Food & drink in Czechia

Italian food is easy to find in tourist-oriented cities, especially Prague, probably because it’s inexpensive. But meals look expensive only in tourist areas of Prague, Brno or Plzeň, or resorts such as Karlovy Vary, and the high-end restaurants.

Eating is inexpensive almost anywhere in Czechia and, even in Prague, there are affordable options away from the city centre. Menus in English are becoming more common. Kebab-based meals are among the lowest-priced options anywhere in central Europe. Asian varieties – even Vietnamese cuisine – is not too hard to find.

Vegetarian & vegan food

Meatless meals are becoming increasingly common and a high proportion of restaurants in tourist destinations can accommodate vegetarians. Tofu menus and vegan bowls are growing at food bars and Prague has become a vegan-friendly city with exclusively vegan restaurants.

Encouragingly, mainstream restaurants are increasingly offering meatless options too.

For Prague vegan guides, visit www.veggievisa.com, www.elephantasticvegan.com or
www.veganfoodquest.com.

Bakeries

Bakeries are as popular in Czechia as anywhere in central Europe and the baking culture for traditional breads, cakes such as the trdelník (a spit or 'chimney' cake made from made from sweet yeast dough) and sweet pastries (such as the popular dessert variety koláč).

The most common word for bread is chléb (often chleba). The common loaf is a crispy-crusted, sourdough-based bread that has a dense but soft centre and is usually baked with rye and wheat flour into a round or oval shape. Crushed seeds might be added. A common word for sourdough is kvásek and šumava is one popular variety.

Among white roll varieties are the braided houska (often seeded), the crescent-shaped rohlík and a white breadstick similar to a baguette known as veka.

Other traditional products include poppy-seed (mák) pastries, sweet buns (buchty), strudle varieties and savoury breads.

In central Prague tourist areas, bread prices can be much higher than at local bakeries. Small, local or artisanal bakeries in non-tourist areas offer cheaper snacks. For self-catering, or picnics, baked goods bought in supermarkets can be much cheaper and the baking is still done on the site.

The national fast-food bakery brand Baguette Boulevard prepares rolls, sandwich-style baguettes, wraps and other snacks and has more than 60 outlets in shopping centres of Czech cities.

Czech national dishes

Typical for central European dishes, dumplings, creamy sauces and red meat are at the heart of Czech cuisine. Here's a selection to sample:

In the beef sirloin dish svíčková na smetaně, the sirloin is served in a blended root vegetable cream sauce, served with bread dumplings, cranberries and whipped cream.

The popular pub dish pečené vepřové koleno is a style of pork knuckle, usually roasted until the skin is crispy, served with mustard, horseradish sauce and bread.

Often called ‘fried cheese’ by expats, smažený sýr is breaded and deep-fried cheese served with tartare sauce, with potatoes or fries.

Vepřo knedlo zelo features roasted pork (often pork neck) served with tangy sauerkraut and fluffy dumplings.

Drinks

When it comes to bottled water (voda), visitors who search Czech supermarkets can find three times as much water as they can buy in Vienna convenience stores at the same price.

Czechs love coffee and, in tourist centres, words such as cafe, coffee, espresso and cappuccino are almost universal on signs and menus – even flat white appears in some places. Off the tourist trail, the words to look for are kavárna (cafe), káva (coffee) and kafe or kafičko (cup of coffee). Tea is usually known as čaj.

Czechs naturally claim the world’s best beer (pivo) and pilsener (from the German name for the city of Plzeň) is widely brewed under the brand names Urquell, Budweiser Budvar (from the name of the southern Bohemian city České Budějovice, the source of the name of the famous US brand known as Bud), Staropramen, Gambrinus, Krušovice, Radegast and Bernard. But these brands also brew other lagers.

Some beers can exceed 6.5% alcohol by content, but 4-5% levels are usual. Beers are often labelled according to the Plato ‘degree’ scale, which measures density and malt sugar content but is also a rough indicator of strength. A standard lager-strength 12^o beer approximates 5%.

The toast to good health is Na zdraví.

Less famous than the beers are Czech wines. Czechia produces both white and red wines, including variations of pinot gris, a muscat known as muškát moravský, rieslings and pinot noir.