Long Awaited Lunch

By the time we finished the castle, it was past 3 o'clock and our stomachs were reminding us all the nourishment we had taken in that day were poor cups of cappuccino from the airport lounge. After consulting the guidebook and reading up on the budget options in the neighborhood, we headed to Restaurant Bar Bar in the Mala Strana area.

The restaurant was hidden below the streets of Mala Strana in an artistically decorated cellar. We perused the menu to find we could enjoy and gourmet meal and beer for less than a sandwich from a sidewalk vendor in the Netherlands. We were in!

We started the meal with 30 Kc (€1) half-liter Czech Beer - Staropramen. I enjoyed the half dark/half light variety, while Matt sipped on the light version. Everyone is right - Czech beer just may be the best (and cheapest) beer in Europe. It was crisp, clean, and smooth - perfect for an afternoon break from site seeing.

Our lunch was probably the best food we have eaten since arriving in Europe. Matt enjoyed salmon with a pesto and sun-dried tomato sauce and I feasted on a Parma ham wrapped pork loin with an apple and plum sauce. Amazing. There were even quarter slices of fresh pineapple on the plates as garnish.

Even more amazing was our bill was less than €15! We enjoyed it so much we came back the next day for the 120Kc (€5) lunch menu consisting of soup, an entree, and a drink. The cornflake-crusted fried codfish I had the next day was hands down the best fried fish I have ever had!

If you visit Prague this is a can't miss lunch spot. Go early in your trip because you might want to visit it twice!