The Eat with Locals Food Tour  was recommended by our Airbnb host, Zuzanna. We should say at the outset, we do not usually take tours, preferring to find out about a city ourselves but this is an absolute must do.

We chose to do the Old Town Food Tour and we were lucky to have a cool but sunny winters day to wander through the city, visiting places that are both traditional and trendy but most definitely not the usual tourist haunts.

We booked and paid for our tour online and received an email with instructions on where to meet our guide and helpfully a photo so we could recognise her.

The tours have up to 8 people but as we were travelling in the off season, it was just the 2 of us.

We met our guide, Míša at the appointed time and were delighted to find that she was an interesting, multi lingual, charming 30 something, who freelances as a tour guide and writer.

We were quickly underway via hidden passages reminiscent of the Passages in Paris, Míša chatted away, providing us with information about the history and culture of the city as well as keeping us informed of the next destination. it’s history and the provenance of the food or wine.

You can click on any of the following links to visit one or more of these fantastic Foodie destinations in Prague or use the map below to follow in our footsteps.

 Sisters, chlebíčky

Modern “chlebíček”  are open sandwiches with egg mayonnaise or celery salad spread. Sister’s is one of the local office workers favourite spots for a quick, healthy, low cost lunch and it was quite busy.

We vowed to make these at home and Míša assured us that the recipes are easy to find and easily made.

Naše Maso

Located directly across the passage way from Sisters is Naše Maso, it is both a butcher shop and restaurant.

We had the traditional “tatarák” or beef tartar and homemade meatloaf on Czech bread.

We were both a bit taken aback by the steak tartar, but feeling adventurous we ploughed in and it was a delight of beef, chilli, onion and of course garlic. Naše Maso were apparently very much on the cutting edge of Czech cuisine when they insisted that Czech beef was good enough to eat and now own the farm.  So glad they did it, this is a do not  miss shop and quick lunch stop.  For dinner the butcher shop is closed and you can eat right in the shop. It doesn’t get fresher than that!

Katr

A bbq and grill restaurant in a specialist beer house, where the importance of finding the right dish to match your beer is serious business.  The Czech’s are pretty serious about food and beer, they even have little stories about how happy grain is to be made into Pilsner Urquell, as the sign at Katr points out.

We were served “small beer dishes” such as “nakládaný hermelín” (pickled cheese) and “tlačenka” (aspic / headcheese), together with salmon with seasonal vegetable and potatoes/ grilled goat cheese on beetroot and Urquell Pilsner beer.

It was here that we learnt about Mlíko and the Šnyt, Czech beer drinking traditions, be sure to ask about it at the bar.

We could have and probably should have stopped eating after this meal, as we were both quite full, but no there was more just up the road!

Czech Slivovitz

Slivovitz is a brandy, distilled from plums. we are assured the best brand is “Žufánek” and you can get it at Bartida Bar & Shop.

Míša surprised us by stopping in a small square in the Jewish quarter across the road from the Spanish Synagogue and Kafka memorial statue, for a “little liquid gift” from her bag and assured us her grandmother says:

“Slivovitz is for when you feel ill, when you feel well, when you feel sad or when you feel happy!

It is the medicine of life!“

Before drinking it though, we were advised to say Na Zdorovie, as we looked into each other’s eyes, otherwise we would have 7 years of bad sex. Phew! That was a close one…

We had previously tasted a supermarket version of this local spirit and it was like petrol. Clearly spending a bit is quite a good idea, as it was very nice and we were warmed and primed for the next destination.

Mincovna

Located in the old Mint building, on the main square, Mincovna could be mistaken for yet another tourist restaurant as there are many to avoid around this part of the city.  However Prague locals, have warmed to both the location and the excellent presentation of authentic, traditional dishes with a modern twist.

We had 3 tasting courses which were made up of

  • fried “Romadur” cheese with cranberries, a smelly but delicious cheese
  • “svíčková” – roasted beef with traditional sweet sour creamy sauce and Carlsbad bun dumpling, washed down with dark ‘ladies’ beer Velkopopovický Kozel.
  • apple strudel, served with Becherovka, a Czech digestif liquor, made of a secret combination of herbs and spices.

Becherovka has a secret recipe, only 2 people in the family who make the digestif spirit are able to know the recipe and like the royal family they can not fly together!

The liquor broke through the sweet traditional apple strudel and whipped cream beautifully and we were left with a warm fuzzy feeling for our stroll; lets be honest it was a waddle, to the next destination.

Choco Café Red Chair

You would never find this cafe on your own and in fact we probably couldn’t find it again, without the map below.

We were presented with more dessert, a unique Czech “Hořické trubičky” (Hořice rolls) filled with fresh whipped cream dipped in a hot chocolate.

It was not needed by our waist lines but very quickly devoured, food babies were forming on our fronts.

 Red Pif Wine Bar

A funky little venue  located in a small street not far from the river with a selection of Czech & Moravian wines. We tasted white, rose and red wine. The white and rose were ok, maybe a little sweet for our taste but the red, Kolos, was super. We spent a good hour or so chatting with Míša and having a second glass of the superb red wine before we purchased a bottle to take home.

A future visit to Moravia may very well be on the cards as Míša let us in on her favourite weekend away, the cellar hop in the district of the Milan Nestarec winery.

We would recommend making this little wine bar regular stop on your stay in Prague if you fancy a good glass of vino.

Stop No.1 Sisters, Chlebicky

Stop No.2 Nase Maso

Stop No.3 Katr

The Spanish Synagogue for Slivovitz

Stop No. 5 Mincova

Stop No 6. Choco Cafe Red Chair

Stop No. 7 Red Pif Wine Bar

 

This is not a budget travel activity but we would highly recommend the “Eat like a Local” tours and if you have the chance, request Míša as your guide. We felt like friends by the end of the day and she kindly escorted us back to the river, which as it turned out was only a couple of blocks, but we would have been seriously lost in the winding cobbled passages of the Old City without her.

NB This is not a sponsored post and we have not received any payment from the tour operator mentioned, we just loved it

You are going to need to some exercise to walk off all those calories, why not try the PERFECT ONE DAY WALKING TOUR.

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