Don’t try to define Czech food – just enjoy it!

Joe Lennon (5. 9. 2023)

“Where can we get some good Czech food?”

You would think that after living in Brno for many years, and hearing this question from countless visitors, I would have an easy answer. But somehow the question always triggers the philosopher in me, and I think to myself:

“But wait – what IS Czech food, exactly??”

It’s a good question! But luckily for my hungry visitors, who are more in the mood for edible pleasures than ethnographic musings, Brno offers many simple (and delicious) answers.

So here are some places I usually start walking toward while my guests and I debate the different possible definitions of Czech food. So that by the time our order arrives, the only words left to say are “dobrou chuť” (Czech for “chow down”).

If I’m in the mood for this classic comfort food, my first stop is Lokál U Caipla (which everyone just calls Lokál), a sleek modern take on the old-fashioned beer hall. Technically, it’s a chain – there are several other Lokáls around the country – but there some genuinely local touches here, like the goofy artwork on the walls, which spells out words in Brno’s Hantec dialect.

Probably the most Czech thing you can order here is svíčková na smetaně – beef sirloin in a slightly sweet, slightly savory and creamy veggie sauce. Or if that’s not on the menu (which changes seasonally), go for the guláš, which in its Czech guise is less spicy and has a thicker sauce than traditional Hungarian goulash – but is still very yummy.

Of course you can get basic meat-sauce-dumpling dishes at any pub in the country – and certainly for a bit cheaper. But Lokál does them consistently well.

It’s always bustling and busy, so if you’re a big group, reservations are essential. But if you’re just one or two, you can squeeze in at a bigger table and make some new friends, beer hall style.

If Lokál is slammed, or if you want somewhere a bit cozier and quieter, go down Dvořákova street to U třech čertů (At the Three Devils) – which serves a fantastic guláš as well as many other classic Czech meals. It’s also a mini-chain, with a sister restaurant on Starobrněnská street near Petrov Cathedral.

“But there’s no such thing as truly Czech food – it’s just Austro-Hungarian.”

But it’s just as wrong to say these dishes aren’t Czech. After all, as the food historian Martin Franc points out, Prague’s fancy restaurants were often staffed by Czech cooks, who adapted  folk recipes from the Bohemian countryside into their dishes. And Vienna’s middle-class households employed many a Moravian maid, whipping up floury plum dumplings to add a sweet Czech flavor to the Middle Europe melting pot.

If you want to soak up this multicultural ambience and ambiguity along with your hearty sauces, go to Hostinec U Semináru, which is a short walk north from the city center, just beyond the newly-renovated park in Moravské náměstí.

U Semináru serves up excellent versions of all the typical Czech-and-beyond dishes – but the menu, as well as the décor, leans hard into Austro-Hungarian nostalgia – there’s even a portrait of Emperor Franz Joseph and his bushy white mutton chops hanging on the wall.

Vietnamese food is Czech food

There are over 80,000 people of Vietnamese origin in the republic, making them the third-largest ethnic minority – so to exclude Vietnamese food from a definition of Czech food would be pretty arbitrary. It would be like describing American cuisine without Mexican salsas and moles, or British cuisine without Indian curries. Blasphemy. And blandness.

Večerka café on Pekařská street has tried to blend the two traditions by doing some obvious Czech-Vietnamese fusion – and the results are aesthetically pleasing. They serve colorful and tasty rice bowls, and Vietnamese coffee in fancy porcelain filters.

Fried cheese and beer

I recently had a nice runny one made from hermelín (a Camembert copycat) at U Mamlasů in the main square. Stopkova on Česká street (and many other places) make good ones from gouda.

Before you ask, yes, Czech beer is food. No need to debate that.

I also don’t need to tell you where to get good Czech beer. After all, at the airport, the border police already handed you a foamy mug of Pilsner with their right hand as they stamped your passport with their left…

…oh, they don’t do that anymore? Ok, I guess you had to get here back when everything was still cool, before [insert year you first came to the Czech Republic].

There are a thousand awesome Czech beers and a million ways to enjoy them, but one very lovely local tradition I can recommend is the playground beer.

If you walk around town, you’ll notice that conveniently located within a few steps of every playground is a pub or kiosk or window selling beer to go. This makes it very easy for responsible Czech adults to fulfill their twin sacred duties of good parenting and outdoor beer drinking, as they sip a beer, gossip with other parents, and watch their youngsters have a good time.

If you actually have kids, and want to join the biggest and bougiest playground beer crowd in Brno, head to Pivnice U Čápa in Obilní trh, where there’s company for all ages, every day, any time after lunch.

But you don’t need to have kids to enjoy the playground beer tradition – and if you want a quieter scene, I recommend the playground next to the U Alberta pub, in the park just underneath Špilberk Castle.

Grab a Šalina 11-degree lager (they’ll give it to you in a proper glass), and take it out to one of the park benches. Gaze out through the leafy trees at the bright facades of the century-old houses on Pellicova street, listen to the murmur of the city, and enjoy the soul food that makes questions about what Czech cuisine is or isn’t utterly irrelevant.

Phenomenon is the work of a specific author (Joe Lennon); it does not express the official views of the City of Brno or TIC BRNO.

The author also regularly blogs for Brno Daily and the Brno Expat Centre.