Prague local favorites

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Prague neighbourhood guide: Bubenec

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Prague neighbourhood guide: Bubenec

Bubeneč is a very quiet, green, residential neighbourhood known for embassies occupying large villas, and Stromovka, the biggest park in Prague. This is the district where people settle to start families - it is full of parks, playgrounds and kindergartens, with very few bars or any night life to talk of. It is now na affluent neighbourhood that ticks a lot of boxes - it is near the city centre, but not in it, and while it offers the leaf cover of some fancy districts like Hanspaulka, it does not feel as far away and has everything you’d need.

Now, before we start, we use the term „Bubeneč“ very liberally and do not stick to its precise, administrative borders. So no angry letters please - the are we cover here will inevitably, at times, spill over into Dejvice.


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Hana's Five Favorites in Prague

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Hana's Five Favorites in Prague

In an ideal world, Hana would have been the first team mate we would have hired. We did talk about her joining us waaaay back when Taste of Prague was just Zuzi and Jan. But we don’t live in an ideal world, and Hana was not ready to leave the big law she was practicing at the time, just like Zuzi did a few years before. Fast forward five years later, and we are incredibly happy to welcome Hana to our small team. She will fit in like a glove - she loves food and other people’s company. She still does practice law a bit, though. (Remember, not living in an ideal world?)

There is something about Hana. She has a calming, soothing presence, and you just can’t help but feel good when she’s around. She’s a great listener with heaps of empathy, and when she talks, you listen. We also assume she hates being bored: she’s a well-travelled fan of food, wine and coffee, an avid skier who likes to bike and hike, and has a keen interest in architecture and urban planning. Oh yes, and movies. You know, the smart kind.

What we’re trying to say she’s busy. Or crazy. One of those two things. But never mind her schedule, she was super quick to give her tips for her five favorite places in Prague and five social media accounts, and not one, not two, but four (!) secret tips for Prague. But that’s just Hanna being Hanna. So here we go!


Marketa's Five Favorites in Prague

Marketa's Five Favorites in Prague

The story of how Marketa became a member of Taste of Prague is complicated, but ultimately with a happy ending. We eyed her for some time about two years ago, but as we agreed on everything, she gave us the happy news: she was pregnant... and nauseated around food. Great. That's about as bad as health conditions for a food tour guide get. But the best things come to those who wait, so we waited, and ultimately Marketa joined us as a mom of an adorable baby girl Violka.

Anyway, Marketa is awesome. A former HR executive, she is genuinely interested in people. A professional disease? Does she build a secret database of our guests that she will use to kick start her own global HR powerhouse some time in the future? Not sure about that one, but the fact is that she can keep happily chatting with the guests for hours after the tour is over, much to the delight of her husband who's babysitting at home. 

She's also super funny and eager to please, and if it were her way, she would pour everyone a glass of Champagne in every stop we visit. (If you're reading this, Marketa, you can't, okay? We don't have the budget for that. We went through this already.) Anyway, if you're in her group, consider yourself lucky. We know we do consider ourselves lucky having her around. Below are her favorite spots in Prague and her favorite social media accounts. 


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Prague Foodie Map (2nd edition) out now!

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Prague Foodie Map (2nd edition) out now!

Oops, we did it again. (Oh, this never gets old. Thank you, Britney.) 

Yes, we’re happy to announce that the second, updated and improved edition of our Prague Foodie Map, our Prague food guide, is finally out. Our curated selection of the best restaurants in Prague, along with best coffee shops, bistros and bars in town.

The first edition sold out in less than six months (the recommendation in the Food & Wine magazine helped). The new, second and improved edition adds more tips and Prague travel advice, mostly based on two things: (1) our own travels, and (2) the most common questions that get asked on both of our Prague food tours.  

We travel quite a bit, and if you’re following us on Instagram (if you don’t, drop everything and do it now), you know it’s mostly for food. And we’ve always wanted to have a reliable, honest guide for each city we travel to, written by a local foodie. With things that only make sense to taste, and nothing more. A guide devoid of cliches and stereotypes. With tips that get you outside of the beaten path. Basically a guide a local would endorse. So we wrote one for Prague. And now you can have it, too.


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Prague Food Tips and Recommendations by Prague locals. Ep II: Ondra Hurtik

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Prague Food Tips and Recommendations by Prague locals. Ep II: Ondra Hurtik

If you like coffee in Prague - and you should, it’s awesome - then Ondra Hurtik needs no introduction. The reigning Czech barista champion and the runner up of the 2015 Coffee in Good Spirits competition, Ondra has been a prominent figure on the Prague coffee scene for years. And as one of the faces of the ubiquitous Doubleshot roasters, he can be mostly seen behind the espresso machine of Kavarna Misto or Muj salek kavy, unless he’s training in Doubleshot’s barista training centre in the Karlin district.

What are his favorite places in Prague? Where does he like to go and - most importantly - what is his favorite cafe in Prague? Our summer intern Nicole has interviewed him a while back, as he was training for the World Barista Championships in Dublin.


Prague Local Favorites: Sansho

Prague Local Favorites: Sansho

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, we don’t have to explain who Paul Day is. We don’t have to explain that he came here from London, single-handedly put the heritage breed of the Prestik Pig back on the map, and is the driving force behind the organic butchers of The Real Meat Society. We also don’t have to explain that Prague has a sizable Vietnamese community and that we have, as a result, great access to Asian ingredients from the Vietnamese Sapa market. So what is there to explain? Sansho is, with a big degree of simplification, what Momofuku is to New York City: a place where local foodies and chefs go for great flavors served in a casual, unfussy atmosphere and environment. 


Prague Local Favorites: Maso a kobliha

Prague Local Favorites: Maso a kobliha

Meat and donut. What a name for what is arguably the best bistro in town. And a very apt name for that. Maso a kobliha is, at its heart, a butcher shop of The Real Meat Society, that just takes things a bit further by processing the meat into some fantastic fishes and by selling, without a shadow of a doubt, the best donut in Prague. Can you argue with that? Of course you can’t.


Prague Local Favorites: Kurator

Prague Local Favorites: Kurator

One has to wonder how can you put so much soul into a space that many diminutive espresso bar owners would call "too small". But Martina and Jan, the owners of the Kurator shop near the National Theatre and the Bethlehem Square, clearly can. The winner of the 2014 Czech Grand Design “Shop of the Year” award, Kurator does exactly what its title suggests: looks at young, promising or otherwise interesting designers (mostly Czech but also some from abroad), and sets up a (roughly) two-month curated selection of their work. And you can buy it all! Yay! The exhibitions are always wrapped around a theme, be it proms (during the Czech senior prom season), ethical manufacturers, flowers or anything else. 


Prague Local Favorites: Metamorposis

Prague Local Favorites: Metamorposis

Sure, a flower shop does not relate to food or shopping or culture, but if we were to talk about the shops we love in Prague, Metamorphosis would be near the top of the list. Just walk inside and you’ll be immediately hooked: the eclectic, run down room is dominated by a large table full of various flowers, the ingredients for the florists’ creations. Just tell them how much you want to spend, and what color and flowers do you prefer, and watch as the wooden floors cover in twigs and leafs when the florists prepare the bouquets “a la minute” for you. Romantic and beautiful? You bet. Also, we are always surprised how much beauty and flowers we get for whatever we say our budget it. 


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Prague local favorites: Veltlin

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Prague local favorites: Veltlin

The interesting thing about Karlin’s Holy Foodie Trinity, i.e. Muj salek kavy, Tea Mountain and Veltlin, is that none of these places are about food. But it still lures foodies from the entire town to enjoy great coffee, tea and wine. We do love the Veltlin wine bar for many reasons, the main one being the owner, Bogdan Trojak. Bogdan is a fascinating man: a poet, a writer, a winemaker, the founder of the “Authentic” (read “natural”) winemakers and the man behind the awesome Prague Drinks Wine festival. He’s also one of the nicest people on the Prague foodie scene.


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