All about beer
If there is something we are best at, it is drinking beer. With almost 150 litres of beer per capita per year we are the unrivaled leaders. And how couldn’t we be? We are real beer experts and have had a proud brewing history since 993. Plus beer is even cheaper than water or soft drinks in pubs.
DRINK LOCAL BEER
Walking with a Heineken on the street is an instant social suicide. Pilsner will hardly harm your reputation, but lately we rather go for the small breweries. Never heard of Matuška or Moucha? That’s because we keep our best treasures secret.
DRINKING ETIQUETTE
- With beer or wine, always clink glasses before your first sip.
- When drinking beer, tap the table after clinking glasses.
- Always look directly in the eyes of a person you’re clinking with. ( or 7 years of bad sex
await you if you don’t)
After all, a common way of socializing is to go to a local pub (hospoda) to have one beer (“na jedno”). Needless to say, it never ends with just one. It is not unusual to drink several glasses during a night out. Beer is simply part of our culture and a natural part of most local social activities.
Tip 1: Expect to get served 0.5 litres of a beer when ordering one.
Tip 2: Don‘t pour beer from one glass to another. Spoiling the beverage that we treasure so much might attract many judgmental looks from any Czech in your surroundings.
- More information about places where you can have a good time with friends drinking beer: https://www.justapack.com/best-beer-in-prague/
Lunch tips
So that is beer, but what if you are hungry? Most traditional meals are meat-based, with thick, often creamy sauces served with carb-dense sides such as dumplings or potatoes. A typical Czech restaurant would serve a good selection of them, but you can also try many of these for affordable prices in the Dejvice campus canteens. Look for svíčková, znojemská, koprovka, rajská or vepřo-knedlo-zelo and moravský vrabec. You can also find places where they keep up with the trends and offer a lighter version of the traditional meals or even vegan ones!
We usually eat lunch between 11:00–14:00 when restaurants offer a cheaper daily menu on week-days.
This is a list of popular lunch spots of the Czech Middle Class:
- Na Urale (Uralská 9)
- U Houbaře (Dukelských hrdinů 30)
- Planeta Žižkov (Tachovské náměstí 1)
- U Parlamentu (Valentinská 8)
- *Natureza (Hellichova 14) - veg(eteri)an
- *Herbivore (Rašínovo nábřeží 34) - veg(eteri)an
- *Blatouch (Americká 17) - veg(eteri)an
- *Moment (Slezská 62) - veg(eteri)an
Which one places we ALSO can recommended:
- Dhaba Beas is a chain of vegetarian and vegan self-service restaurants based mainly on traditional Indian, Thai and Vietnamese cuisine.
- Cukrárna Alchymista (Alchymista). Confectionery and café with garden. Selected coffee from the family roastery, cakes from our own production, original drinks. Drinks cost from 2.5 to 5 euros. Cakes are about 5-6 euros per slice
- Crème de la crème. Ice-cream shops with a large selection of ice cream: from classic to sorbets, vegan and sugar-free ice cream. You can find one of the shops not so far from the university - Pod kaštany 236/2, 160 00 Praha 6-Dejvice.
- Knedlín. This is a place where you can taste traditional Czech cuisine. Knedlík - boiled dumplings inside can be sweet or salty filling. Where is this located - Národní 115/24, 110 00 Nové Město. One dumpling will cost from 2.7 to 3.5 euros.
Are you not up for a whole meal? Unsurprisingly, a nation that is famous for its beer has plenty of tasty pub snacks. Often called “něco k pivu” (something with beer) is a must-try.
Tip 1: Czech waiters are typically a bit gloomy and might not speak English. Please don’t take it personally and try to use that before-mentioned vocabulary.
Tip 2: It is common to tip waiters for their service (around 10–15 % of the total price), which is almost never included in the bill. Usually, you do not leave the money on the table but add it to the bill directly when paying.
Tip 3: Eating dumplings with a hand is a big no-no.
3rd WAVE OF COFFEE CULTURE
We have experienced 40 years of communism with the Czech- -style “Turkish coffee”, pouring boiling water over ground coffee, waiting for it to settle before drinking it and using our teeth to filter the dregs. For the 15 years after the revolution, the only right cup of coffee has been the bitter one from Italy. And then, finally, the 3rd wave coffee has flooded Prague. The wave of specialty coffee where many cafés even roast their own coffee beans or have them imported from Berlin or Scandinavia.
Warning! Hipster vibe all over the place.
- Osada (Osadní 35)
- Kafemat (Dejvická 3)
- Kavárna Nový Svět (Nový Svět 2)
- EMA espresso bar (Na Florenci 3)
- Republica Coffee (Martinská 4)
- Káva Růžová - espresso bar (Růžová 7)
- Café Lounge (Plaská 8)
- Kavárna, co hledá jméno (Stroupežnického 10)
- Kavárna Čekárna (Vratislavova 8)
- Tvoje máma (Holandská 52)