Czech cuisine is practically an oxymoron. Two years of living in Prague taught me that the Czechs care more for the liquid portion of their meals than the solid part. In fact, the reality that something as basic as fried cheese proved to be my favorite Czech dish after two years really says a lot about food preparation in this country.
Times change, however. Over the course of the last decade a handful of restaurants have emerged on the Czech scene that are starting to give the local food a good name. This month’s Budget Travel reviews some of the better ones that are also nicely affordable.
I was amused to see a vegetarian restaurant listed amongst those spotlighted. In the mid-90s the only place serving fresh vegetarian food was a Hari Krishna restaurant which I found myself frequenting quite often. The Czechs, on the other hand, are a carnivorous lot and stayed mostly away.
Today, Budget Travel recommends a couple of French restaurants, some Asian food, a handful of Czech establishments, a burger place, and a beer pub. There is no mention of fried cheese anywhere in the article.