Tummy Trip in Europe: Czech Mate! Food finds in Prague

When you visit beautiful, romantic, mysterious Prague also called Praha, say goodbye to your diet because Czech cuisine is really heavy on meat and starches.  Thankfully, the D word doesn't exist in my vocabulary so for five days we happily feasted on their local cuisine. Seafood tend to be limited also because Czech Republic is land locked so it,s nowhere near a body of water , so get ready to fan the carnivore in you when get to Praha .haha..

But before I forget, Czech beer is world famous too and they invented the Pils beer so if you're a beer drinker then you'll surely enjoy Prague. 

Our first meal was in Kolkovna at the Old Town Square. I love Old Town Square!!!  It's one of the most beautiful squares in Europe, the most historical in Prague and given the volume of tourists , it is the heart of Prague. Anyone who has been to Prague simply loves Old Town Square. 

at night..

The Prague Post described Kolkovna as the "the best Czech and Slovak restaurant" and "best pub" for 2004. It got good reviews in Lonely Planet as well and the in flight magazine of Czech Airlines cited it too, for traditional Czech cooking that will make grandma proud... Good thing  we didn't have a hard time looking for it. 

Their menu is just right, not confusingly extensive and it did offer traditional Czech cuisine, mostly beef, lamb, venison, roast pork and chicken.  They have goulash also since they were influenced by the Hungarians. 

I ordered  the beef goulash with potato pancakes and bread dumplings while Marco had the braised lamb with spinach and potato dumplings. Wow! They were serious when they said its hearty and heavy.

The goulash was delicious ( topmost image). The chunks of beef in the rich, reddish  brown sauce were tender with the right amount of the marbled fat peeking outside. This version is different from the Hungarian goulash, both are equally good , this version used more sauce and is thicker in consistency. In other words, perfect for 2 or 3 cups of rice hahaha..They served it with potato pancakes similar to hash browns, golden and crispy and bread dumplings. That really did it for me. The bread dumplings are solid slices of bread, so compact they look like they've been put on steroids. But the dish was so good I didn't have a hard time finishing it. 

The braised lamb with spinach and potato dumplings bottom image is equally good as well. The lamb was tender and simmered well with the right spices. Until now, I distinctly remember tasting rosemary and garlic. 

The spinach was creamy and provided the right amount of veggies with all the meaty goodness around. The potato dumplings were ok too, it was the healthier version of my potato pancakes. 

Pilsner Urquell!!!

Both dishes are perfect with Pilsner Urquell, the world famous Czech beer! And Kolkovna serves it fresh so more brownie points for this establishment. Being a wine drinker, I didn't guzzle up but Marco sure did enjoy. 

To say it was a good meal is an understatement coz we really , really enjoyed the dishes in Kolkovna. It was the perfect choice and it wasn't a surprise they got that award in 2004. 

For dessert , we tried Cafe Ebel, again Lonely Planet mentioned it as quaint cafe serving really good coffee and pastries in Prague ...

a cozy cafe to hang out..

We were so full but we really wanted to try the coffee and dessert. I got this fruit and nut pastry which was really good. The crust itself is good , not too sweet , to balance the topping of caramel , sliced almonds, macadamia and one blueberry. I miss Cafe Ebel already! 

More food finds in the days that followed. This is Half & Half, a self service Czech diner at Wenceslas Square.

The food here was really good too. In fact, we ate here twice or thrice i think..

I tried their chicken schnitzel with roasted potatoes and salad. Good!!! It was perfect with the tartar sauce.

And their goulash soup.. yummy too!

Marco tried the roast chicken ... yummy as well

Their pizza is good too and the Greek salad.

We enjoyed all these treats in Half & Half while watching live the Europe Cup. Good food plus live football in Prague..sigh : )

checking out a local bakery cafe .. yummy pastries

even the ice cream was good........

Even our hotel served us a good buffet breakfast everyday.  Hotel Chopin Prague is the best place to stay since it's across Hlavni Nadrazi , I highly recommend it to those interested in visiting Prague.

There are other gems discovered that we forgot to take pictures of like the sandwich bar at the train station (Nadrazi) that sells good chicken barbecue chunks on a baguette. It was perfect with their local potato chips. Yum!!  I heart Praha. We sure do. Those five days were well spent not only exploring this beautiful city but savoring the mouthwatering delights Prague has to offer to the curious and definitely hungry travellers like us.

Note: You can check Kolkovna's website at www.kolkovna.cz