Where to drink in Prague

Prague cafes with outdoor seating

Prague cafes with outdoor seating

Yes, the days are getting longer and the temperatures are getting higher, which can only mean two things: the spring is officially here, and we can finally enjoy food and drinks outside! We love to sit outside if the restaurant and/or cafe allows it: you can get a tan (and after the long winter, we need some, seriously), eat some nice food or enjoy some drinks, and just carelessly watch the people walking by, which is probably our favorite past-time. It’s like watching theatre, so don’t judge us, okay? Also, there’s nothing like reading a book with shades and sipping a nice drink to go with it. Honestly. We’ve tried it and it’s great. 

In the upcoming weeks, we will bring you one or two posts about our favorite places in Prague to eat and drink outside so that you can enjoy them during the relatively short summer season here in Prague. We start with our favorite cafes with outdoor seating areas. 


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Fun recent Prague openings: gelato, coffee and cocktails!

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Fun recent Prague openings: gelato, coffee and cocktails!

As we like to say, research is the hardest part of our job. We have to visit new places when they open to see if we can recommend them or whether they are so good that we can actually steer our Prague food tours in an entirely new directions. Yes, we know, a truly horrible plight, but somebody has to do it. Now, to give you the fruit of our pain and suffering, we will - from time to time - post short notes on the places we have visited recently. These will be our opinions based on only one or two visits of fairly recently opened venues so they cannot be seen as full-fledged reviews. That said, let's start with three today.


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Where to watch ice-hockey championships in Prague?

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Where to watch ice-hockey championships in Prague?

OK, let’s face it. The Ice-Hockey World Championships are really a Tier II championship. It’s a tournament of the best ice-hockey players who play for teams that got kicked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs already. Also, early and mid May is not the time of the year you would associate with ice-hockey - or ice for that matter - but let’s not worry about that. The hockey is still good and the Czechs love the tournament, and this year it is held in Prague and Ostrava, Czech Republic! 

Where should you watch the games? How should you behave? What to look for? Where to eat? Read on.


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Prague local favorites: Lokal Hamburk

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Prague local favorites: Lokal Hamburk

When Jan was small, he and his father used to visit the old Hamburk pub for Sunday lunches. It was not a beautiful place back then but then again, no pubs looked really that great in the 1980s under Communist rule. But Jan loved the maritime styling of the pub (referring, along with the pub’s name, to the fact that there was a river port with a direct connection to Hamburg nearby), with a big ship’s wheel under the ceiling as the main light in the room. It was a classic neighborhood pub with “regulars” hanging around the bar. A classic local pub of the Karlin district, a district with a “black soul”, the only “bad neighborhood” in town, a blue-collar worker, industrial neighborhood and a place when Jan’s father used to live.


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Prague local favorites: Hemingway Bar

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Prague local favorites: Hemingway Bar

We are not uncovering a secret hidden gem here: Hemingway Bar is arguably the most popular bar in town, and also one of the best ones. Getting in past 9pm when the bar stops taking reservations can take some time, but the wait is worth it: the bar is a great place to drink those woes away with class and distinction. (If you can't get in right away, just sign in. There's lots to do in the area.) It is also a fairly adult place that does focus on mixology. If you're in need of a meat market, look elsewhere. Order something from the cocktail menu, get a sample of their wide selection of rums, or just tell the bartenders what you fancy. And then just watch them work. We could do that for hours.


Breaking news: Adam of EMA in World Barista Champs Semis!

Breaking news: Adam of EMA in World Barista Champs Semis!

If you have been reading this blog for some time, you may know we love coffee and always are in search of the best coffee in Prague. It is also no secret that one of our ultimate favorites is EMA Espresso Bar. It’s reached the level where we have our mail delivered there, and we lovingly call the bench just left of the entry “our second office”. (The other guests of EMA seem to ignore the fact that we like to sit there, and occupy what naturally belongs to us.)

Needless to say, Adam, the manager and barista of EMA Espresso Bar, is one of our favorite baristas in town. We did love his coffee even when he worked at Cafe Lounge before he transferred to EMA. We did also root for him at the Czech Barista Championships earlier this year, although the finals were heartbreaking: we love Ondra, the barista at Alza cafe who finished second, as much as Adam, but hey - he won another category, so the universe can be at peace.

Anyway, Adam is now competing at the World Barista Championships in Seattle and… he’s progressed to the semifinals! Which means he’s one of the twelve best baristas in the World for this year. We’ve made a deal with Adam before he left and he keeps sending us random pics from his journey, although - quite logically - he is very busy over there in Seattle. Please see some of them in the gallery.


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Prague Drinks Wine Festival 2015

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Prague Drinks Wine Festival 2015

We make a point of having a glass of wine on our tours. We have figured you will have the beer anyway. It’s cheaper than tap water in many restaurants here, and it’s so ubiquitous we would not believe you if you said you did not have one in Prague. But wines? No. Czech wine production is tiny and exports are rare, so most foreign visitors do not associate Prague with wine.

Well, we think that’s a mistake and that’s why we are trying hard to change that perception. Luckily, we are not alone. Far from it. There are other people in Prague working hard on the same thing. Take the good people of Veltlin, the wonderful local wine bar in the heart of the Karlin district. Mr Bogdan Trojak and his colleagues have long focused on the “natural” wines of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. (You can see the Empire painted on the wall that dominates the bar.) 

The very same people have decided this year to organize the second installment of Prague Drinks Wine, a festival of natural wines from the former empire in Prague, to be held on 6 and 7 June. The festival tries to follow on the long-forgotten tradition of meetings of Empire winemakers held before WWI. The festival will host about 50 Central European winemakers offering about 400 samples of wine. 


Czech wines in Prague: the bottles you must try

Czech wines in Prague: the bottles you must try

Yes, sure. Prague equals beer. Of course. We get that a lot. But the fact that the Czechs have the biggest consumption of beer per capita in the world… by a wide margin, does not mean that you have to neglect that wine addiction you have worked so hard to build when you visit Prague. The Czech Republic actually produces some very nice and interesting wines, too. Heck, we even run our Moravian wine tours to promote that fact! The truth is you may not have heard about them: with about 18,000 hectares and a production that does not satisfy even one half of the Czech consumption of wines, it is hard to get your hands on a Czech bottle outside of the country.

But which wines should you drink in Prague? It is sometimes hard to pick that special bottle when you travel and you are not familiar with the territory, the tradition and the climate. Mind you, the sommeliers in the wine bars we like to visit in Prague are very knowledgeable and speak great English. Still, we wanted to know what some of the leading personalities on the Prague wine scene would recommend that you order in Prague. Here’s what they had to say.


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One-day in Prague: Best things to do in Prague?

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One-day in Prague: Best things to do in Prague?

Let’s get the disclaimer out of the way at the beginning: visiting Prague for one day only is not, ehm, the ideal scenario. Prague has so much to offer that you will definitely wish you’d stay longer. You’ll see. That said, we are well aware that we get far less vacation time than we all deserve, and sometimes you want to try to see as much as possible. 

Inspired by guests who have recently stayed in our rental apartment, we have prepared an emergency, one-day, try-to-see-it-all-in itinerary for Prague. Setting up an itinerary like this is about compromises. But we have tried our best to create an itinerary that will mix the local with the famous, and throw in some great bites on the way, of course. Just remember: Prague is a bit hilly and the streets are cobblestoned, so wear comfortable shoes and prepare mentally for a long walk. You’re in for a looong walk, but hey: you brought it on yourself. Visiting Prague in one day? Crazy.


Prague local favorites: Tea Mountain

Prague local favorites: Tea Mountain

When it opened last year, Tea Mountain was a revelation. You see, while Prague may be a hidden kingdom of tea rooms, most of them did have a slightly annoying New Age vibe: people with linens playing the triangle who made you feel guilty because you had a cell phone. 

Tea Mountain is different. Nestled right next to the Veltlin wine bar in the Karlin district, it sports a modern design with clear reference points to Japan and the Orient. They do have wifi. They do explain everything without being patronizing. And, on top of that, they have fantastic teas. Even a very basic tasting can really open your eyes to what tea can be.

The founder, and really the face, of Tea Mountain is Martin. A friendly guy who seems to know everything about teas, and everyone in the foodie community in Prague and whose enthusiasm about everything food and tea-related is nearly as addictive as his teas are. We asked him a few questions.


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