You can still find really inexpensive places in these areas (especially in pubs), where you can have a great Czech meal and beer for $10 or less.

Thankfully, Prague is pretty compact, so it's easy explore and get around, thus going further afield to look for a place to eat really isn't much of an inconvenience (plus the proprietors will be happy to see you).

[Mayor of Melonville]

Actually Svickova (sorry, no "haceks"-diacritical marks- on my keyboard), the national dish of the Czech Republic, is made of beef. The combination of beef and sour cream is off-putting to many folks, me included.