🇨🇿 went to Prague for coffee; big mistake 🙂↕️😭
After a week of dining in Prague, I left with three very personal conclusions:
☕️ Prague’s cafés are often much better at desserts than coffee.
🥔 I may never emotionally connect with bread dumplings and potatoes.
🍚 When the Asian-food cravings hit, Korean food is probably your safest bet — based on what we tried, at least.
[Linking the locations of the Hits for easy reference!]
☕️ THE CAFÉS
After Spain, I really should have learnt my lesson.
The coffee culture I encountered in Europe was very different from what I was used to in Asia-Pacific. This may be an unpopular opinion, but after one too many disappointing cups, I eventually became afraid to order caffeine.
Prague was no exception.
Many cafés had beautiful machines, freshly ground beans and all the proper coffee-making theatrics. Yet the final drink somehow still tasted thin, watery and deeply underwhelming.
The food and desserts, however?
That was where Prague’s cafés redeemed themselves. Some of them should honestly stop calling themselves cafés and rebrand as dessert houses. Personal opinion, don’t come at me 😭
Come for: The brunch tasting set and větrník
Skip: Having high expectations for the coffee
Our photographer recommended SmetanaQ because it was one of his favourite cafés in which to spend an afternoon.
He said the coffee was decent. We found it mid.
The food, however, took us by surprise. They had a brunch tasting set on the menu — essentially the perfect solution for indecisive people like me.
Cannot decide between avocado toast and eggs Benedict? Then someone at the next table orders a waffle, you watch it arrive, and suddenly you need that too?
Just order the tasting set and have everything.
Of the three, my favourite was the waffle drenched in strawberry sauce. Why do we not have more brunch tasting sets back home?!
As though the waffle was not enough, the husband also ordered a větrník, a Czech choux pastry filled with cream and caramel. His eyes widened the moment he took his first bite, which told me everything I needed to know.
Worth visiting for brunch and dessert. The service, however, was nothing to write home about. 🤡
Come for: The best coffee we had in Prague
Know before going: It gets crowded
Coffee Factory was only a few steps away from our accommodation, so we visited for brunch.
The food was decent, although the portions were slightly smaller than expected. But the coffee deserves its own paragraph because it was easily the best cup I had during the entire trip.
Finally, proper coffee. Not a sad, watered-down espresso pretending to be one.
The service was friendly, but the café gets busy. Arrive early, or you may be told that there will not be a table for another hour.
🙂↔️ The Miners Coffee — Charles Bridge
Come for: A convenient rest stop
Skip: Making a special trip for the coffee
The Miners has several locations around Prague. We visited the outlet near Charles Bridge after our legs had started filing formal complaints about all the walking.
As a place to sit down, warm up and use the bathroom without paying extra, it did the job. In Europe, a free toilet can sometimes feel like a small luxury.
The coffee, unfortunately, returned us to familiar territory: fancy equipment, freshly ground beans and a cup that still tasted strangely diluted.
I do not get it.
Treat it as a useful pit stop rather than a coffee pilgrimage. Seating is casual and first come, first served, so find an empty spot and settle in.
Come for: The interiors, history and desserts
Manage your expectations for: Coffee and service
Café Slavia is one of those places that appears on almost every Prague must-visit list.
There is usually a queue outside, and the café looks incredibly inviting from the street. Inside, you will find beautiful Art Deco interiors, large windows and a space long associated with Prague’s writers, poets and intellectuals.
The interiors were a solid 10/10, especially during the day. A window seat would have made the experience even better, but those tables were understandably highly coveted.
With all that history and grandeur, you would expect the café experience to be unforgettable.
It was — just not for the reasons we expected.
The coffee was underwhelming, while the tea was so overpriced that I briefly regretted not producing my own tea bag and thermal flask.
But the desserts saved everything.
We ordered a crêpe with orange butter sauce and another with sour cherry sauce. Then, a third dessert appeared: Kaiserschmarrn, the fluffy shredded-pancake dessert associated with Austria.
It arrived first, so I happily started eating it, assuming it was somehow the sour-cherry crêpe I had ordered.
Imagine my confusion when the actual crêpe appeared later.
The staff did not seem particularly bothered by the mix-up. Our server gave us a shrug and walked away. 🤨
Still, all three desserts were delicious — sweet, well executed and capable of putting anyone in a better mood.
Since we had already polished off the accidental Kaiserschmarrn, we were prepared to pay for it. But when the bill arrived, it was nowhere to be found.
The honest Singaporean in me wanted to alert the staff. The other part of me argued that I should not have to pay for something I had never ordered, even though I had eaten every last bite. 🙂↕️
We paid the bill placed in front of us and left without another word.
Call it compensation for the confusion and service.
🙂↔️ Fantova Budova, Praha hlavní nádraží
Come for: The historic train-station setting
Skip: Arriving early solely to eat here
The most memorable thing about this café was its location inside the older section of Prague’s main railway station.
The Art Nouveau surroundings were beautiful and made it a pleasant place to wait for a train. Stop for a quick bite when you are already passing through, but do not worry if you miss it. You will not be missing an essential Prague food experience.
🍽️ CZECH FOOD
The restaurants were generally more rewarding than the cafés — particularly when meat, gravy and slow cooking were involved.
The bread dumplings and potatoes remained a personal struggle, but Prague did convince me that a good goose leg can make almost any side dish feel secondary.
Come for: An accessible introduction to Czech food
When in Prague, you will probably want to try traditional Czech food at least once.
Lokál is a restaurant chain, and we visited the U Jiráta outlet after seeing mostly positive reviews online.
The service was friendly and brisk, and the food was good for the price. One unexpectedly memorable highlight was the freshly squeezed grapefruit juice.
At one point, a staff member walked past carrying a crate filled with squeezed grapefruit halves. His expression suggested that he was completely and spiritually done with citrus fruit.
I respect the commitment.
Come for: The goose leg
Know before going: It is better for eating than lingering
After spending more than half a day exploring Prague Castle, we wanted a warm lunch that could wash away the cold and fatigue.
Most restaurants near the castle were understandably tourist-priced. We found U Dvou slunců by chance after noticing locals constantly walking in and out.
The welcome at the door was not especially friendly, but the food more than made up for it.
We ordered the goose leg and spinach dumplings to share. The goose was easily the highlight: rich, tender and exactly what we needed after hours in the cold.
The dumplings did not convert me, but the goose came close.
The mobile reception was patchy indoors, and I remember it being a cash-only restaurant, so bring cash just in case.
This is not really a place for a long, leisurely hangout unless you are prepared to keep ordering drinks. Eat well, finish up and make space for the next group.
Come for: Generous portions and excellent-value set lunches
We finished our walking tour late, hungry and increasingly desperate for food before eventually landing here.
Finding the restaurant was strangely confusing because the entrance was located inside a hotel. Do not expect the hotel’s front-desk staff to enthusiastically guide you there either.
We arrived just as lunch service was ending, but the restaurant kindly accommodated us at the last minute.
They were flexible with the set-lunch options, the portions were generous and the food was genuinely good.
They also served complimentary welcome drinks — glasses of house wine and non-alcoholic wine. We liked the non-alcoholic version so much that we ended up buying a bottle to bring home.
Come for: The standout meal of the trip
Important: Book ahead
We spent New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in Prague, and this restaurant came highly recommended by friends who once lived in the neighbourhood.
“You have to visit them,” they insisted.
So we booked a table for New Year’s Eve. Thankfully, we did. Throughout the evening, several couples and groups tried to walk in, only to be turned away because the restaurant was completely full.
We had booked so far in advance that we had no idea what the special menu would include — or how expensive it would actually be. 🤑🤑🤑
YOLO.
It ended up being the highlight of our Prague food experience.
They accommodated my food allergies even though I had forgotten to inform them in advance. We began the evening with complimentary champagne, every course arrived beautifully plated, and the execution was consistently excellent.
They even took our coats and hung them up when we entered — a simple gesture, but one that made the evening feel polished from the beginning.
It was easy to understand why our friends had recommended it so enthusiastically.
🍚 WHEN THE ASIAN CRAVINGS HIT
Take the Asian out of Asia, but you cannot quite take Asia out of the Asian.
Eventually, I needed hot soup, rice and flavours that reminded me of home.
Come for: Comforting Korean food in cold weather
This was our second Korean restaurant in Prague. The first had been overpriced and completely disappointing, so expectations were low.
BIWON tasted much more authentic.
Naturally, it was significantly more expensive than the Korean food we are used to back home, and the portions were not especially generous. But when it is freezing outside and you desperately want hot soup with rice, it does the job.
Of the Asian meals we tried in Prague, Korean food was easily the safest option.
Verdict: Not worth the calories
BON Ramen was highly rated. The service was fast and the food arrived piping hot.
Unfortunately, that was where the compliments ended.
The ramen tasted as though it had been adjusted for a much milder palate. If you have eaten ramen in Japan — or even had good ramen elsewhere in Asia — this may leave you deeply unsatisfied.
Even mediocre ramen in Japan is usually still decent.
This was not.
Unless you are prepared to settle, save your appetite for somewhere else.
From my recent experience wandering through Prague’s café scene, I realized that while the city may boast an impressive array of coffee shops equipped with state-of-the-art machines and freshly ground beans, the coffee itself often falls short of expectations. The coffee I tasted was frequently thin and diluted, which was quite surprising given the setup. However, this disappointment was often offset by the exceptional desserts that these cafés offered. If you’re a dessert lover like me, the cafés in Prague are heaven — the větrník at SmetanaQ or the crêpes at Café Slavia are perfect examples. For coffee aficionados seeking strong, well-crafted brews, places like Coffee Factory stood out as a rare oasis of good coffee in the city, though be prepared for crowds. It’s a reminder to manage expectations when it comes to coffee in Prague. On the savory side, traditional Czech cuisine favors rich, slow-cooked meats and hearty dishes. Even if bread dumplings and potatoes didn’t win my heart, the goose leg at U Dvou slunců was a standout meal — tender, flavorful, and warming on a cold day. These dishes highlight how Prague’s culinary charms often lie beyond the coffee cup. If you’re craving Asian flavors in Prague, Korean food emerges as a safe and comforting option, especially in cold weather. BIWON Korea offers authentic tastes that contrast sharply with other Asian fare I've tried here. I found myself yearning for the warmth of soup and rice, and their menu delivered just that, albeit at prices higher than back home. One lesson I took away is that Prague’s café culture might not cater well to those used to bold, intense coffee but rewards those open to experiencing its sweet creations and rich traditional foods. For visitors, I advise exploring a mix of cafés for dessert and specialized spots for quality coffee, plus embracing Czech dining with hearty dishes and even keeping Korean food in mind for a comforting, taste-of-home experience.
