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-   -   Czech food (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/czech-food-524617/)

TOMOKAS Apr 27th, 2005 04:34 AM

Czech food
 
I will be in the Czech Republic for a few days and know very little about the food. Would any of you share your favorite Czech foods with me? Are there any "must trys"? Any recommendations on restaurants serving Czech food in Cesky Krumlov, Ceske Budejovice, or Prague?

ira Apr 27th, 2005 04:39 AM

Hi tom,

Czech Beer.

Bagles

Sausage

Dumplings

Game

((I))

tomboy Apr 27th, 2005 04:50 AM

Be wary of the dumplings. I ordered meat with dumplings, expecting the dumpling to be similar to the (smaller) ones you would get with chicken and dumplings. Imagine my surprise when the plate appeared with a softball-sized round mass of dough. The dumpling was also somewhat less pliable than what I expected. Dumplings = knodln

bettyo70 Apr 27th, 2005 04:57 AM

"smazeny syr" = fried cheese (kind of like their version of mozzarella sticks)

"zelli" = cabbage; looks like sauerkraut, but is sweeter and better-tasting

"gulash" = pork stew

Czech food tends to get pretty repetitive -- not a whole lot of variety.

And as Ira said, great beer (Pilzner). Have fun!

Maria_H Apr 27th, 2005 06:03 AM

Dumplings come in several varieties, the best being the bread ones, rather like large round slices of steamed bread. When fresh, they are ideal for mopping up sauces of tasty goulash, etc. Potato dumplings are a lot heavier and less appetising. If you like meat try the "Prague plate" or similar, pieces of duck, pork and ham, served with dumplings and sauerkraut. I've also had good venison or wild boar in Prague. All served with foaming glasses of dark or light Czech beer. Generally hearty and filling food.

nytraveler Apr 27th, 2005 06:13 AM

Typical central european food - lots of game, game birds and pork, cabbage, potatoes and noodles, hearty stews and thick soups. Fish is mostly freshwater - the trout can be great. Also - the best beer in the world (the original budweiser - but nothing like our watered down variety).

If you go to more trendy or sophisticated restaurants there are tons of lighter choices - and newer places for almost any cuisine - although I'm not sure about Mexican.

Also, there are lots of cafes for light meals - anything from some sort of sausage, sandwich, salad or omelet etc.

Hana Apr 27th, 2005 06:57 AM

Also be sure to try for dessert - palacinky. These are thin pancakes that are comparable to crepes.

Another common czech food is chlebíèky which are small slices of bread laden with meat, eggs, mayonnaise spread, pickles. They are open face on bread very similar to a french baguette and often served as a cold appetizer.

Go to a bakery and get fresh rolls early one morning and eat with butter and/or taveny syr. Taveny syr are the soft spreadable cheeses you can find in grocery stores. They are everywhere in the Czech Republic and come in a variety of flavours (plain, mushroom, ham, etc.

Fried mushrooms and cheese(as mentioned above) are also typical Czech cuisine. Enjoy!

TOMOKAS Apr 27th, 2005 08:28 AM

Thanks for all the recommendations. In Germany from what I've read, beer gardens are a good place to eat. Is this the case as well in the Czech Republic? Does anyone know what restaurants are called, versus cafes, versus cafeterias. Can anyone recommend any particular places with Czech food that you enjoyed, or any more Czech foods?

elaine Apr 27th, 2005 08:54 AM

HI
I recently posted this Prague report.
It includes some mention of cafes and restaurants. Also dumplings.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34607332

easytraveler Apr 27th, 2005 09:00 AM

Definitely Czech beer!

The fresh trout is out of this world.

And then, of course, there's pig's knee!!!

Best restaurants were the neighborhood places where the locals dine.

Enjoy!

Christina Apr 27th, 2005 09:05 AM

The beer is good. Other than that, my favorite Czech foods have been Italian and French. I've had some pork or something simple that was okay.

Whether a place is a cafeteria etc should be obvious by looking at it. However, a cafe is called kavárna (and I have a couple favorites in Prague -- Imperial and Slavia). A restaurant is restaurace, and cafeteria is sometimes called restaurace se samoobsluhou (which means self-service restaurant).

I've eaten in cafeterias in Prague, you see them around in the main areas -- I ate in one on Wenceslas Square.


USNR Apr 27th, 2005 09:41 AM

Coming from Chicago, I've eaten Czech/Bohemian food all my life...until I learned better.

Yes, the beer is very good.

But the rest is heart-stopping with cholesterol, quite often is greasy and heavy, and lacks imagination when it comes to seasoning or spices. If you dispute that statement, try eating goose -- greasy beyond belief.

Their dumplings? Like eating a tennis ball, smothered in gravy.


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