EATING VEGAN IN... PRAGUE
Back in December, I was turning 21 and I had no idea how I wanted to celebrate. I was sat in my university house when I got a text from my mum saying she had booked for me and my family to go to Prague for three days over Christmas to celebrate my birthday. I was THRILLED, (thanks mum and dad).
We were due to fly on boxing day at 4pm, so the evening of Christmas day was spent packing for the next three days in Prague. It was lovely to have something to look forward to after Christmas in order to rid of those Boxing Day blues.
Day One: Flying, Cheap Beer and Late Dinners
Time soon flew by and before we knew it, we were off to Birmingham Airport to catch our flight. We landed in Prague at around 8pm and the first thing we did was head straight to the pub. We had a couple of beers (which worked out to be less than a pound each!!!) and waiting for the host of our apartment to arrive.
Once our host arrived, we dropped our bags off and headed straight out to look for some food.
This took so much longer than we thought, as we were walking around aimlessly trying to find places that were a) open and b) would cater for me. I have been to Italy and the Netherlands and Spain as a vegan – all of which seemed to cater for vegans really well. However, I found when I asked servers about vegan options in Prague, they did not really understand what I was talking about.
It was around 9pm before we finally settled on a restaurant.
The place we went to was called Art Deco Imperial Hotel Prague. It was very fancy and the only thing that drew us to eating there was the fact that it was still serving food past 9pm. As we entered the doors, I saw that there were a few cakes out on display – one of which was labelled vegan. So, this was a promising start.
I sat down and explained my dietary requirements and they pointed out a baked aubergine on the menu that was vegan. The server also offered to veganise any dish on the menu, if I did not fancy that.
However, the baked aubergine sounded good to me, so I went with this option. I also ordered a side of chips, as I hadn’t eaten since the morning and I was feeling very hungry.
The food arrived, and it was delicious. It came with a large side of salad, and if I had eaten normally throughout the day, I would not have needed the chips. It wasn’t the best vegan meal I have ever tasted, as at the end of the day, it was only aubergine and tomatoes. However, it definitely hit the spot.
Day Two: Long Walks, Tourist Attractions and Mexican Food
We all woke up at around 8am and started to get ready for the day. My parents had gone out in the morning to look for a supermarket to buy some food for breakfast from. We had a kitchen in our apartment, so it made sense to cook breakfast each morning, rather than eat out for every meal.
However, they returned about an hour later empty handed. All of the supermarkets were shut early in the morning, so we couldn’t get any supplies. They did find an American diner, which was about a two-minute walk from where we were staying. So, we headed out for breakfast that morning.
The diner was called James Dean Prague and it served an array of full English breakfasts, porridge and cereals. I thought I would ask for beans on toast, (no butter) and a few extras, seeing as this was relatively easy to veganise.
I asked the server if I could have beans on toast with no butter and some hash browns and mushrooms. She informed me that the hash browns were not vegan and the even the bread was not vegan. This was not looking good.
I asked if I could have some beans, spinach and mushrooms and she said that would be okay. She mentioned that they usually cook these in butter, but she would ask the chef to cook them in oil.
I ordered and was a little disappointed, as I thought I would be hungry after eating my no carb breakfast. After we ordered, our server (her name was Sugar, how cute) brought some bread to the table. She said her colleague was vegan and one of the breads did not have milk in it, therefore I was able to have it. I was very happy, as I set it aside to have with my beans.
Our breakfast arrived, and it was great. I was very glad that I was able to have the bread, as I was very full and satisfied after it. The server who was also vegan came over to be after and explained that they had soy milk in store, and she pointed out a load of cereals that were vegan too. I thought we probably should have asked her to serve us, but it was okay.
After breakfast, we headed to Old Town Square to check out the markets. They were beautiful, and they definitely put the Christmas markets in England to shame.
The only thing I didn’t like was the fact there seemed to be a lot of horses carrying tourists around in carriages, and they looked so sad. I wanted to rescue them very badly.
Once we were finished at the markets, we hit the tourist spots such as Charles Bridge, Prague Castle and the John Lennon Wall. We walked for MILES that day.
We made several pit stops to grab a beer, and seeing as we ate a big breakfast out, we were not even hungry enough to have lunch.
The day flew by and soon it was beginning to get dark. We headed back to the apartment to freshen up before heading off for dinner again. Seeing as we had only been around Old Town and the surrounding areas, we decided to head to New Town to see if there was anything to eat around there.
I did try and get my family to go to a vegan Czech restaurant to try some goulash, however, my very fussy meat-eating family were not on board with the idea. I would LOVE to go back to Prague with my vegan friends, as I think the reason I struggled to eat vegan was due to the fact we also had to go to places that served meat too.
After walking around New Town for a while, we stumbled down an alley and found a Mexican restaurant. Funnily enough it was called El Pueblo, Mexicana Steak House, but surprisingly, it was vegan friendly.
I looked at the menu and found it was relatively easy to veganise (just order everything with no cheese or sour cream).
I decided to go for the chimichanga with refried beans and veg.
When it arrived it was HUGE. I never thought I would get to the end of it. My sister ordered the same as me, but with beef, and when I cut into mine I was certain I was given the wrong one. It turns out refried beans and beef just look very similar.
I did my best to eat it all, however, it was too big, even for me. It was delicious though and very inexpensive. A great find from us.
After dinner, we decided to head back to the pub next to our apartment as it was the cheapest we had found yet. We stayed there until after midnight, as this was when I turned 21. We had a very long day and walked for miles, so we were exhausted. It was time to get some sleep ready for my birthday tomorrow.
Day Three: Turning 21, Vegan Cake and a Very Spicy Curry
MY BIRTHDAY!!!!
I woke up to an abundance of presents from my family in one of my favourite European cities. A great way to turn 21 in my opinion.
My mum made me some tomatoes on toast for breakfast and I got ready for the day.
I decided I wanted to go ice skating for my birthday, so we found a rink not too far from our apartment and me and my sister enjoyed an hour on the ice. It was so much fun, even if I was terrible at it.
After the ice skating, my mum wanted to get me a cake for my birthday. I had a quick google and found a place called My Raw Café, which sold vegan cakes amongst a great menu of raw vegan food such as noodles and salads. I would have loved to have eaten there if I had more time in Prague.
I chose my cake, which unfortunately I did not get a photograph of. It tasted great though – like a millionaire caramel shortbread. Delicious.
We then had another beer in a pub and all began to get a little peckish.
I was scrolling through my Instagram and saw that @vegan_motive had recently posted about a salad bar in Prague called Country Life. I had spotted it the day before whilst walking around, however, I had no idea that it was vegan.
I headed over to Country Life and was overwhelmed by the choice. You could take a box and fill it up with whatever you wanted. There was salad, couscous, noodles, a tagine, lasagne, pizza slices, tofu, olives, lentils, EVERYTHING you could ever dream of.
I filled my box to the brim (it was pay as you weigh) and racked up a hefty bill, but it was absolutely worth it.
This was one of my favourite meals in Prague, as there was so much choice and I got to try a little bit of everything. I was VERY happy.
The rest of my family wanted to try some Czech cuisine, so after looking around some more markets, we found a Czech restaurant and they ordered some goulash. I had a gin and tonic whilst I waited for them to finish.
We then did some more exploring, including a look at the Sigmund Freud hanging statue. We also drank a lot more beer in various different pubs. I was so full of salad and beer, so we all decided to go back to the apartment at 6pm for a little lie down. It turns out turning 21 is exhausting!
Whilst we were at the apartment, I had a little google to see where I wanted to eat that night. Seeing as it was my birthday, it was my choice. I decided I wanted a curry, which was very popular with the family who LOVE curry.
I googled “vegan curries in Prague” and found a curry house called Curry Palace, which was a 20-minute walk away from us. This was a little far, however, it had great reviews online and it seemed to be vegan friendly, so it seemed like the right choice.
We headed out at around 8pm and after the long walk (including lots of hills and steps) we reached Curry Palace. It was located in a relatively quiet area with not many restaurants surrounding it. We walked inside and were greeted by multiple staff members who were SO lovely and could not have made us feel more welcome. They sat us down at our table and I explained I was a vegan. Our server said that was fine and that I could just asked him what I wanted, and he would let me know if it was vegan or not.
I decided to order my favourite curry, a vegetable bhuna, and I also ordered a chapatti – which I was informed was vegan.
The food arrived relatively quickly, which I was very happy about because at this point I was STARVING.
The curry was incredible and was a little spicier than expected. My family said the same about their food too, so if you like spicy food, this is the place for you! All in all, it was a great meal and definitely my favourite meal we had out there.
After our meal, we headed out to consume more alcohol and celebrate the last few hours of my birthday. I had one of the best birthdays with my family in Prague and felt very spoilt all day!
After drinks, we headed back to our apartment and got ready to fly home in the morning. My overall thoughts of Prague were extremely positive. I had visited it a couple of years ago with my best friends, however, I was not vegan back then, so this was a completely different experience for me. I had a lot of fun finding new vegan food and found that I was ordering things that I would not usually eat in England. It was definitely fun to try new things. I will say that I don’t think veganism has quite took off in Prague yet, but it was nice to see there were a few vegan restaurants dotted about. I would love to go back with my vegan friends to try even more food there.
Until next time,
Emma xx
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