[If you are reading this, you may have been pointed to this page by Google. Great! But in reality, this is an older post about breakfasts in Prague. If you want to see our updated, 2015 version of the same post, please click here. Thank you for reading, and enjoy your coffee!]
With the Prague Coffee Festival near, it's about time we update the list of our favorite cafes in Prague. Sadly, winter has come early this year (as we write this, the temperature is below 10C/50F, and it's early October), which really means the coffee season has begun. What may be great news for cafe owners is a piece of bad news for ice-cream vendors (although Czech rarely do believe in seasonality when it comes to having ice-cream). The following list is a list of cafes we love and recommend, in no particular order of preference:
EMA Espresso Bar Opened in June, the newest entry on the Prague coffee scene has quickly become very popular. The modern interiors referencing Czech functionalist architecture are full of light and create a nice atmosphere; the staff is nice and knowledgeable and uses their La Marzocco Strada EUR 20,000 machine to prepare cup after cup of delicious coffee. You can always get espresso or drip coffee either from the coffee roasters of their current preference - JB, based in Bavaria, or their "coffee of the week", which includes anything from Square Mile, Bonanza Coffee Roasters, Doubleshot, Union etc. In addition to coffee, EMA offers a few easy and quick fixes: sandwiches, focaccias, two salads, and a small selection of cakes. They do plan to put more focus on food in the future with the addition of a chef, but you should not expect a restaurant. EMA will always remain an espresso bar at heart. One think should be noted: as a true espresso bar, EMA does not offer wifi to its guests. And for those who don't like coffee, EMA offers a small selection of great teas by TeaJay and home-made lemonades.
A long-established Karlin district's staple, Muj salek kavy is loved equally by locals, expats and travelers, and can get quite easily crowded, especially when they close down their outside seating for the winter. The cafe is owned by Doubleshot, arguably the best known independent Czech coffee roasters, and the owners make great use of their own roasts, using their custom-made Spirit Duette coffee machine. Breakfast is served from Monday to Friday until 11am and the whole day over the weekend, and a light lunch or dinner can be had afterwards, including a daily soup. The food is good, but let's face it: the coffee is the star in this establishment. We hardly ever get a cup of coffee without some of their delicious cakes. Our favorites include their cheese cake, carrot cake and banana-and-coffee cake. They are on the sweet side, but we like them. The staff speaks fluent English (one of their baristas is a Melbourne native) and is very welcoming.
Nestled in the heart of the Vinohrady district's residential area, Monolok is our favorite place to go when we want to enjoy a cup of great coffee in a quiet, relaxing atmosphere. One of their baristas has currently finished third in the World Cup Tasting Championship (no, we're not making this up), and the waiters are generally very friendly and attentive. Coffee and some simple dishes can also be served in their tiny but nice courtyard. The interior design of this place is lovely, simple and airy
This definitely IS your daddy's café. While other establishments may unapologetically form a part of the recent hipster café trend, this café and restaurant clearly evoke times long past, the times of Belle Epoque and the First Republic. The café may feel a bit cramped on first sight, but it is very cosy and fills up very quickly. They serve espresso-based drinks, vacuum pots, drips and cascara drinks. This is the only café on the list that features a proper kitchen and doubles as a full-fledged restaurant, and the food is not bad. About the desserts: the Czech baked sweets on the table are nice, but definitely skip the desserts in the glass vitrine. If you want some elaborate cakes, visit the nearby Cafe Savoy instead (but skip the coffee there). In addition to coffee, Café Lounge serves local wines with a focus on organic wines made in Central Europe. The café also rents out picnic baskets in the summer.
Owned by the former co-owner of the Leeda fashion label, I Need Coffee sells nice coffee; cakes and macaroons made by Chez Lucie, a famous Czech food blogger (and our friend); some sandwiches; kremrole (Czech merengue-filled rolls); Czech ciders; croissants with jams from Hradec Kralove etc. They also serve breakfasts, mostly of the meatless kind. All served in beautifully designed cups and tableware. The one-room café is beautifully designed in a minimalist fashion. In addition to coffee (and this is the only café on the list that does not offer drips) and food, you can buy some cool books about design, designer towels and glassware, and sometimes a themed T-shirt. I Need Coffee is a great place to stop on your way to or from the Vysehrad Castle.
The owner of this small café near the Charles Bridge is a photographer (and some of his equipment is on display in the café) who used to work at Café Lounge. TriCafé serves good coffee, nice home-made cakes and nice savory treats. To call the design of this café minimalist would be an understatement: the café features just the bare essentials: the bar, a few tables and chairs. That's it. However, the atmosphere is very relaxed and nice (even though the Charles Bridge is just few steps away), and you can see they all put all their heart into their little cafe.
If you need a dose of caffeine and you're near the I.P. Pavlova subway stop at the border of the New Town and the Vinohrady district, the Prazirna is the place to go. As the Czech name of the place suggests, the café roasts its own beans. The place is located in a cellar and is popular among locals, especially in the evening. If you need wifi, sit in the first room, while the second room will provide more privacy. While we are not blown away by their selection of small nibbles (clearly there's space for improvement when it comes to food), they do understand their coffee and they always welcome you with a smile.
One of the first gourmet coffee establishments in Prague, this mom-and-pop operation has been on the coffee map for years. The owner reigns supreme in this café (e.g. refusing to serve sugar with the coffee), and a visit to this café is more like a visit to the owner's living room: it's small, and it's personal. That said, the place has a loyal following, and offers some nice small dishes, cakes and pastries made by the owner's wife (who, incidentally, comes from the same small town in Eastern Slovakia as Jan's mom).
Mezi zrnky in the Vinohrady district is a diminutive café replacing the now extinct Cup Up café. Their barista Jara is a coffee geek full of ideas: recently, the café organized a coffee pairing with food. This café can serve also as a bistro: the establishment offers a daily soup and some other small dishes. It is small, with the seating capacity of no more than ten, but it's quite cosy. We love their tables decorated with newspaper shreds.