Assaggio Vineria: For the Love of Tuscany

Assaggio is specializing in Tuscany cuisine. They of course utilize the Czech ingredients too, so if they get hold of great local mushrooms in Autumn they serve wonderful funghi dishes. 

You can also enjoy a good bread they offer and have a crostini with black cabbage, burrata and with a toasted almond or two… Or the tasty panna cotta with a raspberry? Or please just a glass of wine, maybe a wonderful organic one? Your choice. Simplicity is the key and it is good news that we can have this pleasant, authentic place smack dab in the middle of Vinohrady.

Name: Assaggio 

Address: Budečská 40, Praha 2 

Website: https://www.facebook.com/assaggiovineria

Café Re:public: An Industrial Romance

Petřín is the romantic hill above Prague where lovers go to spend lush evenings, or mothers stroll with their new babies. Also, there is a big lookout tower right at the top (resembling the much bigger Eiffel Tower), a famous labyrinth, and, since recently, a nice looking café.

The rebuilt charm

Enough of history, let’s go inside. This former substation (a thing that deals with electricity and such) has been rebuilt in a very stylish way and became a café with an industrial charm that nods to its surrounding in several ways (its staircases are a design answer to the said tower, for instance).  

Apart from the inevitable coffee they proudly serve light, fresh dishes from local ingredients. You can have a sandwich (on homemade bread!), a wrap or a dessert, all top quality and with a marvellous view of Prague. The approach of the idea of the café is very contemporary, students are invited to use this place to study and generally everyone is welcome in this pretty place. We are fans.

Name: Café Re:public

Address: Petřínské sady 633,  Praha 1

Website: https://www.caferepublic.cz

Marthy’s Kitchen: A Cozy Breakfast and More

Breakfasts and brunches have become a big thing in Prague. You go with your lover, you go with your coworkers, you go with a client. The breakfast is important for your health, and in the right setting it can become also an enormous pleasure.

Small but pretty

The original Marthy’s Kitchen is a cozy bistro just off Náměstí Míru, and there is another at the riverbank (Smetanovo nábřeží) if you love looking at the water. 

The idea is to serve French-inspired breakfast food and also lunches, so you can sample their waffles or crépes in the morning, and a lunch later on… or come much later and have tapas and good wine. 

They serve their own pastries and try to make you feel as good as possible. We like their concept overall but the breakfast concept is our favourite! 

Name: Marthy’s Kitchen

Address: Francouzská 13, Praha 2

Also: Masarykovo nábřeží 6, Praha 1Website: https://marthyskitchen.cz

News for the Bellevue

As we reported earlier bellevue is one of Prague’s top luxury restaurants. Their style was always about a kind of luxury that is elegant, nice and solid.

A culinary star

It has been in business for the impressive 22 years. You might have heard (or even seen) it is closing… but worry. Not. They are going to reopen mere 50 metres away. So you swim, sorry, walk a bit and in a few days – on February 3 to be precise – you can see a new, fresh, but still elegant and adult Bellevue. The new place will be located at Karolíny Světlé 34 and they have a new chef: Nicolas Decherchi, who is a culinary star: He – very quickly – got two Michelin stars for the Paloma restaurant in the town of Mougins at the French riviera and also worked in Průhopnice near Prague, so he knows what the Prague gourmets like. Bellevue is still part of the renowned Zátiší Group that now comprises three spots. The Bellevue, V Zátiší and Mlýnec. We like them all…

Name: Bellevue

Address: Smetana Hotel, Karolíny Světlé 34, Praha 1

E-mail: bellevue@zatisigroup.cz

Website: http://www.bellevuerestaurant.cz

Takumi: Ramen Time Baby

Ramen is a small miracle of the Japanese cuisine: A hearty, satisfying, rich soup full of noodles, meat, herbs, and other more or less exotic ingredients, topped with an inviting egg. You need to have the right noodles and a very strong stock to enjoy the slurp-y, lovely goodness, and we are happy to report that yet another pretty spot has appeared on the ramen map of Prague.

Just take the tram

Takumi is near to everything: A few tram stops from the main railway station or Wenceslas Square, at the prosaic but useful Senovážnné square there is the newest addition to the Prague ramen scene. If you are new to ramen please do not feel overwhelmed and ask, or just choose what feels good. A richer. Meatier version, or perhaps something with pea snaps and more on the light side? A lot of the ultra-healthy miso and seaweed, or rather a piece of pork? The choice is yours, and you will be tempted to try other options soon!

Name: Takumi

Address: Senovážné náměstí 6, Praha 1 

Website: https://www.facebook.com/Takumi.Praha/

The Nest Café & Kitchen: Celebrate Asia in the centre of Prague

Ah, Asian food. Fresh and full of flavors, with satisfying sauces and heavenly herbs. Served in pretty pottery and eaten with chopsticks. The Nest is run by a couple that loves this type of dining and Prague food lovers seem happy to discover what they have to offer.

Coffee, or pho?

The Nest is a place as good for breakfast (coffee, fresh pastries) as for lunch or a light casual dinner (the typical Vietnamese dishes such as the Bun Bo Nam Bo or Pho Bo, or a meat toast which is as inviting as you think, or the popular buddha bowl that is on their lunch menu). There is never enough of these places and Prague slowly but surely becomes a city that is super rich in Asian (fusion) restaurants. Good for everyone! 

Name: The Nest

Address: Myslíkova 28, Praha 2 

Website: https://thenestprague.cz

YOLO Karlín: If you only live once, why eat badly?

YOLO stands for “you only live once” and this youthful slogan is the epitome of hedonism. At the YOLO Karlín though, they approach this  in a more thoughtful way: they serve good, healthy breakfasts and lunches for the growing community of office workers and creatives in the karlín district who want to eat good.

Old School Baby

Classic Czech dishes such as “koprovka” are stars of this show but the kind people behind YOLO come up with new and less usual dishes too. The rules are proper food, no unnecessary chemical additives, no “empty” dishes ie food of poor nutritional value. Your lunch does not have to be a rushed event where you inhale some fried stuff and run back: after all, you do not live twice, do you?

Name: YOLO Karlín

Address: Pernerova 42, Praha 8 

Website: https://www.instagram.com/yolo.karlin/

Výtopna: (Pub) life’s a game

The Czechs are famous for being playful and inventive. We also love trains, and model railways, well up to the age of…101?

The grand idea of having a pub where you are not served by a person, but rather a mini train brings your order, seems like something you’d make up after a beet pd 5. But, the Czechs have made this funny idea a reality, and Výtopna, named of a part of the train is now actually a successful concept that offers also a possibility for franchising.

1200 metres of tracks to get you a beer

The original Výtopna can be found right in the middle of Wenceslas Square, it the main square of Prague. The biggest one, though, is in Palladium, the big department store (Náměstí Republiky 1, Praha 1) where you are “waiting” at the platform for the legendary Swiss Bernina train to bring your order. There is 1200 metres of tracks in here, and if this does not convince you to visit, nothing will.

Name: Výtopna

Address: Václavské náměstí 56, Praha 1

E-mail: praha.vaclavak@vytopna.cz

 Website: https://vytopna.cz

Červený jelen: Yes It Is That Big

This place – a gastropub if you want – is all about being big, and bigger. It has three floors, it has huge tanks for beer stacked on top of each other, and it hosts a huge amount of people, around 700 we have heard.

The Talk of The Town

The Red Stag is a huge place with a style that is about beer, proper meaty dishes, and fun (that can get pretty loud we guess – and this used to be a bank!). They have the iconic Plzeňský Prazdroj (Pilsner Urquell) on tap, and each floor has its own tap – of course. 

The restaurant utilizes a grill and serves simple dishes made of local ingredients – some of the recipes are Czech, some more international. A good steak, a great rotisserie chicken, a rustic potato soup, and of course a cold glass of Czech Republic’s most famous beer. Visit this place at least once if you want to experience a pub that is not afraid to go big.

Name: Červený jelen

Address: Hybernská 5, Praha 1 

E-mail: cervenyjelen@cervenyjelen.cz

Website: https://cervenyjelen.cz

Chleba & Máslo: Basic is Great

Basic food, and great ingredients for simple dishes. That has been a big trend in the past few years, and what’s a better place to use this philosophy than a bakery.

Bread, butter and more

Chleba & Máslo means “Bread & butter” and this very small bakery of course has great bread – some argue it is the best in town right now. Whereas bread is what gave this much-loved place its name, sweet pastries is where it’s at for many others: a great cup of coffee, and a wonderfully smelling, absolutely fresh, maybe still hot sweet piece it you are lucky, and you are lured. This pretty place with a stylish, rustic yet elegant interior on the corner in the hip Prague 7 will be calling you back shortly.

Pro tip: Visit the café nearby, The Farm, if you like their style and want to sid down with a hot cup, as the Chleba & Máslo’s creations are available there, too. Find them at Korunovační 17, Praha 7.

Name: Chleba & Máslo

Address: Jana Zajíce 16, Praha 7