Hi all!
Ah yes, food – one of my favorite things we explored on the trip.
To start off, our brewery tour at Pilsner Urquell was awesome! I’m glad almost everyone enjoyed the beer tasting as well, although it was not for me. However, I enjoyed pretty much everything else we tried.
After the brewery, we had a bit of free time to explore the town of Pilsen. There were so many full restaurants, yet we finally came across a nice place called STIPEC. The hospitality here was phenomenal, besides a bit of a delay in some services due to shortage of staff.
Our professors dined here as well, and when we saw them when we walked in, we KNEW it was going be good.
I had never picked my cut of meat custom before, so that elevated the experience for me. I also had roasted cauliflower, potato pancakes, and homemade black currant lemonade! I’ve noticed that lemonades in Prague are not very sweet, but I still very much enjoyed this beverage.
Besides our incredible food tour and adventure in Pilsen, I also discovered another hidden gem called La Ventola back in Prague. Well, originally, Prof Murray recommended the place to us students! Skylar, my roommate, went there and her leftovers looked so delicious.
Though it wasn’t all Czech food, it was a great local treasure. I was craving pasta all week, and devoured a plate of white truffle cream gnocchi!
Another beverage detail that I really started to pick up on here was that most restaurants will hand guests an empty glass with the bottle of their drink (typically for sodas and water). It seemed expected that guests pour their drink themselves.
As for our food tour, first of all, I must preface but emphasizing how spectacular our food tour guide Yen was!! We explored four categories of Czech cuisine in this order: modern, traditional, dessert, and a local cocktail.
I fell in love with the first spot, Lokal. It is a well-known local pub chain and I loved every single thing we tried. I also really appreciated its location because we were in a less congested and more residential side of Prague. The Czech pickled cheese looked a bit odd at first, but once I tried it, my eyes lit up!
Although Lokal was well-known to many, it was a bit off the beaten path for our group and this location was outside of the main part of Prague.
The modern establishment, Statni Opera, was also fantastic.
Cukrarna Mysak, a very classy place, was where we had dessert. Yen shared that most Prague desserts are French-inspired, so I was more than ready for this!
All in all, it has truly been such an enriching culinary journey in the Czech Republic. I’m already missing the Czech pickled cheese!
-Liv