This Prague food guide includes my favourite places to eat in Prague avoiding all the tourist traps.
As Prague is one of Europe’s most visited cities each year, you can imagine how many touristy restaurants you can find in each corner of the city center. During my last trip, I spent 4 days in Prague. It was my first time in the Czech Republic but as I’m a big foodie myself, I’ve done my research beforehand and made sure that I experienced Prague through its food without falling in any tourist traps.
TRADITIONAL CZECH FOOD
Experiencing a country through its cuisine is one of the best ways to learn more about a culture, connect with the past and the future and enjoy the unique flavours of their kitchen. One of the reasons why I love to travel is getting to try new foods, and explore new flavours. The food tells you a lot about the culture and the people. And in my opinion, this is the best way to dive deep into a new country.
Czech cuisine is meat-heavy and does not incorporate a lot of vegetables in its dishes. You can certainly see how the cuisine is influenced by the surrounding countries, and there are so many delicacies to enjoy during your visit to Prague.
RESTAURACE U PROVAZNICE
U Provaznice is a classic Czech beer restaurant or pub that serves traditional Czech food with really cool decor. The restaurant looks as if it was haunted. There is a story behind this restaurant, but I don’t know how true that story is. It has been said that a rope-maker owned this restaurant. He bought the restaurant for his wife and was often away for work. The wife got tired of the fact that her husband was always away, so she had an affair. The husband who is also the owner of the restaurant found out, so he got one of his ropes to strangle her. You might be able to connect the story when visiting the restaurant if you look at the very unique drawings on the walls.
This restaurant offers a good menu of traditional Czech dishes, for reasonable prices.
A good option is ordering the Old Prague Plate for 2 if you like meat. This plate is perfect for 2-3 people sharing, it comes with Czech potato and bread dumplings. Costs 399 CZK
For vegetarians, there are great soups on the menu. I personally really liked their creamy potato soups, and the fried potato pancakes with garlic are a must-try. The Czech name is Bramborak and they cost 55 CZK
REPRE RESTAURANT
Repre Restaurant is a 1950’s-1960’s style restaurant with old furniture and delicious traditional food. It’s located in a basement, but very easy to find. Friendly staff, cheap food, and lovely atmosphere.
I really enjoyed their Czech beers, Smazeny Ser which is a traditional breaded fried cheese that I’ve had in a few different places in Prague (served with mayo dip and potatoes). It costs 139 CZK at Repre.
I also really enjoyed a traditional creamy potato soup that was served with crispy croutons and a basket of bread on the side. I think that the soup cost around 40 CZK.
DHABA BEAS
This humble buffet-style eatery is probably my favourite place to eat in Prague! I ate at Dhaba Beas twice during my visit, and it’s actually one of the reasons why I’d love to visit Prague again.
Dhaba Beas eatery offers vegetarian and eggless dishes with an Asian spin, and I think that most of the spices and ingredients used are Indian. You’ll find everything from samosa and chana masala and tofu curries, to refreshing salads, pudding, and even kombucha!
Tip: As the eatery closes at 8pm, go at 7pm to grab a bargain and get 40% discount on all food!
100 grams of food cost 22.90 CZK
There are many branches scattered all over the city. The one that I went to is Dhaba Tynsaka in Prague 1 (old town), there’s an outdoor seating area in the yard.
JIDELNA SVETOZOR
Another personal favourite is a canteen called Jidelna Svetozor hidden in the Kino Svetozor passage.
It may not be easy to find as it’s hidden in the arcade, but when you enter the passage you will see a staircase on the left that will take you downstairs to the canteen. This canteen reminded me of the Soviet Union times for some reason. They have a menu in English and in Russian, and pretty much lack any kind of veggies. However, they serve really good traditional value Czech food.
When I visited I asked if I can have a vegetarian option, so they gave me lentil stew with boiled potatoes and gherkins. I paid around 100-120 CZK for the meal and the cup of cold soup/juice.
The staff doesn’t speak English, but as they offer menus in different languages you can just point to the item and they will give it to you. The canteen is open daily from 9AM to 3PM.
OVOCNY SVETOZOR
In the same arcade, there’s an old traditional cafe that sells Czech open-faced sandwiches (Chlebicek in Czech) and desserts.
The open-faced sandwiches range between 29 CZK and 39 CZK per pieces, I personally haven’t tried them at this cafe but I definitely will next time I visit. However, I went twice to have dessert and both times were very delicious!
For dessert, I went for something traditional and I think that this pastry/cake is called Veneczech. It’s filled with custard and cream, and I would recommend it if you would like to try something traditional.
The second time I went, I saw a Russian honey cake and decided to get a slice. It was quite sweet but delicious.
There’s also a seating area available within the cafe, which makes it a great stop for some coffee and dessert for you to relax and enjoy Czech flavours and atmosphere.
PEDRO THE CANDY SHOP
As you walk around Prague, you’ll see “Captain candy” store everywhere. Make sure that you stay away from Captain candy if you don’t want to get scammed. These guys are selling candy for crazy prices, and the candy doesn’t even taste good.
Luckily, there’s a great alternative. In the same arcade that I talked about above, you will find “Pedro”, a candy shop with reasonable prices and their candy actually tastes good!
And I’m not even exaggerating, but Pedro is literally TEN times cheaper than Captain candy! So if you want to buy candy, you know where to go!
CREME DE LA CREME FOR ICE CREAM
For the best ice cream in Prague definitely, go to Creme de la creme. They serve delicious Italian gelato, and you WILL want to go there especially if you’re visiting in the summer. They serve ice creams and sorbets (with vegan options available), and there is a seating area available inside. There might be a long queue though, but trust me, it’s totally worth it!
There’s another great ice cream shop that does soft-serve ice cream located in the movie theatre arcade that I mentioned above, and another recommended ice cream shop is called Angelato. I didn’t get the chance to visit Angelato but I’ve seen many people recommending it.
Oh, and you will see trdelnik pastry being sold everywhere as if it’s a traditional dessert. Surprise! It’s not traditional, it’s expensive and it doesn’t even taste good in Prague so don’t bother.