http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/34400 The coffee at Café Lounge is really excellent, and available to take away. Unusually for Prague, the menu features a flat white (67 czk) - served in a glass tumbler, with a heart drawn into the foam and a delicate biscuit on the side. Other coffee offerings include vacuum press coffee (95/125 CZK for a tricky arrangement that involved what looked like a high-school chemistry kit) as well as the usual cappuccino and espressos. Coffees and teas are all served with a suduko game to attempt while you sip, which is a charming touch. Café Lounge also offers a very extensive food menu from breakfast through to snacks and main meals, as well as daily options.
Service is impressive. Knowledgeable, friendly but unintrusive. A great experience and well worth the visit for something a little smarter than usual.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/34400 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/34355 An incredibly modern cafe frequented by tourists and Prague hipsters - the perfect place to rest gallery-wearied feet.
Offers tea, coffee and a small range of sweet snacks.
Open throughout summer 2012.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/34355 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/34124
Located 50m from Jiřího z Poděbrad metro station (on the green line), the “Laundry cafe“ is so named as the buidling previously functioned as a...laundry! Even today, the cafe retains that sort of friendly, clean efficiency you expect from a laundrette – the proporietor bakes cakes in the main room while taking orders and making cappucino. Prádelna offers a broad drinks menu and decent food options, including daily soups (from 38 CZK), pates (from 65 CZK), paninis (63 CZK) and homemade ice cream and desserts. Their fresh baked cakes come extremely highly recommended.

A great local business with friendly service.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/34124 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33434 Street level houses a quirky veggie café and a music/video/wine shop. Downstairs is a lounge/restaurant area with the same menu, and a club.
During the daytime enjoy the Radost FX cafe. Set behind large windows facing the street, the cafe has some pretty eclectic decor. Tuck into breakfast from 8-11, or later on enjoy the wide vegetarian menu later in the day. Radost Fx has a truly global menu, boasting dishes from countries including Greece, Italy, India and Thailand as well as some of the best veggie burgers and 'slaw ever. Food is available all day.
The same menu is available in the longue area downstairs, which is complimented by a great bar and live music at the weekends - well into the small hours.
I especially love the shop area on street level next to the cafe. As well as videos, DVDs and wine, this cosy shop offers an ever changing selection of vintage and contemporary music on vinyl.
There’s something for everyone here, at any time of day.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33434 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33198 Penzion V Polich is a wonderful place to finish a romp in the countryside with some hearty food in comfortable surroundings. The menu has a heavy Czech influence and offers a lot of game, but the tastes are more refined and adventurous than you will see on a typical Czech tourist menu. On my recent visit options included smoked duck breast, foie gras, pork belly, goose, fallow dear and rabbit, all cooked exceptionally well.
The staff speak relatively little English by Prague standards but are incredibly accommodating of non-Czech visitors and patient in translating as much as they can. The penzion is warm and cosy on a winter's afternoon, but also offers outside dining space for the summer months. Prices are very reasonable: three courses and two beers set us back around 600 czk per person, for some of the best food I have eaten in the Czech Republic. Be sure to book ahead.
A real treat.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33198 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33026 Set in the Old Town, Choco Café offers the widest variety of chocolate and chocolate drinks I have ever seen. Its offerings include chocolate with quinoa or pineapple and hot chocolate served with ginger or chili.
Be prepared, the hot chocolate is pretty much just melted chocolate – rich, smooth and thick enough to stand a spoon in. 55 CZK for the standard. Whipped cream and other ingredients such as chili, fruit, and alcohol are extra.
Choco Café accommodates non-chocolate fanatics as well, offering a small non-chocolate menu including teas, and some food. A good central lunch stop.
Café Chocolate also operates as a postcard museum and shop and a chocolate shop. It sells some of the most beautifully presented chocolate bars you’ll ever see – mainly by Italian chocolate company Stainer. Each wrapper is a work of art in itself, and the chocolate is delicious.
Cosy and snug in the winter. The back opens onto a small garden for fresh air in the summer.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33026 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32905 The menu (available in English and Czech) is fantastically informative and includes over eighty loose-leaf teas. With a three or four line description of each tea, the menu reads more like a novel and includes “a good tea to drink whilst reminiscing” (The Calling for Nepal), tea that is “suitable for drinking when returning from a walk in the park at twilight”, (Silver Monkey’s Paw), and tea “for a quiet meeting with close friends” (Sencha Kyoto). Dobrá Čajovna also has a small food menu offering snacks such as nuts and Japanese rice crackers. Savoury dishes including couscous and hummus are also available. Soft drinks are offered and are, happily, limited to exotic sounding chilled fruit juices – no crowd-pleasing Coca-Cola!
Dobrá Čajovna has inside seating as well as an outside area with bamboo sun umbrellas, low tables and stools, and is non-smoking throughout. Excellent service - attentive and very well informed.
Dobrá Čajovna also has a shop selling leaf teas, teapots and cups.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32905 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32766 Its largest café on Vodičkova off Wenceslas Square is always busy, its two stories frequented by locals, expats and tourists alike. Table service is offered by helpful staff who are will offer advice on their range of Ethiopian, Honduran and other coffee beans and Fair Trade Teas, which are all also available to buy. They are also happy to leave you to relax, or work on your laptop (offering free Wi-Fi upstairs).
MamaCoffee offers good quality snacks – cakes, brownies and sandwiches. I had the best spinach quiche of my life here, which was an unexpected perk.
Floor to ceiling windows and a non-smoking policy make this a lovely, bright place to relax or work, and offers high quality Fair Trade coffee at reasonable prices.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32766 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32502 Like a much-loved teddy bear, local favourite Dobra Trafika is a little worn around the edges, which makes local residents love it even more.
The menu includes several pages of teas and coffees, cakes and delicious stuffed pitta breads, at cheap-as-chips prices.
Delightfully scruffy, living-room-cosy and great value.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32502 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32501 An excellent wine selection and the best limoncello I’ve had outside Italy complete a fantastic meal.
Not a cheap option, but great for a splurge.
Book ahead – Aromi is deservedly popular throughout the week.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32501 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32465 Sudička offers an intimate, cosy space for drinks or dinner, lit by candles and low lighting.
The menu is creative, with a range of excellent salads (my favourite is smoked salmon with strawberries), cheese specialties including raclette and fondue and heartier dishes to warm your cockles throughout winter. Sudička boasts an impressive wine list (including several by the glass) as well as a particularly wide range of teas.
Lovely staff and very reasonable prices complete the experience.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32465 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32313 A very fresh interior with blocks of pastel colours on the walls is complemented by genuine Art Deco tables, chairs and light fittings.
Attracting Prague’s young hipsters, this café is a great place to relax any time of day, offering a good breakfast menu (including excellent scrambled eggs), salads, toasted sandwiches, pastries and generous portions of cake. Kaaba also offers an excellent range of coffee and other soft drinks and has a well-stocked bar.
Offers free WiFi and friendly staff.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32313 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32169 Pho Vietnam also offers Vietnamese curry dishes with rice, and some sushi.
A basic restaurant but a great quick and healthy option for food in a hurry.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32169 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32120 Although the café closed for several years under the communists, its interior underwent considerable reconstruction in the 1990s. Today visitors will still get a feel of the grandiose café scene that existed at the beginning of the last century, as they walk up the wide staircase with marble walls and an iron handrail. The main room of the café, overlooking Národní below, boasts high ceilings, large windows and huge mirrors, which makes this one of the most splendid locations to drink caj or kava in the whole of Prague.
Louvre does offer full savoury meals, including soups, salads and pancakes. However, the best reason for a visit is the magnificent coffee and cake menu. Their homemade cakes, strudels and waffles will satisfy even the sweetest tooth – the blueberry cake on linz dough with vanilla ice-cream (65 CZK) keeps me coming back again and again.
An impressive drinks menu makes Louvre a winter time favourite – hot chocolate with rum and whipped cream (59 CZK) will keep you warm when it’s cold outside.
For good quality coffee and dessert set in historic opulence, look no further.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32120 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32045 The park is well served by drinking establishments. Mlíkárna is my favourite beer garden. It’s open from early April until late October and, while it can be crowded on a sunny weekend day, offers a takeaway (“sebo” in Czech) option so you can enjoy your beer in a quieter spot.
At the weekends Mlíkárna also has an outdoor barbeque offering sausages (klobasa) and other snacks.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32045 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31707 Food is priced by weight - lunch will set you back around 160 CZK/ £6.

Lovely warming food in winter. A cool oasis (with garden) in the summer. Beas-Dhaba does get busy but offers a very quick turn around time - great for lunch in a hurry!

Beas-Dhaba has four restaurnat in Prague. See the website for more details.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31707 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31641 The purple and green boutique interior is lovely, and the pastries excellent. Service could be quicker, but you’re here to linger so it doesn’t really matter.
Breakfast and brunch set menus are available every day, including “Parisienne” (croissant and coffee) or “Bonne Santé” (Greek yoghurt and muesli), as well as an a la carte menu offering a good variety of eggs – scrambled, poached and boiled. Café Armandiene also offers a weekend brunch special – a glass of something fizzy, coffee or tea, juice, and mini viennoiseries, eggs and breads for 295 CZK.
Quiche, tartines, sandwiches, hot dishes, salads, pancakes and blinis are also available throughout the day.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31641 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31494 Slightly off the beaten track in Prague 7, this French-Czech owned cafe-restaurant does what is says on the tin. Crepes - lovely big ones with interesting fillings. Savoury crepes for lunch or dinner. Prices range from 70 CZK for a galette with egg and ham, to 125 CZK for the works - Galette Campagnarde (smoked ham, egg, potatoes, cheese and butter). Decedent sweet crepes follow (if you have any room left). Quiches and pastries are also available. Brittan cider is the drink of choice here, served in traditional earthenware.
The modest, low lit interior adds to the atmosphere and the staff are very friendly.
A stone's throw from the city centre and a very short walk from the National Gallery at Veletrzni Palac, this is my favourite post-gallery pick-me-up.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31494 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31468 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31468 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31467 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31467