Best breakfast in Prague (2014)

(Please note that this is an older post on breakfast in Prague. Click here for the most up-to-date post on the best breakfast in Prague.) 

OK, so we ate lots of breakfast this week. You see, there is no better way to start a day than a good, possibly opulent breakfast. Picture this: we are writing this post from the courtyard of an unnamed hotel in Prague, having breakfast. All around us we see foreign couples and families having breakfast in the sun, looking in their guides and planning the day. Breakfast is important but it is twice as important when you travel: a good breakfast set the tone for the entire day, if not your stay. We speak from experience: breakfast spots are one of the first things we look for when we research a city, and then plan our day over breakfast. 

Truth be told, the Prague breakfast scene is still in its beginnings and not all the breakfast served in Prague deserve an unconditional recommendation. But there are places we like to visit when we feel like a good breakfast. Here’s a list of our favorite breakfast spots in Prague, again in an entirely random order:

CAFÉ SAVOY

“Restraint” is not a word you would associate with breakfast at Café Savoy. The art deco interior is nice but not overwhelming and there's lots of light inside, which is something we like. This is a great place for people watching: the crowd is a mix of elegantly dressed locals and visitors from abroad. You can have a look at the pastry shop/bakery where they prepare their delicious pastries downstairs. Book a table in advance (especially for weekend mornings) and have the French toast if you feel like sinning, one of the best croissants in the city with wonderful apricot marmalade, baked brioche bread with ham and Gruyere cheese and a poached egg, or scrambled eggs - all delicious! Jan swears by the "Savoy breakfast”: some breads, ham, cheese, soft-boiled egg, bundt cake and great (and not sweet) hot chocolate - all for very reasonable CZK 200. We are not huge fans of their coffee: they take coffee from Doubleshot roasters but their baristas are super busy and don’t have the time to pamper the beans, but we hope this will improve over time.

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CAFÉ LOUNGE

If coffee is an important part of your breakfast, then Café Lounge, just a few steps off Café Savoy, might tickle your fancy. As for breakfast, you can choose from several items that include sausages, scrambled eggs, ham-and-eggs, Bircher muesli, or you can build your own “Hunger Wall” (which actually runs through the patio of the café), i.e. you can create your own breakfast set. If you prefer a sweet breakfast, we recommend you opt for the Czech sweets - sweet buns or kolachees. We think they are superior to the pastries in the cooler. Fresh juices and a wide selection of teas are also available for the non-coffee drinkers. If the weather cooperates, definitely choose a table in their lovely courtyard in the back.

HOME KITCHEN

The “original” Home Kitchen is a small and intimate place that really feels like home: you sit at two communal tables, and the staff is friendly and helpful. The selection for breakfast is small but tasty and of high quality. Apart from eggs, you can also get pancakes and good bread with several toppings, or choose from a daily selection of three soups served with bread and flavored olive oil. The “new” Home Kitchen was recently previewed on this blog here. The new venue is much larger but the menu remains nearly the same. Great egg dishes and sweet breakfasts, too, with lighter meals and salads throughout the rest of the day. Both venues open really early (7:30 on weekdays and 8:00 on weekends) and the original one closes on Sundays. The only downside is that tap water is not served with your meal, but we still like Home Kitchen a lot.

MUJ SALEK KÁVY

Muj salek kavy is the flagship cafe of the Doubleshot roasters and it shows: espressos, cappuccinos, flat whites, drips, vacuum pots, cold brews - they have them all and they’re all good. Muj salek kavy is also a very popular place located in the Karlín district, now in the midst of a gentrification process after the 2002 floods, and is almost always packed, so reserving a table is a must especially for weekend breakfasts. And they are expanding: their barista centre just next door will open to the public in September and their new bakery creates good cakes and breads, including gluten-free options, which is still rare here in Prague. We both have favorites on their recently changed breakfast menu: while Zuzi likes their home-made muesli with Greek yoghurt and fruits, Jan always orders their version of eggs Benedict. We love their home-made lemonades, and we never leave without tasting one of their cakes. And we absolutely adore their non-smoking outdoor seating area in the summer. 

PASTA CAFFÉ

Pasta Caffé has two branches: the one at the Vezenska street (in the Spanish synagogue building) attracts an eclectic mix of shady Czech businessmen and B-list celebrities, so it makes for an interesting people-watching session, and the location is fantastic. The second branch at Vodickova st near the Wenceslas sq is more for the regular folk. Both offer a nearly identical menu: they have recently revamped their breakfast offerings and their breakfast sets are a terrific value and consist of good-quality components. We love the soft-boiled eggs with Parmeggiano cheese or fried eggs with spinach and their granola with fresh fruits, for instance. Later in the day, they focus on lighter, pasta-based dishes and salads. They also offer a nice selection of Czech and Italian pastries if you cannot imagine your breakfast without a sweet ending.

LA BOTTEGA DI FINESTRA

This shop/bistro is a bit upscale, just like the sister restaurant next door, but their eggs Benedict are worth a visit alone. The few breakfast dishes they serve are all of very good quality, and they make full use of their own in-house bakery. The shop/bistro combo plays very well to the customer's advantage: all the ingredients are fresh and tasty. And you really can’t beat the location: both the Old Town Square and the Charles Bridge are just a few blocks away.

CAFÉ JEN

Dominka and Hanka, the Brno college friends who own Café Jen, love breakfast and are not afraid to serve it the whole day. On top of that, they offer really nice weekend breakfast specials that lure in people from the entire city. It is not just about the food: the small café (with outdoor seating in the summer) located in the Vrsovice district near the Grebovka vineyard and the hipster heaven that is the Krymska street has a welcoming, friendly atmosphere that is easy to fall in love with. If you want to have breakfast with the locals only, this is the place for you. 

LA GASTRONOMICA

This recently opened bistro that belongs to the small Prague empire of the restauranteur Riccardo Lucque (which also includes La Bottega di Finestra) has nearly everything we like in a breakfast place: modern design by the Edit! studio, high-quality a la carte breakfast dishes (incl. eggs Benedict, pancakes or fruit salads with mascarpone that are anything but healthy), charcuterie, cheeses and breads to choose from, a large variety of pastries, skilled barista (although working with what we think is a slightly inferior product) and a view of the TV Tower, enjoyed especially if you sit at the outside tables. What more would you want? Wines? Yes, they have them, too.

HOTEL JOSEF

Hotel breakfast? Yuck! Not at Hotel Josef, though. With their in-house bakery that offers a selection of nice breads and steaming hot croissants, a-la-carte egg dishes, self-service juicers and a wide selection of cheeses and charcuterie, we think their breakfast is actually a pretty sweet deal, although it may be a bit on the expensive side at CZK 500 per person. But they also have a really nice courtyard in the summer (with very weak wifi, though) and you can’t beat the location in our eyes. The downside: the eating-with-locals atmosphere is simply not there.

SaSaZu

While everybody knows SaSaZu as one of the best Asian-fusion restaurants for lunch and dinner, we always recommend their Sunday family brunch, especially if you are visiting Prague as a family. The concept is simple: you come between noon and 4pm, and in addition to the excellent Asian food, there’s an army of nannies and lots of X-Box consoles ready for the kids. The small ones can also prepare crepes and other dishes for their parents. And what about the adults? They can get a back rub from the Thai masseuse present in the restaurant. Combine this with a visit to the Dox Centre for Contemporary Arts and perhaps the ZOO and you have a family day to remember.   

Meet a local: Dominika and Hanka of Café Jen

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We've been saying it for years and we'll say it again: there's nothing like starting a day with a good breakfast. If you are like us, you will like Café Jen at the Kodanska street in the Vrsovice district just a few minutes off the tourist centre. Since its opening, Café Jen has gained quite a reputation for relaxed atmosphere, good coffee, great breakfasts all day and home-made cakes. They were even mentioned by Adam of EMA Espresso Bar as one of Prague cafes serving great coffee when we interviewed him for these series.

What makes Café Jen really special, in our eyes, are the two owners and bosses, Dominika and Hanka. Former classmates at university in Brno, Moravia, they enjoyed the Brno café scene during their studies to the fullest but were longing to open their own place one day. After Hanka returned from her travels, their dream came true not in Brno but in Prague instead. Their café is a labour of love: their tidily kept chronicle of the café shows their moms sewing the pillows and their boyfriends moving in and assembling furniture. 

You can feel the love and dedication not only in the venue itself but in everything they serve. During our interview at the small bar, Dominika and Hanka exchanged roles as baristas, bakers, chefs and waiters, while talking about the places they love, and they do love them: in the days leading up to the interview, we are bumping into Dominika in various cafes so much it felt like we were stalking her (we were not, just for the record). We asked them a few questions but we could just keep talking and chatting with them the whole day. And that what makes their place special for us: the time stops for a while and you just relax... and have some breakfast.

When not in your own cafe, where can we bump into you?

D: Here in the district? Definitely the Jiriho z Podebrad farmers' market here. We like to buy things there.   

H: Gastromica is a nice new opening close to the place we live. I like it there..:o). Kofein is also great for some tapas and wine or some lunch. 

D: What really wowed me recently is Kastrol - great food and not rushed. We went there with my boyfriend and liked it: lots of families, big tables, just a place to get away and have an honest meal.

H: And, of course, Můj šálek kávy, Kavárna pražírna and EMA Espresso Bar - great places, too.  We can´t miss our favourite tiny Mezi Zrnky café, actually you can find us pretty often there.

D: Tricafé in the centre - love that place. I like to walk through the centre and Tricafé is a nice stop for take-away coffee or just to sit down for a bit. The staff is super nice and the bench outside is a great place for a rest in the summer.

Can you describe your ideal Saturday?

D: I have thought about this, actually, and I have come up with two ideal Saturdays: one when I am at work and people are having breakfasts here at Café Jen. Then I am happy to be here because my favorite meal of the day is breakfast so I love having people over for breakfast or for our weekend breakfast specials.  

So this is one plan. And when I have a Saturday off, I love going somewhere for breakfast. In the summer, we have take-away coffee from Kavovy klub at the Jiriho z Podebrad farmers' market on our way to Mezi zrnky, or go for the omelette at Cafe Slagr. That's lunch rather than breakfast. 

H: My ideal Saturday? I would have breakfast here at Café Jen or at Gastronomica. Then I would go out for a walk through the Stromovka park, head over to the Svata Klara vineyards for some wine and chill-out on the sun, or have a run in the Kunraticky forest. Then perhaps go back along the river, stop for some more wine at Na brehu Rhony, and then... bed time! :-)

Would you suggest any trips outside of Prague?

H: I love to visit my home town of Opava and the Jeseniky mountains - the most beautiful Czech mountains in my mind. Everyone should go there...:o)

D: Outside of Prague? Brno (the capital of Moravia). I would visit our friends in the V melounovem cukru café, then the Industra café, have a cup of coffee at Saggio Cafe, a stroll on the Kravi hora...

H: Bistro Franz for me..The Veveri area is exciting: Rosebud, an "alternative flower shop", Preclik, a "snack shop", and Patizon, a "vegetable boutique", are all owned by Ms Rozarka Stresovska. All their shops are magical and lovely.

D: We like Pastyr with their halusky, Cattani pasta bar, Tri ocasci and so on...

H: I really miss café Avia here in Prague... and Bar, který neexistuje.

D: What is great about Brno is that everything is really close to each other so it is always worth a trip. If you where to do a tour there, you would be fine with walking everywhere.

And your secret shopping address?

H: Papelote. I love it there! And in terms of food, I really like Sklizeno.

D: I must say I like Gran Moravia, their cheeses and butter. They have a shop in Brno, too. We also buy things from the Jezkuv statek farm. Their food is good. 

Alright, so where is Café Jen?

Café Jen

Kodanska 37, Prague

Open Mon 8-19, Tue-Fri 8-21.30, Sat 9.30-21.30, Sun 9.30-9