Things to do in Prague

Eating Alone Together, pt VII: Get a Drink with Parlour

Eating Alone Together, pt VII: Get a Drink with Parlour

The seventh episode of our Eating Alone Together series is not about eating at all. It’s about drinking.

Because let’s be real: after a month+ of quarantine, we all need a drink.

And when we here at Taste of Prague need a drink, the first place we turn to is the infamous Parlour bar, one of our favorite cocktail bars in Prague.

And we know: you can argue with just about anything when it comes to Parlour, a bar run by two philosophers of mixology, a bar that serves Pringles as the only food, a bar that makes no effort to be visible on social media, a bar that does not have a drinks menu and can give you a hard time when you’re choosing one, a bar that does not necessarily play well with the rest of them, but there’s one thing you cannot argue with. And that’s the drinks.

The drinks are delicious, people. And Parlour, just like all Prague’s bars, is now hurting. (If you have not listened to their podcast, you should.)

So Parlour needs your help, and you need a drink. What a coincidence? This is a package of FOUR FANTASTIC AND FANTASTICALLY PRICED DRINKS, staples at the bar, packed to go in reused tonic water bottles (you’re welcome, planet), with ice on the side, delivered right to your thirsty home.


Eating Alone Together, pt VI: Gao Den and Taro's Sunday Dinner for Two

Eating Alone Together, pt VI: Gao Den and Taro's Sunday Dinner for Two

There are only a few kitchens in Prague more exciting and daring than Taro and Gao Den. We just love ‘em! Both strike the perfect balance between casual and refined (moving on both ends on the spectrum), taking hints from both the Vietnamese background of the owners (while going way beyond the usual suspects on the menus of Prague’s Vietnamese bistros) and the Czech context in which they work. Heck, if Taro was good enough for a review in The New York Times, it’s good for us.

Since Taro is closed during lockdown, its chefs now work in the sister restaurant, Gao Den. Therefore, this is a joint dinner by Gao Den and Taro, bringing you the best of both worlds.

The Gao Den / Taro dinner for two will be delivered on Sunday afternoon - you get to choose your own delivery time.


Eating Alone Together in Quarantine, pt V: Dish Fine Burger Bistro

Eating Alone Together in Quarantine, pt V: Dish Fine Burger Bistro

We all know and love the burgers by Dish Fine Burger Bistro. Ever since they opened to great hype a few years ago, they’ve been one of the most reliably great burgers in town, building a loyal following in the meantime. But wait, have you ever wanted to create your own Dish burger at home? You have? This is your chance. Dish took this opportunity to preview their “Dish Kit” for two: a DIY burger set for two that offers lots of fun and - when you scroll down to see their menu - tremendous value. One thing: don’t screw it up!

And to make sure you don’t, Dish will be releasing a series of videos to show how to cook your proper burgers, and how you finish their fries at home. Sounds fun? Wait until you hear this: you can now compete! Once you make your burger, you take a picture of it, post it on Instagram, tag Dish and us, and the nicest burger wins a prize! Perfect for those couples who can’t agree on who makes the better burger. There’s only one way to find out… and that’s with the Dish Kit.

And just as usual, we will meet online to say hi and cheer each other with beer and burgers! This is supposed to be social, people! Also, you will get an email with our Prague Foodie Map, the Taste of Prague Digest, and a cook-along and eat-along playlist by Dish, and a dissenting playlist by us. This will be fun.

The Dish Kits will be delivered on Friday afternoon - you get to choose your own delivery time - and you can assemble and cook the burgers on Friday or any time during the weekend.


Eating Alone Together in Quarantine, pt IV: Etapa Karlin

Eating Alone Together in Quarantine, pt IV: Etapa Karlin

The popular Gabi and Petr of the PG Foodies food blog have opened the bistro with no prior restaurant experience just months ago, and it’s been a running success ever since. And since we’re friends, we have decided to treat ourselves and all of you to something nice this Sunday!

We offer two versions:

  1. one with a beautiful flower by the girls of Uvila (with a special price of CZK 150). Turn the romance to eleven!

  2. one without the flower by Uvila. You cheapo.

The Menu

  • Whole-wheat sourdough bread. (Yes, the whole thing.)

  • Spiced scrambled eggs with coriander and chili (All 14 ingredients included. We will prepare everything, and you just scramble at home. Takes a minute or two.)

  • Fermented cauliflower with curcuma

  • Salty granola

  • Pea spread

  • Mushroom paté with wine

  • 2 portions of chocolate sweet potato cream with roasted nuts

  • 2 “loupák” brioche rolls with organic butter and our jam made in house.

  • A cup of filtered specialty coffee

  • Our hot chocolate with our very own hazelnut milk

  • Tea from selected Czech herbs

How does it work?

The meal will be delivered on Sunday, April 19, between 9am and 11am - you can choose your own time within that period - by Liftago for CZK 900. The price includes:

  • THE FULL BRUNCH FOR TWO, see menu above

  • delivery to your door by Liftago

  • Etapa’s perks: welcome video, special playlist, instructional video on the scrambled eggs, printed recipe, and maybe other printouts

  • Taste of Prague perks: our competing playlist, access to web page with all the information made specifically for the event, and an invitation to our Skype video conference where we’ll meet at a specific point, and whatever we come up with in the meantime.

  • our Prague Foodie Map, normally a CZK 200 download

  • the Taste of Prague Digest, a selection of our favorite food-related links and online tips for your reading and viewing enjoyment, the closest we’ve ever come to having a mail newsletter


Prague, the food industry, and Taste of Prague in lockdown - an update

Prague, the food industry, and Taste of Prague in lockdown - an update

So it’s been a month since we entered a lockdown here in the Czech Republic to fight the spread of the coronavirus. We know that many of the guests of our Prague food tours have fallen in love in Prague and have been asking us about how we were doing, so this is an update about life in Prague after a month in quarantine. If you’re Czech, feel free to skip this unless you want to know what our opinion on the current and future state of restaurants in Prague and on our very own presence and future is. So here we go.


Eating Alone Together in Quarantine, pt III: Big Smokers

Eating Alone Together in Quarantine, pt III: Big Smokers

Whether you’re social or anti-social, you are probably staying at home. But you can still eat well and in style, right? At least now you can, with our Easting Alone Together series of dinners and special events.

What is “Eating Alone Together”?

Oh, so glad you asked. It’s easy:

  1. We miss the restaurant experience: sharing a nice moment with someone you love, over some great food, in a restaurant you both love.

  2. Food is more than just take-away pizza that you eat in sweatpants while binge-watching The Tiger King. (Guilty as charged here!) It’s easy to forget that after a month in containment.

  3. Prague restaurants are excellent, serve fantastic food, and can stand up to the challenges posed by the quarantine rules.

  4. Local producers are people too, and they need your support now more than ever.

The first two episodes were both resounding successes: Vojta Václavík’s team at Kro Kitchen wowed everybody with tasting of their “coming soon” bakery and the wonderful rotisserie pork, and Paul Day and his team at Sansho delivered some old classics from the Maso a kobliha song book (donuts!!!) with some new TRMS items in a super comforting package. (And a killer playlist by Paul himself.)

These are two pretty big shoes to fill, but we think the next venue will pass the test with flying colors.

Eating alone together in quarantine, pt III: Big Smokers

This time food will be served by the wonderful Big Smokers BBQ joint. We had big expectations when we heard that the people behind the amazing Mr HotDog were planning a BBQ place towards the end of last year, and Big Smokers did not disappoint. They did it again: the food is on pointe and the interiors and the entire brand are both the best in town in their particular class. The only complaint: we always order too ambitiously when we’re there: we never left Big Smokers not stuffed. And we’re afraid Friday will not be different.

One note: we are sorry, but this particular dinner event is not suitable for vegetarians. We promise the next event (in the pipeline as we write this) will be very vegetarian-friendly.


Eating Alone Together in Quarantine, pt II: Chef Paul Day

Eating Alone Together in Quarantine, pt II: Chef Paul Day

Whether you’re social or anti-social, you are probably staying at home, and you can still eat well and in style, right?

Joking aside, oh, how we miss the restaurant experience. You know, food is not just about stuffing your face: it is also about sharing a nice moment with someone you love (although you may not be able to stand them anymore after 2+ weeks of self-isolating at home, we get it). To stop for a moment, just talk, have some nice bites and maybe a bit of wine or a drink, and just enjoy the moment.

We know how it is: when restaurants are forced to shut down, it all boils down to the take-away pizza or Pho or whatever. But we thought we could do better than just slurp it quickly while binge-watching the Tiger King on Netflix in your sweatpants. (Nothing wrong with that, though. We love both the Tiger King and sweatpants.)

That is why we teamed up with some of our fave restaurants to create a special take-away meal with style, that would remind you that food in a restaurant used to be a special occasion too. Your time. And that would remind us that there are some great restaurants out there in Prague who can still cook amazing stuff even when they can’t host in the restaurant and can only cook for take-out.

This will hopefully be a short series.

We start with our official “Opening of 2019“, the amazing Kro Kitchen. We called Vojta Václavík, Kro’s executive chef (have you listened to our podcast with him? You should.) on Sunday, and fast-forward to Wednesday, we have it all set up.


Special Event - Eating Together in Quarantine, pt I: Kro Kitchen

Special Event - Eating Together in Quarantine, pt I: Kro Kitchen

Whether you’re social or anti-social, you are probably staying at home, and you can still eat well and in style, right?

Joking aside, oh, how we miss the restaurant experience. You know, food is not just about stuffing your face: it is also about sharing a nice moment with someone you love (although you may not be able to stand them anymore after 2+ weeks of self-isolating at home, we get it). To stop for a moment, just talk, have some nice bites and maybe a bit of wine or a drink, and just enjoy the moment.

We know how it is: when restaurants are forced to shut down, it all boils down to the take-away pizza or Pho or whatever. But we thought we could do better than just slurp it quickly while binge-watching the Tiger King on Netflix in your sweatpants. (Nothing wrong with that, though. We love both the Tiger King and sweatpants.)

That is why we teamed up with some of our fave restaurants to create a special take-away meal with style, that would remind you that food in a restaurant used to be a special occasion too. Your time. And that would remind us that there are some great restaurants out there in Prague who can still cook amazing stuff even when they can’t host in the restaurant and can only cook for take-out.

This will hopefully be a short series.

We start with our official “Opening of 2019“, the amazing Kro Kitchen. We called Vojta Václavík, Kro’s executive chef (have you listened to our podcast with him? You should.) on Sunday, and fast-forward to Wednesday, we have it all set up.


Taste of Prague suspends tours amidst the coronavirus outbreak

Taste of Prague suspends tours amidst the coronavirus outbreak

The short version: As much as we would love to fulfill our commitment to our guests who have been so generous to have booked a tour with us, we now have to, given the circumstances well beyond our control, suspend all of our tours starting tomorrow until further notice. If you have booked a tour with us due in the weeks that follow, you will be receiving a message shortly.

For the long version, please continue reading.


Prague off the beaten path: Karlin district

Prague off the beaten path: Karlin district

We have one rule whenever we travel: we visit the main sights early in the morning or late in the evening to beat the crowds, and see the other, more local things during the day. When we visit a city, we prefer to see how people live there today, and not necessarily how they lived there in the past. And Prague is no exception. Especially during the high season, we recommend getting up early, seeing the sights before all the other people get to see them, and then just walk and explore the surrounding districts. And the Karlin is a place you should not miss if you travel like us - it has a great local feel and great places to eat and drink. That is why we sometimes visit it with the guests of our Prague Foodie Tour and that is why we think it is worth a visit even during the off-season.