I've already done a short overview of Prague along with a post on my binder album of photos + memorabilia, but I wanted to do a separate post on eating in Prague. Because it was amazing. Some of my favorite meals from my summer in Europe were here and everything was just delightful.
A couple notes before I get too far. The hospitality of the places I went was unmatched. People were incredibly friendly and I received incredibly warm + friendly service. Second, dining in Prague is incredibly inexpensive. I was really surprised and impressed with how affordable really great meals are. And I have to give a HUGE shout-out to the Taste of Prague blog. I hope I get to meet the couple who run the blog, they seem like my kind of people and I'm so grateful to them for all their posts and recommendations. My trip would definitely not have been as fantastic without finding their blog.
My first favorite meal was at Cestr, which is an amazing steakhouse. It's part of a restaurant group called Ambiente and once I ate at Cestr, I wanted to go to every single one of the places in the group. The branding of the restaurant is impressive. The menu is presented foleded into a sealed envelope with a cow image sticker. This cow is repeated throughout the restaurant, even on the dishes.
It's a huge, gorgeous open restaurant and the food was delicious. You can have an amazing filet for $13. Yes, $13! How inticing is that? Good design + good food = heaven.
That was just the beginning of my meat adventure in Prague. They are reknown for their meat and I enjoyed taking advantage of it. The next meal I had was at Cafe Savoy, which is another in the Ambiente group. Prague ham. Oh yes. The schniztel there is also popular but I couldn't pass up ham + potato puree. If you're looking for dessert, this is also the place to go.
I treated myself to Prague's Michelin star restaurant, La Degustation after reading the post on Taste of Prague. I was given the chef's table right by the open kitchen so I had a front row seat to all the action. The chefs there were fabulous, moving like a well oiled machine to handle the multiple courses for a full restaurant. Everything was creative + inventive, which is my kind of meal. At the end after I had eaten my mignardises, I mentioned to the server that cleared my plate how much I love the salted caramel piece and a minute later she presented me with a full plate of them. Those kind of little touches make me feel so appreciative of good hospitality.
The last Ambiente restaurant I tried was Nase Maso, which is really a butcher shop that will cook up any of the meats from the case for you to eat there. I ordered a sausage then asked if there was anything else I should try. The butcher (who seem absolutely beloved by everyone) got really excited and started describing something he wanted to give me that was "a bunch of pieces mashed together." Eventually we realized what he was saying translated into meatloaf and it was the best meatloaf of my life.
The last restaurant I want to mention is Home Kitchen. I learned from Taste of Prague that there are two locations and after eating lunch at the first, I had to go back for another meal at the second. Very rarely will I visit the same restaurant twice in one trip, but I did for Home Kitchen. They have homemade soup that was so delicious, my mouth just started salivating as I was typing the begining of this paragraph.
It's really gorgeous inside isn't it? Other places I hit and have to recommend to you are Angelato for the best ice cream in town, coffee at EMA Espresso Bar and also I Need Coffee - one of the best lattes I've ever had, and also the very top photo is a sausage from a street cart that was fantastic.
I said it before in my other posts and I want to say it again. I loved Prague. It was a top notch experience and full of amazing food for a small budget. I just know you will love it too.
