Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Prague - Beer and Bread

Here we go. Back in February, I took my first trip to mainland Europe. So were do we decide to go? Minus 20 degrees worth of Prague. We saw a castle, a clock, a giant square, a church made of bones, and the largest stadium I have ever seen. But the highlight for me was our culinary experience. Deep in the heart of communism, well former communism, they do 2 things very well. Beer and Bread. I swear, every single thing we ordered came with bread dumplings. Eggs, steak, pork, chicken, everything with a side of bread dumplings. I even ordered a starter of bread dumplings, and it came with a side of bread dumplings. These people are crazy for carbs. I guess the main reason is to be able to drink more beer, and that I am all for. I really don't know how Czech people are skinny. Communism?

I really wish I had internet back when we went so that I could write this post a lot earlier, but I will do my best with remembering what we had to eat. This one will be heavier on the pictures, and lighter on the descriptions.  The best restaurant that we tried was called Cafe Savoy. It is a french/czech place that was recommended to us by our friend Laura. The food was amazeballs. I had Schnitzel, and Laura (my wife) had Steak Tartare. We had a sommelier who I will just say was rather flamboyant, but did an amazing job. He actually tasted the wine he opened for us, realized it was off, and brought us a new bottle. A great experience overall, and if we had this dinner in London, it would be 2 to 3 times the price.

Cafe Savoy - Steak Tartare
Cafe Savoy - Schnitzel(or however you spell it)


















One thing that really sucks about Prague is that you can still smoke in a lot of bars and restaurants in the city. When you travel with 2 people with asthma, it really makes the experience not enjoyable for everyone (Landon and Laura did very well though). One awesome thing about smoking in restaurants is that some places make you feel like you are in the 1950's sitting next to the rat pack (for all the old timers reading this thing). Beware of this if you decide to travel to Prague.

Fish wrapped in Bacon


Pork and beef Kebab with bread dumplings somewhere
Next up for us was a day trip to Kutna Hora. This place was creepy and smelled of communism. It was actually a really cool town even though it was freezing. It is the home of the Bone Church. Exactly what it sounds like. Seriously, google it. It also has a beautiful cathedral that was almost the replica of the cathedral in the Prague Castle. We were recommended this side trip by our friend Brendan and Becca, and we were not disappointed. I did do my research though. Dačický beerhall. Awesome old pub in the middle of the town. When you go, there is one thing to order. The pork Knuckle (as follows). This was probably the best pork roast I have ever had, and it is even served on a spit. Amazing. I made the mistake of ordering a traditional Czech dish, svickova na smetane (Also as follows). It is beef sirloin in cream sauce, and by cream sauce, I mean cream sauce with whipped cream on top. Weird, I know, but rather tasty. The only reason why it was a mistake was because the knuckle was so good. I am getting excited thinking about it right now.

Pig Knuckle
Beef Sirloin in cream sauce

That brings me to the beer. Czech Pilsner is one of the greatest inventions of all time. 3rd only to my mom's lasagna and chicken n' waffles. Maybe not that awesome, but I enjoyed many many of them whilst in Prague. Krusovice, Pilsner Urquell, St. Norbert (which we visited and loved very much, also their garlic onion soup) and real Budweiser Budvar are all great. My favourite by far is staropramen. It is very available in London at a lot of pubs, but for some reason, just doesn't taste quite that same as a fresh pint in a smoky, Praha tavern.

St. Norbert Microbrew
Glass speaks for this one

So I say, go to Prague, plan to walk around a lot to work off all the carbs you will ingest, and honestly, just try some random, smoky, dirty, communist looking place, order a pils and some bread dumplings and enjoy one great city. I will leave you with a few random food porn pics. Please leave your comments and happy eating.

Czech Pate
Garlic Onion Soup at St. Norbert
RIBS!!!!!!!!!