Prague off the beaten path: Novy svet

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Best breakfast in Prague (2014)

(Please note that this is an older post on breakfast in Prague. Click here for the most up-to-date post on the best breakfast in Prague.) 

OK, so we ate lots of breakfast this week. You see, there is no better way to start a day than a good, possibly opulent breakfast. Picture this: we are writing this post from the courtyard of an unnamed hotel in Prague, having breakfast. All around us we see foreign couples and families having breakfast in the sun, looking in their guides and planning the day. Breakfast is important but it is twice as important when you travel: a good breakfast set the tone for the entire day, if not your stay. We speak from experience: breakfast spots are one of the first things we look for when we research a city, and then plan our day over breakfast. 

Truth be told, the Prague breakfast scene is still in its beginnings and not all the breakfast served in Prague deserve an unconditional recommendation. But there are places we like to visit when we feel like a good breakfast. Here’s a list of our favorite breakfast spots in Prague, again in an entirely random order:

CAFÉ SAVOY

“Restraint” is not a word you would associate with breakfast at Café Savoy. The art deco interior is nice but not overwhelming and there's lots of light inside, which is something we like. This is a great place for people watching: the crowd is a mix of elegantly dressed locals and visitors from abroad. You can have a look at the pastry shop/bakery where they prepare their delicious pastries downstairs. Book a table in advance (especially for weekend mornings) and have the French toast if you feel like sinning, one of the best croissants in the city with wonderful apricot marmalade, baked brioche bread with ham and Gruyere cheese and a poached egg, or scrambled eggs - all delicious! Jan swears by the "Savoy breakfast”: some breads, ham, cheese, soft-boiled egg, bundt cake and great (and not sweet) hot chocolate - all for very reasonable CZK 200. We are not huge fans of their coffee: they take coffee from Doubleshot roasters but their baristas are super busy and don’t have the time to pamper the beans, but we hope this will improve over time.

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CAFÉ LOUNGE

If coffee is an important part of your breakfast, then Café Lounge, just a few steps off Café Savoy, might tickle your fancy. As for breakfast, you can choose from several items that include sausages, scrambled eggs, ham-and-eggs, Bircher muesli, or you can build your own “Hunger Wall” (which actually runs through the patio of the café), i.e. you can create your own breakfast set. If you prefer a sweet breakfast, we recommend you opt for the Czech sweets - sweet buns or kolachees. We think they are superior to the pastries in the cooler. Fresh juices and a wide selection of teas are also available for the non-coffee drinkers. If the weather cooperates, definitely choose a table in their lovely courtyard in the back.

HOME KITCHEN

The “original” Home Kitchen is a small and intimate place that really feels like home: you sit at two communal tables, and the staff is friendly and helpful. The selection for breakfast is small but tasty and of high quality. Apart from eggs, you can also get pancakes and good bread with several toppings, or choose from a daily selection of three soups served with bread and flavored olive oil. The “new” Home Kitchen was recently previewed on this blog here. The new venue is much larger but the menu remains nearly the same. Great egg dishes and sweet breakfasts, too, with lighter meals and salads throughout the rest of the day. Both venues open really early (7:30 on weekdays and 8:00 on weekends) and the original one closes on Sundays. The only downside is that tap water is not served with your meal, but we still like Home Kitchen a lot.

MUJ SALEK KÁVY

Muj salek kavy is the flagship cafe of the Doubleshot roasters and it shows: espressos, cappuccinos, flat whites, drips, vacuum pots, cold brews - they have them all and they’re all good. Muj salek kavy is also a very popular place located in the Karlín district, now in the midst of a gentrification process after the 2002 floods, and is almost always packed, so reserving a table is a must especially for weekend breakfasts. And they are expanding: their barista centre just next door will open to the public in September and their new bakery creates good cakes and breads, including gluten-free options, which is still rare here in Prague. We both have favorites on their recently changed breakfast menu: while Zuzi likes their home-made muesli with Greek yoghurt and fruits, Jan always orders their version of eggs Benedict. We love their home-made lemonades, and we never leave without tasting one of their cakes. And we absolutely adore their non-smoking outdoor seating area in the summer. 

PASTA CAFFÉ

Pasta Caffé has two branches: the one at the Vezenska street (in the Spanish synagogue building) attracts an eclectic mix of shady Czech businessmen and B-list celebrities, so it makes for an interesting people-watching session, and the location is fantastic. The second branch at Vodickova st near the Wenceslas sq is more for the regular folk. Both offer a nearly identical menu: they have recently revamped their breakfast offerings and their breakfast sets are a terrific value and consist of good-quality components. We love the soft-boiled eggs with Parmeggiano cheese or fried eggs with spinach and their granola with fresh fruits, for instance. Later in the day, they focus on lighter, pasta-based dishes and salads. They also offer a nice selection of Czech and Italian pastries if you cannot imagine your breakfast without a sweet ending.

LA BOTTEGA DI FINESTRA

This shop/bistro is a bit upscale, just like the sister restaurant next door, but their eggs Benedict are worth a visit alone. The few breakfast dishes they serve are all of very good quality, and they make full use of their own in-house bakery. The shop/bistro combo plays very well to the customer's advantage: all the ingredients are fresh and tasty. And you really can’t beat the location: both the Old Town Square and the Charles Bridge are just a few blocks away.

CAFÉ JEN

Dominka and Hanka, the Brno college friends who own Café Jen, love breakfast and are not afraid to serve it the whole day. On top of that, they offer really nice weekend breakfast specials that lure in people from the entire city. It is not just about the food: the small café (with outdoor seating in the summer) located in the Vrsovice district near the Grebovka vineyard and the hipster heaven that is the Krymska street has a welcoming, friendly atmosphere that is easy to fall in love with. If you want to have breakfast with the locals only, this is the place for you. 

LA GASTRONOMICA

This recently opened bistro that belongs to the small Prague empire of the restauranteur Riccardo Lucque (which also includes La Bottega di Finestra) has nearly everything we like in a breakfast place: modern design by the Edit! studio, high-quality a la carte breakfast dishes (incl. eggs Benedict, pancakes or fruit salads with mascarpone that are anything but healthy), charcuterie, cheeses and breads to choose from, a large variety of pastries, skilled barista (although working with what we think is a slightly inferior product) and a view of the TV Tower, enjoyed especially if you sit at the outside tables. What more would you want? Wines? Yes, they have them, too.

HOTEL JOSEF

Hotel breakfast? Yuck! Not at Hotel Josef, though. With their in-house bakery that offers a selection of nice breads and steaming hot croissants, a-la-carte egg dishes, self-service juicers and a wide selection of cheeses and charcuterie, we think their breakfast is actually a pretty sweet deal, although it may be a bit on the expensive side at CZK 500 per person. But they also have a really nice courtyard in the summer (with very weak wifi, though) and you can’t beat the location in our eyes. The downside: the eating-with-locals atmosphere is simply not there.

SaSaZu

While everybody knows SaSaZu as one of the best Asian-fusion restaurants for lunch and dinner, we always recommend their Sunday family brunch, especially if you are visiting Prague as a family. The concept is simple: you come between noon and 4pm, and in addition to the excellent Asian food, there’s an army of nannies and lots of X-Box consoles ready for the kids. The small ones can also prepare crepes and other dishes for their parents. And what about the adults? They can get a back rub from the Thai masseuse present in the restaurant. Combine this with a visit to the Dox Centre for Contemporary Arts and perhaps the ZOO and you have a family day to remember.   

Best cafés in Prague (2014)

This is an older version of this post. To see the newest version of the rundown through the best cafés in Prague, please click here. Hope you're enjoy the post... and the coffee!

We are writing this post from The Barn in Berlin, Germany. Just a few years ago, if you wanted great coffee in Prague, you had to sit in your car, drive to Berlin and have 3rd wave coffee there. You felt like the king devouring a cup of Illy cappuccino in Prague and only a few had any idea what flat white, vacuum pot or Hario equipment meant.

Oh boy, how time flies! Today, we do not travel for good coffee. Instead, we return home for good coffee, and whenever we visit other cities in Europe (with some exceptions, of course), we tend to miss the quality of the coffee you can now get in Prague. To help you navigate the Prague coffee landscape, we bring you a list of our favorite cafés in Prague.

Now, a few disclaimers: this is by no means an exhaustive list. We have simply made a list of the cafés in Prague we visit to get some good coffee. We are pretty sure this list will need updating just in a few months' time. Also, we have ordered the cafes in the list as they came to our mind so the order of the list is fairly random and does not mean we rank the cafes in that specific order. 

Alright, now that all the potential lawsuits have been avoided and friendships with the baristas saved, here is the list:

Muj salek kavy

The flagship cafe of the Doubleshot coffee roasters, Muj salek kavy has long been a favorite among coffee lovers here in Prague, and rightly so: their standard is pretty high and they never go beyond it. You can get your espresso or flat white, but they also use alternative methods of coffee preparation. If you unsure which beans to choose, the baristas and waiters - a really great bunch, by the way - are always happy to recommend the best one for you, or you don’t have to choose at all: just get their tasting set of three different roasts. 

They have recently expanded and their brand new barista center will open to the public in September. Their kitchen has been enlarged, too, and you reap the benefits: they serve nice breakfasts (for the entire day over the weekends), light dishes during the day, decent cakes and delicious ice cream by 2AD (dairy and gluten free options available). We love their non smoking outside seating area. For the rush hours, reservations are a must.

Alza Cafe

Alza Cafe, the second cafe by the Dobleshot coffee roasters is a slightly odd place, comfortably nested in the pick-cup warehouse area of a large computer store. But don’t let that fool you: they still serve some of the best cups in town. It’s our favorite place for take-away coffee when we are in the Holesovice district (often on the way to the DOX Centre for Contemporary Arts) and the only good coffee in Prague on Sunday after 7pm. We are also big fans of their nice and chatty barista Ondra. 

EMA Espresso Bar

To us, EMA Espresso Bar feels so much like our second home we should probably start paying rent. Their baristas welcome everyone with a smile and a cup of great coffee. Whenever we travel and have a bad cup of coffee, we realize how much we miss EMA. They serve coffee from different carefully chosen European roasters and they always offer two for espresso-based drinks and several more for filter coffee.

Their real focus is on coffee, but if you are hungry, they have a daily soup, two salads, tasty sandwiches and small selection of Czech kolachees and buns. And we told you about their ice cream already.

They seem to attract younger, hipper crowds who tend to stay for hours despite the lack of wifi. They mix in nicely with the suited-up lawyers and consultants who come for their daily fix from the nearby offices. This creates a lively environment and a great place for people watching. 

For those who want to learn more about coffee, EMA also holds public cuppings from time to time. 

Cafe Lounge

Cafe Lounge has the same owner as EMA Espresso bar, but a totally different feel. This is a “First Republic” place great for intimate meetings and small reunions. Their little garden along the remains of the Medieval Hunger Wall is one of the nicest in town. 

Just like EMA espresso bar, they are not fixed to single rosters, so if you want, you can always choose your beans or let the barista decide for you. Unlike in EMA, their kitchen is an important part of the cafe and they are the only cafe on this list that can double as a full-fledged restaurant. 

Monolok

We get lots of work done over at Monolok. That’s what happens when you combine great coffee, generously sized tables and strong wifi signal. We really like their skillful baristas, but sometimes we have an issue with the waiting staff: they all seem like they would rather be anywhere else but in the cafe. The new waitress did actually smile on our last visit, so now at least we know smiling is not entirely prohibited there. 

But coffee still shines there. Monolok takes coffee from Coffee Source, a local roaster, and they execute every cup perfectly. They also serve nice breakfasts (sausages, omelets and scrambled eggs are our favorite) though we thing the afternoon offerings could improve. 

Kafe Karlin

Kafe Karlin is a simple espresso bar in the Karlin district opened by the coffee nerds associated in the Kavovy Klub (“Coffee Club”). A stand-up affair only, this place is really tiny. Kavovy Klub was the place to go for coffee at the Jiriho z Podebrad farmers markets for a long time, and they still close the shop on Saturdays (and Sundays) to venture out and serve great coffee to the markets goers. Our secret tip? Take their coffee to go, buy some kolachees over at Simply Good, sit in the park nearby and just enjoy the moment. 

Kafemat

After long, suffocating years of drought, Kafemat finally brought good coffee to the Prague 6 district. For now, they serve their coffee in paper cups only and have a very limited and provisional seating capacity (of about four), but that should all change once they get their occupancy soon. Both baristas are a pleasure to chat with and make delicious coffee. Their food menu has only one item: the kolachees by Simply Good. Great choice. 

TriCafe

Visiting TriCafe is like visiting an old friend: you get a homey feel, a cup of great coffee and a good cake. This is our favorite place to escape for coffee if you find yourself trapped by the crowds around the Charles Bridge area in the Old Town. Their bench outside is one of the best places to get a cup of good coffee… and some tan at the same time.

I Need Coffee

Sitting in I Need Coffee is like sitting in a cafe in Mitte, Berlin, but with less hipsters. If you love modern design and watching people in a relaxed atmosphere, you will love I Need Coffee. Tip: They also offer some snacks and beverages made by small local farmers and food producers, pastries by local foodies and little souvenirs by local designers.

Mezi zrnky

Mezi zrnky is a small, cute, neighborly bistro and cafe in the Vinohrady district. In addition to Doubleshot coffee, they offer breakfasts, a daily soup, some salads and sandwiches and something sweet. They continue in the footsteps of CupUp cafe that used to occupy the same room and serve good coffee. 

Al Cafetero

Al Cafetero still holds the crown as the first cafe in Prague to offer hight quality coffee and venture into alternative methods of its preparation. Entering the cafe feels like entering the living room of Mr. Karel, the manager, owner and barista. Al Cafetero takes coffee from the major local roasters and prepares each cup with love and care.... until you ask for sugar, that is.

Café Jen

Breakfast is the name of the game here. The lovely owners and friends, Dominika and Hanka (whom we interviewed a while ago here), love breakfast... and serve it in their Cafe all day long, together with their nice cakes and sweets). They are actually quite skillful with their coffee, too (Has Bean the last time we were there), and serve a decent cup of anything you'd like. Any imperfection will be well offset simply by how nice and friendly they (and their staff) are. A great stop when you are in the area. 

LaBoheme

Located in a former design furniture shop in the Vinohrady district, La Boheme Cafe is visually striking, perhaps even too much for some. The ground floor houses the cafe while the first floor accommodate the offices and the barista centre of LaBoheme coffee roasters. That means you will get several roasts directly from the source. We have a small issue with the staff: they are good with coffee but less so with the chit chat with the customers. 

Kavarna Prazirna

Blending in with the locals over filter and espresso-based coffee from beans roasted in-house is easy in Kavarna Prazirna, a local favorite. Great place for a meeting or a book. Tip: If you’re planning on using wifi, stay in the first room.

Coffee House

Coffee House, located on the edge of the Vinohrady and Vrsovice districts, is really a showroom of the Coffee Source roasters, and many people here know it simply as “Coffee Source”. The interiors are minimalist and the place attracts younger crowds. Their exterior seating in their small, quiet backyard is a hidden gem: if there is a place in Prague to get “far from the madding crowds”, this is it. 

Original Coffee

Original Coffee, recently moved to the centre from the Vinohrady district, is the high-end cafe of the Mama Coffee roasters. They roast their own beans and offer about four to five different roasts to their customers. They do both espresso and filters, and also some bagels, sandwiches and small snacks. The interior is minimalist and great for work: big windows, small tables and lots of power outlets all around. A very pleasant place in the touristy part of the town.

BrewBar Naplavka

The bigger the beard, the better the coffee. If you can ascribe to this hipster rule, you will love the small Brew Bar stand opened every Saturday at the Naplavka farmers’ market on the riverside. No espresso, just filters from different beans, all carefully chosen and by served by Jirka, a lovely - and bearded - barista and specialty coffee lover. 

Pausa 412

Now this is a place for the brave and dedicated. The graphic designers of Artbureau, seated in room 412 of the fantastic Elektricke podniky building (worth a visit by itself), will make coffee for anyone who bothers to come. Just have a look at their website: if it’s green, it means they are in, if it’s red, it means they are out. This is not amateur hour, though: one of the designers is the former owner of the late CupUp, one of the most popular cafes at the time. Just knock and get a seat. You will get a cup of great coffee, and perhaps the experience of your Prague trip.

Is any of these cafes in the area where you are? Look at the map to find out!

Meet a local: Dominika and Hanka of Café Jen

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We've been saying it for years and we'll say it again: there's nothing like starting a day with a good breakfast. If you are like us, you will like Café Jen at the Kodanska street in the Vrsovice district just a few minutes off the tourist centre. Since its opening, Café Jen has gained quite a reputation for relaxed atmosphere, good coffee, great breakfasts all day and home-made cakes. They were even mentioned by Adam of EMA Espresso Bar as one of Prague cafes serving great coffee when we interviewed him for these series.

What makes Café Jen really special, in our eyes, are the two owners and bosses, Dominika and Hanka. Former classmates at university in Brno, Moravia, they enjoyed the Brno café scene during their studies to the fullest but were longing to open their own place one day. After Hanka returned from her travels, their dream came true not in Brno but in Prague instead. Their café is a labour of love: their tidily kept chronicle of the café shows their moms sewing the pillows and their boyfriends moving in and assembling furniture. 

You can feel the love and dedication not only in the venue itself but in everything they serve. During our interview at the small bar, Dominika and Hanka exchanged roles as baristas, bakers, chefs and waiters, while talking about the places they love, and they do love them: in the days leading up to the interview, we are bumping into Dominika in various cafes so much it felt like we were stalking her (we were not, just for the record). We asked them a few questions but we could just keep talking and chatting with them the whole day. And that what makes their place special for us: the time stops for a while and you just relax... and have some breakfast.

When not in your own cafe, where can we bump into you?

D: Here in the district? Definitely the Jiriho z Podebrad farmers' market here. We like to buy things there.   

H: Gastromica is a nice new opening close to the place we live. I like it there..:o). Kofein is also great for some tapas and wine or some lunch. 

D: What really wowed me recently is Kastrol - great food and not rushed. We went there with my boyfriend and liked it: lots of families, big tables, just a place to get away and have an honest meal.

H: And, of course, Můj šálek kávy, Kavárna pražírna and EMA Espresso Bar - great places, too.  We can´t miss our favourite tiny Mezi Zrnky café, actually you can find us pretty often there.

D: Tricafé in the centre - love that place. I like to walk through the centre and Tricafé is a nice stop for take-away coffee or just to sit down for a bit. The staff is super nice and the bench outside is a great place for a rest in the summer.

Can you describe your ideal Saturday?

D: I have thought about this, actually, and I have come up with two ideal Saturdays: one when I am at work and people are having breakfasts here at Café Jen. Then I am happy to be here because my favorite meal of the day is breakfast so I love having people over for breakfast or for our weekend breakfast specials.  

So this is one plan. And when I have a Saturday off, I love going somewhere for breakfast. In the summer, we have take-away coffee from Kavovy klub at the Jiriho z Podebrad farmers' market on our way to Mezi zrnky, or go for the omelette at Cafe Slagr. That's lunch rather than breakfast. 

H: My ideal Saturday? I would have breakfast here at Café Jen or at Gastronomica. Then I would go out for a walk through the Stromovka park, head over to the Svata Klara vineyards for some wine and chill-out on the sun, or have a run in the Kunraticky forest. Then perhaps go back along the river, stop for some more wine at Na brehu Rhony, and then... bed time! :-)

Would you suggest any trips outside of Prague?

H: I love to visit my home town of Opava and the Jeseniky mountains - the most beautiful Czech mountains in my mind. Everyone should go there...:o)

D: Outside of Prague? Brno (the capital of Moravia). I would visit our friends in the V melounovem cukru café, then the Industra café, have a cup of coffee at Saggio Cafe, a stroll on the Kravi hora...

H: Bistro Franz for me..The Veveri area is exciting: Rosebud, an "alternative flower shop", Preclik, a "snack shop", and Patizon, a "vegetable boutique", are all owned by Ms Rozarka Stresovska. All their shops are magical and lovely.

D: We like Pastyr with their halusky, Cattani pasta bar, Tri ocasci and so on...

H: I really miss café Avia here in Prague... and Bar, který neexistuje.

D: What is great about Brno is that everything is really close to each other so it is always worth a trip. If you where to do a tour there, you would be fine with walking everywhere.

And your secret shopping address?

H: Papelote. I love it there! And in terms of food, I really like Sklizeno.

D: I must say I like Gran Moravia, their cheeses and butter. They have a shop in Brno, too. We also buy things from the Jezkuv statek farm. Their food is good. 

Alright, so where is Café Jen?

Café Jen

Kodanska 37, Prague

Open Mon 8-19, Tue-Fri 8-21.30, Sat 9.30-21.30, Sun 9.30-9