Prague off the beaten path: Novy svet

View fullsize

Let’s face the facts: Prague as a popular destination gets very, very busy during the summer season. We like to avoid the crowds when we travel, too, and that is why we give some Prague tips to the guests visiting our food tours. 

For instance, we recommend that you visit the main sights early in the morning or late in the evening, and for the rest of the day visit the more residential, local parts of the town. We have already written about the Charles Bridge early in the morning earlier, or about Prague views that can be enjoyed outside of the main tourist routes. 

But still, sometimes you may find yourself in a busy area and are in need of a quick escape. Where to go? What to see? We understand that you still want to see something meaningful but without all the crowds. That is why we will, from time to time, write about some Prague escapes: gems that are still in the historical centre but off the beaten track. The first of our escapes - and our secret Prague tip if you are in the Castle area - is Novy Svet.

View fullsize

NOVY SVET

Novy svet (which loosely translates as “The New World”) is a fantastic, picturesque part of the Castle district that is severely neglected by virtually all the tourists but secretly loved by all the locals. Dating back to the 14th Century, it is a small area consisting of just a few streets that have retained the atmosphere of a small village. If you want quiet far from the madding crowds (actually, it’s just two streets away from the main route between the Castle and the Strahov Monastery), this is where you’ll find it.

View fullsize

On top of that, the area now boasts a wonderful cafe that bears the name of the area: Novy svet. It’s a tiny room and a few chairs outside. Nestled in an area associated with tourism, you would expect inferior products and premium on everything. You would be wrong: they take coffee from Doubleshot, high-quality Prague-based roasters, and use an E61 Faema machine. They also serve good ice-cream by 2AD and a few cakes and snacks. The venue sits about 20 maximum but includes probably the most beautiful place in Prague to enjoy a cup of coffee: their small balcony with two chairs and a table overlooks a dense, forgotten garden.

The smartest Prague food tours. Cool rental apartment. Awesome pocket wifi device. We’ll turn your Prague trip up to eleven.

Book a tour Get the guide Rent the apartment Rent the pocket wifi

View fullsize

If you want to go back to the centre but wish to avoid the castle and the associated crowds altogether, we recommend you walk through the Deer Moat, a steep, lush valley underneath the castle. The beautiful walk includes the famous tunnel that allows the Brusnice stream to flow along the length of the valley. The route will eventually lead you into the Lesser Town, namely the Klarov area near the Malostranska subway stop.

View fullsize

Prague Restaurant Preview: Home Kitchen

View fullsize

Home Kitchen in Jungmannova street near the Wenceslas Sq. has always been a bit of a hidden gem for us. Well, it hardly was hidden. You could not get a seat over the lunch hour for two reasons: (1) it is very popular, and (2) the small bistro does not sit more than twelve. But it is still a gem and everything what we like in a modern bistro: good, honestly made and easy quick lunches or dinners served throughout the day, nice atmosphere in a well designed room and pleasant and friendly staff that wants you to come back again.

We were happy when we heard they were planning to open a second branch in the Holesovice district near the Prague Marina development project, the Dox museum and the Prague market. The Holesovice district, fatally flooded in 2002, has been on the rise ever since the floods but still lags behind Vinohrady or Karlin districts in terms of good eateries, we think. We visited the new Home Kitchen twice: once for breakfast with friends, the second time alone for light dinner.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Compared to the centrally located Home Kitchen, the new one is much, much bigger and located in a generously spaced room that includes the coffee bar, the food bar (that displays all the dishes and soups available and that dominates the smaller Home Kitchen, too) and an open kitchen. The new venue also features a nice outdoor seating area that faces a residential area, not the street. 

What we like about the new Home Kitchen is its opening hours: from 7:30am (or 8am over the weekends) until 10pm every single day. Their menu really mirrors the old Home Kitchen. They serve good breakfasts in the morning: we had scrambled eggs with bacon and egg omelette, livance pancakes with cream cheese and jam and yoghurt with granola and fruits. We may have had a few comments but everything served was of good quality and well prepared. We could definitely see us coming here for a lazy weekend brunch. (We skipped the cakes but we liked them in the old venue so we assume it’s the same thing.)

View fullsize

View fullsize

For the rest of the day, Home Kitchen usually offers usually three soups (served in a small or large bowl), their toasted breads with toppings (we had the goat cheese, zucchini and olive version), one or two salads and one sweet and one savory dish. They offer free wifi, which is vital, considering Home Kitchen’s location among many offices. They serve two types of coffee from Coffee Source - one earthy and one more fruity - and have a La Marzocco machine, but coffee is not at the centre stage here. The one criticism we have is the lack of tap water. We’re not advocates of free water and would happily pay some fee for a carafe but no such option is available. It’s either fancy bottled water or home-made soda. We think a paid tap water option would fit well in the concept.

Nevertheless, we look forward to our many more visits for a relaxed weekend brunch on the way to the Dox museum. The first Home Kitchen has always been close to our hearts, and we think the new one only deepens that relationship.     

Home Kitchen
Jankovcova 47, 170 00 Prague 7
Mon-Fri 7:30am - 10pm, Sat-Sun 8am - 10pm
Tel: (+420) 605 263 812

Prague travel tip resources

Whenever we travel, we like to do quite a bit of research. Well, actually, Zuzi does all the research. Jan just tags along. At least that’s what Zuzi says. Anyway, research is good because it saves you time when you arrive to your destination. You do not have to rely on free maps full of advertisements, on "sincere" recommendations by your receptionists (we still remember our disastrous dinner in Bologna, Italy, based on our lovely receptionist's advice) or on the first source of information you find online just because they are good with search engine optimization.

Where do we look for information when we travel? Good question! You may have noticed already we like to do what the locals do. So instead of the online guides and review websites where all the reviews come from foreign visitors, we like to tap into the local social media. See what the locals have to say. This strategy has always guaranteed good results and while we may not have been always satisfied with the cafe or bistro we ultimately visited, we always knew it was truly local and authentic. 

Because we want you to travel well, enjoy Prague as locals and avoid all the tourist traps here in Prague, we give you a small list of sources you should follow when you do your research for Prague. We have divided these sources into categories based on the channels. Handy, right? :-) Of course, there are many more feeds that you can visit, and you are likely to find many more once you delve into it (hint: just follow the "likes"), but these are the ones we would recommend as your starting points. 

So without further ado, these are the sources you should follow:

Websites and blogs

Artel Style Blog: The blog of Artel Style, whose owner and chief designer Karen was interviewed on our blog recently, focuses on the quirky cultural tidbits and oddities you can find in Prague. A great and entertaining read with some funny insight into the soul of the Czechs.

Expats.cz: A large website by and for expats living in the Czech Republic. The quality varies with the author of the articles and we would take some of their food advice with a grain of salt (you should especially take the results of their surveys, e.g. the "best pizza" and so on, for what they are, and nothing more), but Expats.cz is still a great resource for all things Prague.

Scuk: For food related questions, this website is an absolute must. The child of pan Cuketka and his girlfriend Misa (see below) is an online community of foodies that review restaurants, cafes, bars and food shops in Prague. All the reviews are overseen and approved by the community when published and not shown if found iffy. The website is in Czech but Google Translate should help.

Czech Please: One of the first Prague food blogs written by Brewsta, an anonymous American foodie living in Prague. His annual Prague burger rankings are very popular and… dare we say… prestigious. We passionately disagree with his view of Cestr, for instance, but nobody’s perfect, right? :-) He seems to have had less time for his blog lately but he is still active on social networks.

Beer Philosopher: An Argentinian with an excellent command of English, the Beer Philosopher has been reviewing beers and pubs in the Czech Republic for years. A fantastic resource of in-depth information about beer if you are into that thing. 

Artmap: If you want to tap into the local arts scene, the Artmap.cz project will definitely get you started. This listing of new exhibitions in young and independent Prague galleries is a valuable resource for planning your artsy stay in Prague.  

Prague Post: Formerly the biggest English-written newspaper in Prague, Prague Post went out of print a while ago and is an online service only. Still offers some good advice on Prague and a summary of international and Czech news in English.

Go Out: Go Out is the website to visit if one of the things you would like to do while you are in Prague is... well... go out. They have a fairly comprehensive listing of clubs, galleries, cinemas, theaters and so on and write about interesting events in Prague.  

Radio Praha: Radio Praha, or "Radio Prague", is a service run by the Czech Public Radio. It is a website linked to their English service. We website may seem like just another news outlet but it is more than that: sometimes they run an article about Czech customs and society or about Prague that may explain a thing or two while you are here.  

Prague Stay: We really like the shopping tips of this site that focuses on apartment rentals in Prague. We take issue with some of their food recommendations, so just concentrate on the shopping, ok? 

Prague Up & Coming: A nice Facebook feed with great pictures of past events and invitation to upcoming events around Prague. Also a good resource for venues and popular places where the young, hip locals go to hang out.

Lost & Found in Prague: A really simple but nice collection of old photographs from Prague. Interesting to see how, and whether at all, the atmosphere of the city has changed throughout the past century.

Taste of Prague: Did you know we write a blog about Prague and the food in it? Of course you did. You are reading it now! Good job! :-)

Twitter

Fiona Gaze: A former food editor of the Prague Post newspaper and a freelance journalist having her pieces published by various media outlets, Fiona has many good tips and shares insider information with her followers.

Mark Baker: Mark is a writer for the Lonely Planet, has its own travel blog, and has his articles published both off and online. Mark is a good resource of information about Prague and Central Europe in general.  

Sansho Chef: The Twitter profiles of Mr Paul Day, the owner of Sansho, and of his partner, Misa of The Real Meat Society, give you an insight into the minds behind some of the best food - and meat - in Prague. Great for updates about both. We get jealous about Paul’s celebrity sightings sometimes ;-) 

Prague Beer Garden: If you are traveling to Prague mostly because you want to taste some beers, you should check out this feed. Lots of interesting and valuable information about the beer scene in Prague (despite the name, it’s not just about beer gardens).

Evan Rail: A food and travel blogger living in Prague and contributing to the NY Times (here and here, for instance) and other media. Great resource for local information about beer and other local events and newly opened venues.

Taste of Prague: Jan used to hate Twitter. "It’s like shouting into the darkness,” he used to say. Now he likes Twitter and prefers it to other channels. Check out what we have to say! 

Instagram

We figured pictures are more important here than the words, so we included people who post in Czech only.

Cuketka: Mr Cuketka (Mr Zucchini in English) is without doubt the most famous Czech food blogger, the co-founder of the Scuk review site and a food ubergeek who is not afraid to experiment with food or to share the results with the world. He also has a great Twitter account but in Czech only and we think all the dry and funny humor would be totally lost in Google translation.

Misa: Mr Cuketka’s partner in crime (and life) also has an Intagram feed that actually ventures out of the couple’s kitchen and often posts mini-reviews and quick impressions of places they visited.     

Martina Pavlíková: Martina is our friend, a great cook and clearly a supermom. Looking at her Instagram feed, one thing is clear: she should open a supper club or something. We would be camping in front of her house. Or operate a shuttle service to her house outside of Prague.

Oldriches: An exercise in absolute randomness with some insight into the professional and private life of Mr Sahajdak, the Executive Chef at La Degustation Boheme Bourgeoise, the Michelin-star Czech restaurant in Prague. We absolutely love that profile. Don’t ask us why. We just do. 

Taste of Prague: ToP’s Instagram feed is Zuzi’s domain. We like to post our impressions from the venues we visited and snaps of the good foods we tasted.

There are many more Instagram profiles that Zuzi likes to... ehm... stalk on a regular basis. So if you have some time, you're having coffee and have wifi or a good data plan, you can have a a look at these, profiles, too: Maskrtnica, the baking blogger, Honza Zima, the photographer for the Ambiente group of restaurants, Jason Nam, an expat student here in Prague, and Eliska and Lukas, an artsy couple photographing the city, and many, many more...

How to Stay Cool in Prague

View fullsize

The summer is officially here and while the temperatures in Prague are not as high as they may be in other places (anything over 30C/85F is considered a heat wave here), it can still get very hot in Prague, especially given that we have no benefit of sea breezes and the like.

Prague is the perfect walking city: everything is within walking distance and the hills offer some beautiful vistas, but in a scorching heat, you want to walk smart. Here are some tips that may help you survive the heat while still enjoying some great food and walking (mostly) in the shade:

Pedestrian Tunnel - Kampa Island - Café Lounge

View fullsize

The first trip looks like a visit to the Prague Castle, but it's not (reserve that for the night hours). Walking down from the Strahov Monastery, turn left to the New World area, one of the most beautiful corners of Prague in our book. Get some refreshments in the beautiful Novy svet cafe and then follow on to the "Deer Moat" in front of the castle, cool down in the pedestrian tunnel, sit on a bench. Walk down along the slopes to the Malostranska station and from there to the Kampa Island, passing some wonderful walled gardens on the right. Feel free to walk inside and rest there. Make a few snapshots of the opposite bank with the yellow penguins on the riverside, explore the Kampa museum located in the beautiful Sova's mills, tap the babies by David Cerny and just enjoy the lazy atmosphere of the park. Follow towards the Ujezd and rest at one of our favorite cafés in town - Café Lounge at the Plaska street (just look for the "Hunger Wall" banner).

Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia - Lokal/Nase Maso/Sisters/Sansho - Muj salek kavy/Tea Mountain/Veltlin

View fullsize

Often missed by many travelers, Convent of St Agnes near the Hastalske square is a beautiful gothic complex that accommodates a minimalist exhibition of Czech and European medieval art from the National Gallery collections. After you're done exploring the Convent, cool down with a cold beer and a light snack at the Lokal restaurant nearby. Alternatively, you can have an updated Czech classic - an open-faced sandwich at the Sisters bistro (they do delicious daily soups, too), or have the fantastic meatloaf, burger or sausages at the Nase Maso butcher shop right opposite the hall. Finally, Sansho, one of our favorite restaurants in town, has a great outdoor seating for lunches (served until 3pm on weekdays - closed on Mondays) and serves fantastic Asian-fusion dishes, some of them lighter and thus perfectly suited for this weather.

Once you have eaten, take the 8 tram to the Urxova stop (or walk for about two miles) and have coffee at the air-conditioned Muj salek kavy cafe at the corner of the Krizikova and Saldova streets. You can literally spend the whole day there - in addition to coffee, they serve nice cakes, home-made lemonades, and ice-cream. On the other hand, you don't have to: you can just walk two blocks further to reach two great and fairly recent openings. Tea Mountain is currently our top pick for a tea room in Prague, and they offer fantastic, high-quality cold teas in the summer. Finally, if you want to spend a lazy, hot afternoon drinking wine, Veltlin, located right next door, has wines. And absolutely great, organic, Central European wines at that.  

Beer Gardens

Another cool idea for the hot days to come is to go and just relax in a beer garden - you don't have to have a beer, of course. Instead, you can have Kofola, the Czech coke, for instance. On top of that, beer gardens tend to be integrated in parks, which offers the exciting possibility to just buy a beer and sit on a bench and enjoy the shade and views. Yes, life can be beautiful here in Prague.

Here are the three beer gardens that we would recommend: the Riegrovy sady beer garden, which can be found in the Vinohrady district. Many people buy beer into a plastic cup and go about 100 m from the garden to the park and enjoy the beautiful view of the centre, just sitting on the grass. Alternatively, have some craft beers and a great pulled pork burger at The Tavern on the edge of the park.

The second beer garden is at Letna, again with a great view. You can combine your visit with a visit to the National Technical Museum nearby. The best way to get there is to climb to the metronome above the Jewish Quarter and then turn right. You'll be there in about five to ten minutes. Finally, if you really want to avoid tourists and combine beer drinking with a great walk, visit Hospudka na hradbach within the Vysehrad fortress south of the centre. After the city cools down, just walk back down and head to the town on the riverside.

Last but not least, two tips: if the heat really gets to you, there is always ice-cream: we have posted about it recently here. And, even if ice-cream fails, you should definitely hide from the sun at one of our favorite independent movie theaters in Prague. It is always cool and nice there. We have blogged about them here. Have a great, cool day!

(Nearly) Licking Fingers at La Degustation

View fullsize

La Degustation is a special place for us. You see, we met online. Before we even met in person, we chatted about our favorite places to eat in the city. Jan actually always wanted to go to “La Degu” but never had the chance, so he suggested a dinner there as the setting for the first date. Zuzi freaked out: “OMG, I don’t even know the guy and we’re going to have a date at La Degu?” So she bailed out, making up they had a closing at work (she was still a lawyer working for big law). In the end, we settled for something less fancy and quicker. Didn’t matter, really. We obviously hit it off. 

The smartest Prague food tours. Cool rental apartment. Awesome pocket wifi device. We’ll turn your Prague trip up to eleven.

Book a tour Get the guide Rent the apartment Rent the pocket wifi

We did go to La Degustation some time later to celebrate Zuzi’s birthday. In the meantime, La Degu became the first Michelin starred restaurant focusing on Czech food. We absolutely loved it: the food, the atmosphere, everything. Yes, it was pricey but we felt it was definitely worth it: familiar Czech tastes but with a modern presentation. 

View fullsize

Now we have decided to visit La Degustation again to celebrate our fifth anniversary. (Feels like the twentieth, Zuzi likes to say.) We were a bit nervous: we have been recommending it to our guests but have not really eaten there for nearly two years. Would it be still good?

View fullsize

We were lucky to get the table right next to the kitchen (totally by accident - no hidden perks there). La Degu changed its layout about a year ago and now has an open kitchen with a central table where all the dishes are put together in plain sight. It’s a great spectacle: you can see the chefs preparing the dishes and the whole scene looks like a Formula 1 pit rather than a kitchen. No talking but instead total focus on the food. Everybody knows exactly what to do. 

View fullsize

What we have always liked about La Degu was its relaxed atmosphere. Unlike some other Michelin star restaurants we visited, it does not feel stuffy at all and you don’t have to worry about using the wrong fork. Mr Sahajdak, the Executive Chef, wants a dinner at La Degu to be fun (he even said he wanted the guests to lick their fingers), and we think they have achieved that.

View fullsize

So how was it? We absolutely loved it again. The reasons why we would recommend La Degu are simple. They try to use only Czech ingredients, especially for their Czech tasting menu. They have a purchasing officer who calls the Executive Chef every morning and tells him what he found that day on the markets and in the farms. Mr Sahajdak then creates the menu for the day. Their dishes are also based on old Czech recipes, especially those found in the 1894 cookbook by Marie Svobodova, a Czech Julia Child before there was Julia Child. 

View fullsize

They work with seasonal products only. They have a rule that no ingredient should be on the menu twice, with two exceptions: butter and salt. All the dishes made perfect sense to us as Czechs: local flavors fine-tuned to perfection in a stunning form and with modern presentation. 

View fullsize

We had the more extensive menu paired with Czech wines. The sommeliers do actually suggest Czech wines first, and they do have great wines, including limited editions that are rarely seen elsewhere. The number of sommeliers matches that of the waiters. Besides the wines, La Degustation pairs the cheese course with an IPA beer by Matuska, a Czech microbrewery. The dessert (bread ice-cream) is also paired with smoked grape juice, one of the highlights of the dinner by itself.

View fullsize

We really liked all the courses. Our highlights included the smoked beef tongue with yellow pea and apple, which had fantastic texture and rich flavor; the perfectly cooked peeled barley, herbs and horseradish side that came with the chicken course; the melt-in-your-mouth poached trout with kohlrabi and almonds, and the “skubanky” course (absolutely amazing combination of silky potato dumplings with pork cracklings and kefir dressing), and.... you see we can't actually agree which dish we liked the best.

View fullsize

For us, La Degustation fills a very big void on the Prague culinary scene: Czech cuisine approached in a playful and modern way. A visit to Budapest shows that the Hungarians are not afraid to update their traditional dishes. On the other hand, Czech food tends to be presented mostly as pub dishes - greasy and in huge portions - served with lots of beer. We think that's a shame because La Degustation shows that a modern approach to Czech classics can in reality produce exciting results.

The only downside was the final bill :-) But still, comparing La Degustation to other Michelin star restaurants in Berlin, London or you name it, the experience was worth every penny. 

We know where we will be celebrating our twentieth anniversary…

La Degustation Boheme Bourgeoise

Website * Address: Hastalska 18, Prague 1 * Phone: (+420)222-311-234 * Open daily from 6pm