Dining in Prague
 

Can anyone recommend restaurants in Prague? We will be there for 3 days and would like to sample a variety of price ranges/degrees of formality.

Here are some websites for Prague restaurants that should give you a pretty good mix of prices, etc.

http://www.praguefinedining.cz/

http://www.praguepost.com/restaurants/

http://www.squaremeal.cz/

I compiled a list of restaurants for our trip in 2003 which I thought would be to our liking. Of course, they may not be to yours. If you'd like it, please e-mail me.

We had a lovely, reasonably priced dinner at a unique outdoor restaurant (depends on when you will be travelling) that is located beneath the Charles bridge. I believe it is called Pod Most (translated it is "Beneath Bridge"). They specialized in grilled meats and the setting was very cosy. It is on the Mala Strana side of the Charles bridge. Sorry I can't recommend more, we often eat out of the center as we visit family and venture out for meals in their neighbourhood.

I have a rather lengthy trip report on my stay in Prague. But here are the relevant points on restaurants. Thinking back, the Clementinum and Hotel Cerny Slon were my favorite meals there.

I had an early dinner at Restaurant Clementinum. I started with Czech fried cheese with cranberry sauce, followed by beef goulash with dumplings and ended with molten lava chocolate cake. All of it was really very tasty, and warming me up on a cold Prague night. The goulash was pretty much what I'd expected...the dumplings were kind of like underbaked bread, but mopping up the gravy with them was a savory treat.

Kavarna Slavia for lunch. This really does have a great view of the castle. To warm up (yes, a recurring theme!) I had onion soup and a salad with grilled goat cheese and honey Dijon dressing. Only day two and I'm already craving vegetables. The salad was delectable. The soup wasn't quite like what I'd had in Paris, but it was piping hot and did the trick. For dessert I succumbed to the pancaky temptation and had the palacinky Slavia, with strawberries, cream cheese and a dab of strawberry sherbert and slathering of whipped cream.

Hotel Cerny Slon which is right off Old Town Square tucked into a little side street and square. The restaurant was full, so I ate in the bar downstairs, which was fashioned like a beehive hut, with tightly packed stone walls and torches. Very warm and cozy. Here I had a caprese salad, pork schnitzel cordon bleu with potato pancakes. This was a wonderful meal. The schnitzel was really very well done and the potato accompanied it well.

I decided to eat at the restaurant at Municipal Hall which I was unsuccessful at getting reservations at for any night I was in Prague. This was Plzenska Restaurace and to be honest I was a bit disappointed. I had beef/vegetable soup and goulash with dumplings, and had really had better at Clementinum We did score big with the dessert cart and had chocolate mousse cake with a peach in it!

I took Linda to Kavarna Slavia where we enjoyed a night view of the castle and bridge. I had the salty pancakes with loads of fresh veggies and turkey and the goat cheese salad again. Linda and I both had the Slavia pancakes, and I said goodbye to both Linda and Prague after a quick photo stop on the walk home for night shots of the bridge and castle.

Many thanks for the recommendations and websites. We will be in Prague in early June (our first visit) and I am really looking forward to it. Tahnsk again.

I recommend Peklo. It is a 16 century wine cellar, with lots of history. Very nice, but it is cool..so take a sweater. The food was good..a little salty, but the atmoshphere made up for everything.

My favorite, based on two visits (last one about 2 weeks ago): Restaurant David, on a small hilly side street in Mala Strana (Little Quarter).
Once you enter, you could be in a small country inn. Very wide selection of food, Czech specialties with finesse.
Great wine list, including Czech wines, ask the accommodating waiter for a suggestion. Not formal, but not jeans imo.

If you were to walk from Old Town Square, you cross the Charles Bridge, and go a bit farther and then turn left (see a map or guidebook). From OTS, about a 20-25 minute walk. Lovely to cross the bridge at night. If you take a taxi, it will be stopped briefly by police for a search, as the restaurant is quite near the American Embassy.

The best restaurant in Prague is David, near the US Embassy. This is the place to go if you are a serious foodie.

If you want trendy and chic, head to La Perle in the Fred and Ginger Building. The view and atmosphere are better than the food, however. Still not bad, considering that two can dine for under $100.

Also trendy is Zahada v Opere (behind the State Opera House). The food is quite good, as is the wine list. Two can dine for $60. The decor is ethereal--there is a chandelier made of notebook paper!

There are some cheap cafes, but with very good food, on Tynska off of OLD TOWN SQUARE. The cafe opposite Dr. Botanicus has good sandwiches.

Titanic Steak and AMFORA on Stepanska also have good, inexpensive food.

U zavesenyho kafe; at Uvoz 6, near the castle.

Student-y. My favourite place for a snack, lunch or an unpretentious dinner. NOTE: indoor smoking is allowed -- a negative for many non-Czechs.

The crepes with blue cheese and apple butter -- under $3 US -- were more than a snack, in fact more than a meal.

Klub Architectu in Old Town or Celnice near Namesti Republiky. Both have excellent Czech food!

Hot in Wencelas Sq served fabulous food, and as for the prices - they're practically paying you to eat there. People say it's in a touristy position, but the food is as good as somewhere three times the price in London.