Czech Republic part 1. Mrs Ted and I are back from a visit to the Czech Republic where even commercially brewed beer is excellent and while I enjoyed a few I was also looking for local and craft beers, much of which is unfiltered and unpasteurised. Here’s some places I liked in Prague.
U Medvídků, Na Perštýně 345/7. This is a hotel, brewery and restaurant. We were worried when we first entered the restaurant as everyone seemed to be smoking and eating at the same time, fortunately there is a non-smokers room behind this. Both rooms are quite large and beer hall style. The draft beer of offer is Budvar light and dark, more bottled beer from the hotel brewery is available (also to take out), I purchased two to take back to base and they were excellent. There is a large menu with a good traditional Czech section. I had smoked pork knee and it was very good. Staff were also good and attentive.
Pivovar U Tří Růží, Husova 232/10. Housed in a fine old building there are two floors in beer hall style with the brew house on the ground floor. Five of their own draft beers are available, I tried the stout, Vienna red and the lager, all very good. A decent menu, again I had traditional Czech food and it was very good. The staff were nice.
Pivovar Národní, Národní 8. A beer hall style establishment with 4 of their own draft beers of which I tried three, all were really good. The food was very tasty and good portions. There was another room at the back and it looked like there were more tables upstairs. The staff were good and there was beer available to take away.
První Novoměstský, Vodičkova 682/2. The restaurant is down a shopping arcade. There are two rooms, in one there are booths and tables along with the brewing kettles which were in use while we were there and it was great to see the brewer at work. The other room has long tables in beer hall style. Again, I opted for Czech food and it was delicious as was the beer, they have a light and a dark. They also do takeaway beer and sell other beer related items. The staff were nice. The only thing is they run brewery tours through the evening and those dining at tables near the brewing equipment have people standing over them during the tour. Fortunately, we were in a booth away from the tour. Apart from that were liked it here.
Fat Cat,Karlova 44. This wasn’t on my list of bars to visit, we found it while walking through the old town and decided to call in for some lunch. While the building is an old town classic, inside is modern and tasteful. There is a small bar area with a few table and some high tables and stools, through the back is a large room with another bar, it looked like there were more rooms beyond. 7 local draft beers are available including their own Fat Cat beer brewed on site. I only had the Fat Cat and it was excellent. The food was classic Czech with a modern twist, I had a delicious sausage to go with my beer. The staff were really good and really friendly. As it’s in a touristy area prices are a little bit higher but worth it. We really liked this bar. Beer is also available in bottles to take out.
U Supa, Celetná 563/22 again in the most touristy area so is a bit more expensive. Two large kettles dominate the bar area but there’s more space at the back. Three of their own beers were on offer, I tried the light and the semi-dark, both were very good. There is a large food menu but we didn’t eat here. The staff were nice but service was a bit slow.
Pivo a Párek, Korunní 105. This is another bar that wasn’t on our list, as we walked past we thought it was a beer shop so we popped in for a look. Down some stairs we found ourselves in a tiny bar with a tall table in the middle, no chairs or stools but you could either lean on the bar or table. Although it was small the bar had 7 local draft beers on offer and along one wall of the bar there were several fridges containing a wide range of bottled local beer. We later found a small room at the back where you could sit down but we stayed at the bar. The name of the bar means beer and sausage and sausage was the only food available. We spent a couple of hours tasting great beer and having a wonderful conversation with the two bar staff who were keen to tell us about the Czech Republic and were curious about England. Obviously I purchased a couple of bottles to taste back at base. This was our favourite non-food bar, good beer and conversation, just the job.
Vinohradský Pivovar, Korunní 2506/10. The bar is modern inside and has two rooms, one on the ground floor and one in the cellar. Along the inside wall there are a number of giant portholes where you can see into the brewery. They had four beers, a light, dark, IPA and a weiss, I tried all but the weiss and they were very good, especially the IPA. There was a good food menu and we had lunch here, I had a taste of Mrs Ted’s potato and sausage soup and it was delicious. The staff were nice here, a friendly place.
BeerGeek, Vinohradská 988/62. This bar was a bit dingy inside but it had a great beer selection, about 30 draft beers from around the world including a decent selection from the Czech Republic. I got a taster tray of 5 different Czech beers and they were very good. Unfortunately the place was full of loud septics talking sh!te so we didn’t stay long.
A commerical 0.5l beer in a bar about £1.20, a 0.5l craft beer from about £1.35, a local beer in the minimarket from about 50p. A meal for two with drinks in a brewpub about £32. Public transport in Prague is excellent and cheap
