You might have noticed that Czech cuisine can be tough on vegetarians. My personal favorite is of course “koleno” (a pork knee), but there are also omnipresent “klobasy” (smoked meat sausages), řízek (slice of calf, pork or chicken meat), gulášovka (goulash soup) and so on. However if you live in Prague there is no need to panic.

A simple miracle called “hermelín”

Before we proceed to places that serve exclusively vegetarian food, I want to mention some Czech dishes that will help you to satisfy you hunger. The name of your new best friend here is nakládaný hermelín. It is a soft cheese, same family as brie and camembert, marinated with peppers and onions in oil. And the best part is – you can find it literally everywhere, even bars have hermelín. It is not a real meal of course, more like a snack, but it is delicious and makes your beer taste even better. There is only one problem. This miracle is usually very rich in garlic and onion, so don’t plan any kisses or, frankly speaking, anything that includes face-to-face communication after you had it.

Other Czech vegetarian dishes include, for example, bramboračka (potato soup) and smažený sýr (fried cheese).

Loving Hut

Being friends with Vietnamese people is an essential thing here. For example, if you feel an urge to eat some Pringles with ice cream after midnight there is no way you can buy it anywhere except for your local tiny Vietnamese shop. An international chain of restaurants Loving Hut
is another reason to love these people. It is actually more than vegetarian, it is vegan. There are now 4 restaurants in Prague, each one has different opening hours and slightly different menu (check the web site for the details). This is a perfect place to have launch or dinner as they have a self-service buffet approximately from 11.00 to 16.00, so you can pick from a rich variety of dishes and pay up to 150 Kc (but usually much less). My favorite choice is a couple of spring rolls, some tofu with tomato-mushroom sauce and inevitably a handful of rice. Also, if you take salad, make sure you choose this orange something as a dressing. These restaurants are non-smoking and non-drinking, always very clean and dog-friendly. The staff speak perfect English.

Govinda

Here, on the other hand, you will hardly hear any English at all although the place is Indian. Fortunately, you will not need to talk a lot, as there is not much choice. You can pick either big menu (108Kc) or small one (96Kc) so sign
language is going to be more than enough. Both menus include soup, salad, rice, sabzi and some spicy Indian dressing. Govinda is part of The Center for Vedic Studies which belongs to The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, so logically everybody will be friendly and for the most part bold. This is a very authentic place that tourists are completely unaware of, so if you want to have a tasty and healthy meal in a drowsy atmosphere of Krishnaism – welcome to Govinda. There are 2 restaurants in Prague, one is in the center and another one is in Prague 8.

To be continued…