We visited Prague for New Years Eve 2017/2018 and stayed for four nights between the 28th December and the 2nd January. Staying slightly out of the centre in the Zizkov area, we got to sample some of the local cuisine and loved it. If visiting Prague, I’d highly recommend staying slightly out of the centre in the Prague 2 or 3 areas; specifically in Zizkov or Vinohrady. These areas are outwith the main touristy areas of Prague 1 but are still only a couple of metro stops away from the centre. In doing this, you definitely get the best of both worlds. Food was more authentic, cheaper and drink was incredibly cheap- we even saw a happy hour beer price of just 30p. In the centre, it is still cheaper than most European capitals, but with thousands of tourists about it felt as if the restaurants were not as bothered about the quality of the food. We found the restaurants we visited outwith Prague 1 were much better.

Prague itself was beautiful. Buildings were like something out of a Disney fairytale and it was full of winding alleyways, picturesque viewpoints and cobbled streets. The public transport system is excellent and we used the metro three or four times a day which was super speedy and cheap. We also used Uber a lot. We stayed in an AirBnB right outside the Zizkov television tower and liked the flexibility this gave us- they even left us beer, wine and food in the apartment which sorted us out for breakfasts and snacks during our stay. If you have any questions about our stay or want any recommendations, please get in touch! Scroll down to the end of this article for some of my top tips.

WHAT WE ATE

Day 1:

We arrived late in the afternoon after a 2 hour snowy delay from Glasgow. We ventured out and went into a few bars- one of which only sold beer and had no English speakers- before visiting Mlsnej Kocour in Vinohrady, right outside the metro station Namesti Miru. The restaurant was busy, had a great atmosphere and the food coming out of the kitchen looked really tempting

I decided to go for something I hadn’t tried before, rabbit. It was slow cooked loin of rabbit, wrapped in bacon with spinach and dumplings. The rabbit was really soft and the accompaniments were really good; it was incredibly moreish with layers of flavour and an authentic taste. The portions of all the dishes we saw, and ate, were huge and delicious looking. We also ordered the schnitzel platter, a mountain of pork and chicken schnitzels served with buttery new potatoes- really tasty and huge! The meal started off our Prague food adventure well…this was helped by the fact the two meals with plenty of wine and beer came to less than £30!

Day 2:

We ventured into Prague 1 and left the metro at Wenceslas Square, one of two main squares in the centre of Prague. It was really touristy, with hundreds of people going around and we felt it was a bit commercialised and not the real Prague- it was full of high street stores, McDonald’s and other chains. We went to the Christmas market for a look around and got some pork off the spit served with cabbage, potatoes and bacon. It was really tasty but a massive rip off- turned out the prices offered were per kg and so it ended up being one of the most expensive things we ate in Prague!

After exploring, we went back to our Airbnb before venturing out in the Zizkov area for something to eat. After a couple bars- one of which was so secretive we had to ring a bell before someone came and unlocked the door to a tiny basement bar- we decided to get a pizza at Einstein Pizzeria. It was really good, having watched the pizza being made in the in-house pizza ovens. The restaurant was also busy and had a fun atmosphere. Also, it was super cheap- we had wine, beer, chips and a large pizza to share for under a tenner!

Day 3: (NYE)

During the day we did some more exploring and ended up at The Craft: Food & Beers, as the name suggests, a craft beer bar. We sampled the beer selection (although I don’t like beer…) and then also had the oh my goat! goats cheese burger and chicken caeser salad. Although not authentic at all, it was really tasty!

At night, we booked into Klub Lavka for the night which included a meal, live singer and DJ in an amazing venue right on the river overlooking Charles Bridge. The venue had a function room, bar area, outdoor terrace and a club downstairs. To eat we had a beetroot tartar, goats cheese cream, mushroom pastries with blue cheese sauce, lamb cutlets with bacon, potatoes and lamb sauce and for dessert (no photo) a mango frozen mousse with lime jelly. The food was okay, but not the best, we had an amazing night though and have never heard or seen so many fireworks before, the view was even better on the terrace, looking over the castle. There were hundreds of people lining the famous Charles bridge and the atmosphere almost rivalled New York at NYE which we did in 2014.

Day 4:

On New Years Day, we ate in Prague 1 again, this time in the Old Town Square. Old Town Square is extremely picturesque with grand buildings and a fairytale feel. We ate at U Prince. It was pretty good, but not as good (or as cheap) as the food we had outside of the centre. We ordered a carbonara (again very unauthentic…) and a pork knuckle with coleslaw and mustard. The service was also really poor here unfortunately. The best thing about this venue was the location- an outdoor heated terrace with views over Old Town Square where we could watch the famous astronomical clock and watch the New Years Day fireworks display.

Day 5:

On our last day, we wanted to go back to the first restaurant we visited, Mlsnej Kocour for lunch. However, the lunch menu wasn’t as long as the usual menu and we really wanted to try some more authentic Prague food before leaving. We decided to go to U Bulinu instead, just around the corner, and made the right decision. This was my favourite meal on our visit and the service was also really great- the staff even used gloves to place down the cutlery although it definitely was not a pretentious place- it was very authentic with a friendly atmosphere. We watched as Prague workmen came in for their lunch and quickly gathered this was a local hotspot after viewing other people’s dishes arriving and hoping ours looked as good. We had beef tartare, goats cheese quiche, wild boar with dumplings and a slow cooked beef in red wine. The beef tartare was soft, with a taste of truffle throughout and it inspired me to try my own version soon. The goats cheese quiche was more of a puff pastry filled with cheese but tasted really good. Both mains were really authentic, huge portions. The meat was extremely tender in both and sauces were rich and flavoursome. I particularly enjoyed the dumplings too, even though I had no idea how someone could finish four of them. Overall, U Bulini was my favourite due to the authenticity, service and tasty food. Again, it was very reasonably priced. Lastly, it left us with a positive feel of the Prague food scene.

TIPS:

Stay out of the centre or at least venture out for better food
Try one of the chimney cakes; we had ours at the christmas markets but there are stalls and shops selling them everywhere
They also sell potato spirals on sticks everywhere which were a great snack
One of the things we ate but didn’t photograph was a fried cheese sandwich out of a hole in the wall just beside the castle- I wish i did take a photo as it was delicious- think a McChicken Sandwich but with a breaded fried cheese slab instead of the chicken.. amazing.
Visit the Cloud9 Sky bar at the Hilton hotel for amazing views over the city and a more upmarket feel- we are glad we visited but it couldn’t have been further from authentic Prague.
£1 is roughly 30 Czech Koruna
You can easily find places selling beer and wine between £1-£2
Zizkov, where we stayed is said to have more bars per square meter than anywhere in Europe
Try authentic dishes
Stay away from restaurants that have signs saying ‘authentic Prague food’ and a menu only in English- try find the places the locals eat for the best food