If you like beer, meat, and "fat food" (as my Czech colleague calls anything fried), you will be happy pretty much anywhere you go in Prague.
For instance, there are hot dog and sausage stands on every street corner. Where you can get something like this (yup, I gave in, but only managed to finish half):
Otherwise, imagine traveling as 3 girls, 2.5* which are vegetarian, 1 which doesn't drink beer, and you realize quickly that you have to get creative. Lo and behold, we did manage to find pretty awesome gastronomic delights such as ... - a vegan cafeteria - ... and - a bar that serves white russians for "any price we wanted to give"- ... so read below to find out more.
Food tips:
#1 "Dumplings". Don't be fooled. "Dumplings" are just soft white bread that accompany a huge plate of MEAT. Like my "dumpling plate" ... served with 5 different styles of pork:
#2 Country Life. A yummy pay-by-the-weight vegan cafeteria in the Old Town. Highly recommended, even if you're not a vegetarian. Melantrichova 15, Praha 1
#3 Soup in a bread bowl. I think this was my favorite thing we ate in Prague (that's not saying too much....shhh....). It was a potato and mushroom soup in a bread bowl! Delicious! And the setting was lovely too - we were right near the Strahov Monastary outside with a gorgeous view (and blankets!).
#4 Smazeny syr. If you find yourself in a typical beer hall or Czech restaurant looking for something other than meat, just go for the fry. Fried cheese. Fried onions. Fried bread (served with garlic). Of course, this tactic is not sustainable for maintaining that flat tummy...
#5 Tredlnyk. For some reason, we were on a hunt for warm pretzels and apple strudel - instead we found something in between: Tredlnyk. Delicious hot rolled cinnamon - not really buns, but more like bracelet-shaped desserts.
Awesome.
And now, for some drink suggestions:
#1 Mulled wine. You can find hot wine on pretty much every corner with the hot dogs and sausages (and pickles which I forgot to mention).
#2 Pivovarsky Klub. Right near the Florenc stop (thanks for the tip, Jason).
A pretty awesome beer joint with long tables and good atmosphere. Though, the guys at our table looked at us funny when we ordered: 3 onion soups, a side of cabbage, a side of fried bread, apple strudel, and beer bread. "WHERE'S THE MEAT?"
Can you tell which one of us doesn't like beer?
#3 Boulder Bar. That's right. A bar with a bouldering wall in the Zizkov neighborhood. And you can boulder and rent shoes for 5 euros. Not bad. Beth's inspiration in life!
#4 The Big Lebowski. Last but not least, this was my personal favorite. Another bar in Zizkov, it's a small packed-in little joint, with a loft of people playing board games, smoking the sheesha, and of course, drinking white russians. And the coolest thing about this place was that there was no menu no prices. You paid what you wanted. And there's some really funny and cool Czech guys and girls there too! Hopefully they'll still be there if you decide to stop by.
Hope this gives you some good insight on eating and drinking in Prague. Na zdravi!!
* I wasn't a huge meat eater before, but yea, traveling in Prague with two vegetarians definitely made me swing completely the other way for a couple of days.
the "wet" veggie burrito. um. YUM!
