Prague is a bit like Toronto. Everyone loves hockey and beer.
But, the resemblance sort of ends there.
Toronto is newish and modern. Everything in Prague is ancient.
For instance, the “Old Town” in Prague dates back to the 9th century, and, the “New Town,” in case you are wondering, was established in the year 1348.
Go figure!
For a city that looks architecturally ancient, Prague functions just like any other modern city. It has a bohemian feel to it. That makes sense. After all, Bohemia is part of the Czech Republic.
Unlike most European cities that I have visited in the past, Prague is smaller. Most major attractions are right there around you, within walking distance of the City Centre.
Walking Prague was what we had in mind. In two days, see the major attractions of the city and sample some of its traditional cuisines. From a location perspective, the Prague Marriott Hotel, where we stayed, worked out great.
Prague is a great city to walk.
Whether you plan your own route or use a tour service, the town squares, bridges, churches, and castles are all best taken in on foot. After much research, we took the easy way out — a couple of guided walking tours. One in the morning to cover the city’s attractions, and another one in the evening to check out the food scene.
There are many blogs written about the attractions of Prague, here is a good one from Just a Pack on the must-see sights of Prague. In this post, I will focus on the food aspect of the tour.
We took recommendations from the Concierge at the Prague Marriott for the food tour. The promise of “a dozen different traditional meals/snacks and five beers or wines” included in the tour price, was the clincher. I rationalized to myself that all the walking between the eating establishments would help sweat some of it off.
Jan, our tour guide from Lucy Tours, was quick to point out that a food tour in Prague was not ideal for vegetarians and vegans. The food is primarily about meats — pork, beef, duck, and chicken.
And beer.
In Prague, it is often difficult to separate a food tour from a beer tour. The Czech Republic, as a nation, has the highest per capita beer consumption in the world. The Czech drink beer with fervor, almost like it’s their patriotic duty to do so. After all, pilsner beer was invented in Pizn, a city in the Czech Republic.
Jan explained the routine. Start with a few appetizers, go on to the mains, check out some desserts, and finish off with some after-meal drinks.
That sounded like a plan.
The first pub, appropriately called Lokal, was packed. We ordered Pilsner Urquell, the Czech gold standard for beers, and four traditional appetizers with names that I could not pronounce. Jan explained they were fried cheese, local ham, a pate-like dish made from the intestines of a pig, potatoes with parsley, and a side of horseradish.
When the beers came, I thought it was a bad pour.
About 40% of my beer mug was foam — head. The Czechs like their beer foam. In fact, you can order “beer foam” from the menu with 90% foam and 10% beer. The price for the foam, listed on the menu, was the same as beer!
I somehow don’t see that ever being a bar favorite in Toronto
If I ever go back, I would repeat the order sans the pâté.
The second stop was at U Supa, a brewery restaurant established in the 15th century. We went with a crayfish soup, bone marrow, sausages roasted in dark beer, potato pancakes, and the restaurant’s brews to wash it all down. An accordion player roamed the restaurant entertaining the patrons.
If you ever visit Prague, this restaurant is worth checking out.
We were two and half hours into our culinary tour and feeling full. Jan suggested that we try Café Louvre, a hundred-year-old grand café, for desserts and, maybe, some wine.
Café Louvre counts Albert Einstein and Frank Kafka among its patrons. As strudel, cake, and a chardonnay followed, we were into the “overindulging” territory.
The tour had become more about the experience than the food.
We set out to our final destination — U Fleku, a sprawling 1200-seat restaurant with a beer garden. Despite the size, seats were hard to come by as customers socialized in the halls and the outdoor patio.
I decided to follow the local tradition — honey wine shots with beer chasers.
With all the meat and beer, I was beginning to feel like Anthony Bourdain.
As we thanked Jan and headed back to the hotel, I realized that a food tour might not be for everybody. The amount of food can be overwhelming. With Jan’s help, we were able to finish most of the things that we ordered. Sure, we could have found the restaurants on our own, but without the local touch, we would have missed out on the experience.
Would we have saved money? For the amount of food and drinks that we consumed, I doubt it.
Would I do it again?
Most likely.
Though, I would go easy on fillers like bread and potatoes the next time around.
