Craving vegan junk food or fried cheese? Desperate for some dainty small plates or hearty classics? You’ll find it all and a whole lot more in the Czech Republic’s historic and cuisine-crammed capital. Here’s our pick of the best spots.
Lehká Hlava
Step into the surreal world of Lehká Hlava
Meaning ‘Clear Head’, this fun, eccentric-chic vegetarian-vegan specialist close to the Charles Bridge has some strong astral-fairytale vibes going on but, hey, it works. Service is super-friendly and the kitchen does the kind of plant-powered plates you wish you could get in your own ’hood, from stacked veggie burgers to the clever ‘tofuie gras’ – a smoked tofu pâté made with barley miso and cashew nuts served with crushed cranberries and bread. Yum.
Boršov 280/2
lehkahlava.cz
Field
Eel, caviar, cauliflower and mushroom at Field / Image: Field restaurant
Book well ahead for this cool, Michelin-starred scene-stealer close to the Spanish Synagogue in the city’s Jewish Quarter. If not, it’s likely that the tables will still be fully booked at least a couple of weeks in advance as the city just can’t get enough of his foraged-for, Noma-influenced dishes, such as the genuinely stunning pikeperch with kohlrabi and horseradish. Do the tasting menu for the full experience: smiles guaranteed.
U Milosrdných 12
fieldrestaurant.cz
Manifesto Market
Try the latest food trends at Manifesto Market / Image: Vaclav Miskovsky, Manifesto
Sure, trendy food halls have sprung up all over Europe but, even so, this chic, Dezeen-pleasing, Chybik + Kristof-designed space in Prague’s historic Smichov district is one of the city’s essential summer hangs with its outdoor tables and roster of on-trend food concepts that do everything from steaming sourdough pizza to prettied-up poké bowls. Or just a cold beer and a toe in the paddle pool works, too.
Náměstí 14. října 82/16
manifestomarket.com
Výčep
If itty-bitty, swanky tweezer food isn’t your thing and you want a proper, honest, gastropub feed, Výčep’s glorious menu of updated Czech comfort food does creativity and heft. Based in the city’s Vinohrady district, the space comes care of local designers Mar.s architects, who have created the best-looking pub in town with ace local beer on tap and dishes like the absurdly good halušky s brynzou (Slovak mac ‘n’ cheese) to lift mind and soul.
Korunní 1304/92
vycepkorunni.cz
Autentista
Minimal industrial chic at Autentista / Image: BoysPlayNice Photography
The latest opening from Prague wine mover-shakers Bogdan Trojak and Antonín Suchánek (who run Praha Pije Víno wine festival). It sees local design studio Formafatal reboot a 14th-century vaulted-ceiling space into a cool, minimal-chic temple of natural and low-intervention wine from across Europe served over stepped-up small plates of pâté, fermented vegetables or the doubly satisfying pork-cabbage-chive soup dumplings.
Řetězová 10
autentista.cz
Kro Kitchen
Satisfyingly hearty meat dishes at Kro Kitchen
Based in the Vinohrady neighbourhood, this relative newcomer opened in 2019 and was an instant hit with the city’s food-obsessed thanks to its simple but seriously satisfying menu of rotisserie chicken and pork knuckle dishes. Just about everything feels like winning here, but the quarter chicken with chestnut stuffing and pumpernickel sauce or the sourdough reuben sandwich, with pulled knuckle and kimchi, are the failsafe orders. Come hungry.
Vinohradská 66
krokitchen.cz
Bockem
Enhance your breakfast experience with the krupicová kaše (semolina porridge) / Image: Vojtech Tesarek / Bockem
All warm, woody browns and bare concrete greys, this has to be one of the most beautiful dining rooms in Prague. At the pass, chef-owner Ondrej Kyncl prepares precisely rendered plates of equal care and aesthetic wonder with a set Czech breakfast menu that finishes with krupicová kaše (semolina porridge with cinnamon sugar: divine) or the seven-course dinner experience that pays clever, heartwarming homage to the seasons. Book ahead.
Elišky Peškové 1095/5
bockem.cz
Na Slamníku
Based in the Bubeneč district, this old-school pub has been pouring beer since the 17th century but, even so, thanks to a recent refit, its cute, retro drinking rooms are by no means fusty. Na Slamníku is a nice, vibey space in which to sip pilsner with a local crowd that comes for the no-fuss, nothing-fancy Czech pub grub, like the classic vepřo knedlo zelo (roast pork with dumplings and pickled cabbage). A shady beer garden ups the allure in summer.
Wolkerova 12
na-slamniku.cz
Portfolio
A memorably decadent set menu at Portfolio
For the high end, unsparingly fancy, don’t-spare-the-bubbly dining experience, Czech chef Tomáš Císařovský and his team do their fine-dining thing in a small but attractive room in the historic Lann Palace opposite Masarykovo Nádraží. Using local ingredients, the Moravian and Bohemian-inspired evening menu is a slow procession of cleverly calibrated wonder. Not cheap, obviously, but the set lunch is the decent-value alternative to dinner.
Lannův palác, Havlíčkova 1030/1
portfolio-restaurant.cz
Bufet
Fried cheese with skin-on fries? Hell yes! / Image: Vojtěch Tesárek
These guys call what they do ‘fast food’ but that massively undersells the offer at this very cool spot in hip ’hood Karlin right next to the Two Roosters Brewery. On the menu are elevated, gloriously calorific, diet-be-damned reboots of old Czech standards like the ace smažák (fried cheese) with skin-on fries or the just straightforwardly brilliant fried-chicken burger with chunky pickles, gooey-garlicky mayo and celery salt. So, so good.
U Nádražní lávky 81/2
bufetkarlin.cz