The Red Room is a faintly grungy expat haunt just behind Karlovo Namesti replete with black sofas and dark corners for lounging. You don’t come here for the beer – they only have Staropramen and Hoegaarden on tap which any self-respecting Czech would turn their nose up at – but there’s an extensive range of cocktails if you prefer Long Island Tea to lager. The bar’s main draw is the music. Should you find yourself at a loose end at the end of your long weekend in the city and fancy seeing live acts in an intimate venue, the Red Room is the place to head for. Sunday is open mic night and the standard is refreshingly high. On my last visit I was treated to a French double bass player accompanied by a pal riffing away on clarinet and a British lady with an angelic voice belting out ballad standards like ‘Stand By Me’ as well as the usual mix of aspiring singer-songwriters. Should you need to take a break from the tunes there’s a backroom with a pinball machine and table football. Would-be performers should get there by 8.30pm to sign up for a slot.

www.redroom.cz/index.html
Myslikova 28, Prague 1
+420 222 520 084
Google map: bit.ly/X0psQE

* Lisette is our Been there local for Prague. You can read her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/prague-local-lisette.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/LisettePrague

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Red Pif is a wine shop, wine bar and restaurant, tucked away in the crooked streets in Betlémská, in Prague Old Town. An urban feel establishment, Red Pif is quite modern in terms of Czech vinny bars (wine bars) and offers an interesting blend of Czech and French influences.
As well as a long and detailed wine list, Red Pif offers a daily food menu including varied meat and fish main courses as well as charcuterie plates for sharing.
Not the cheapest place to drink in Prague (many wines are around 60 czk for a small glass, and there is a corkage charge of 100 czk for drinking in-house), but certainly one of the most trendy. Book ahead – Red Pif only has about 10 tables for diners, and is deservedly busy throughout the week.

www.redpif.cz
Betlémská 267/9, 110 00 Praha-Staré Město, Czech Republic
+420 222 232 086
Nearest metro: Narodni Trida
Nearest tram: 17 or 18 (to Karlovy lázně)
Google map: bit.ly/KXPPBO

* Helen is our Been there local for Prague. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/prague-local-helen-ford.jsp and she has her own blog here: czechingin.wordpress.com/

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Is it a restaurant? Is it a club? Is it a record shop? No one is quite sure but either way Radost FX near Namesti Miru is very cool.
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.

www.radostfx.cz/
Bělehradská 22, 120 00, Prague 2
+420 603 193 711
Nearest metro - Namesti Miru or IP Pavlova
Google map: bit.ly/zgnAMf

* Helen is our Been there local for Prague. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/prague-local-helen-ford.jsp and she has her own blog here: czechingin.wordpress.com/

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Upon entering Sudička, a subterranean restaurant in Prague 2, you’ll be glad you knew to come in and didn’t pass straight by. This warmly glowing, inviting gem of a place is almost entirely hidden from pavement level – some small windows around ankle level are all that give it away.
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.

www.sudicka.cz/
Nitranská 1355/7, 130 00 Praha 3
+420 222 511 609

Opening houses described as Monday - Saturday from 3:33 pm to 11:33 pm (mostly even longer) , which seems to cover most bases for evening dining!
Sunday closed
Nearest Metro:
Nearest Tram: 10 or 16 (Vinohradska vodarna) or 11 (Jiriho z Podebrad)
Google map: bit.ly/qIEtxs

* Helen is our Been there local for Prague. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/prague-local-helen-ford.jsp and she has her own blog here: czechingin.wordpress.com/

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It sometimes seems that there is not a bar in the world that Hemingway did not frequent. However, Hemingway Bar in central Prague takes inspiration from the watering holes of Hemingway’s era rather than staking an actual
claim on the author’s custom.
The bar, which occupies two cosy rooms, has a classic American bar feel: walls lined with bottles of spirits, lots of dark wood, leather furniture and soft lighting. Hemingway’s boasts an impressive and modern cocktail menu,
presented by very knowledgeable staff. The bar is particularly proud of its rum selection – it offers over 100 bottles – and its absinthe offerings.
The menu, like the bar itself, manages to be simultaneously comfortably familiar and strikingly modern. My personal favourite is the Jasmine Tea Cup – gin infused with jasmine tea, with lime cordial and fresh lime served,
brilliantly, in a china tea cup.
Lovely for an after dinner drink a la deux, or tres cool for drinks with the girls. Subtle glamour in the heart of Prague.

www.hemingwaybar.cz/bar-praha/
Karolíny Světlé 279/26, 110 00 Prague 1, Czech Republic
+42(0)773 974 764
Google map: bit.ly/qTiUPU

* Helen is our Been there local for Prague. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/prague-local-helen-ford.jsp and she has her own blog here: czechingin.wordpress.com/

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It’s sometimes confusing for tourists wandering around central Prague late on a Saturday night to work out where all the cool bars are. Answer: they’re underground. Beer cellars and underground space are frequently used and more often than not, a lot more fun than the tourist-focused bars at street level.
U Sudu is a great little bar on Vodičkova (just off Wenceslas Square) that is always open until the small hours. Chiefly a wine bar (although it also serves beer), U Sudu sprawls downwards like a vertical maze over several floors with each level having its own bar (and some table-football tables).
Warm and toasty but also rather smoky, it gets busy and can be a little claustrophobic, so possibly not somewhere to bring your parents.

www.usudu.cz/
Vodičkova 10, Praha 1, 110 00
+420 222 232 207
Open from 10.00 to 04.00 or 05.00 every day (03.00 on Sunday)
Nearest Tram: 3, 9. 14. 24 or 91 to Vodičkova
Google map: bit.ly/nqzlm0

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If you're wanting to check out Prague's gay scene, then this fun and funky dance club in the Vinohrady district is where to start. The first thing you see on entering the long underground bar is a full size Communist Skoda car hanging from the wall. Underneath it is a dancefloor pulsating to the sounds of club hits and Czech songs mashed up. Imagine Madonnas 'Like a Virgin' sung in Czech language, and you get the picture. Wednesday nights are the best, as many locals are in then. Well worth checking out.

Termix Klub
Trebizskeho 4a, Prague 2, Vinohrady
Google map: tinyurl.com/386evdd

www.club-termix.cz/

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A great concert venue that often hosts art exhibitions and varied leftfield dance nights in the underground bars. Look out for the missing brick in the wall which reveals 3 dead bodies under the stairs!

Kubelikova 27, Prague 3
www.palacakropolis.cz

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As the name suggests, it is a club, but also has a bar and meal facilities. The main thing is the 15th century vault where there are concerts on a tiny stage. I heard Lubos Andrst Blues Band in April, and it was simply divine. It is right in the centre of Prague, right behind the Old Town Square. Brilliant night out with good Czech beer and brilliant music.

Tyn 2, Tynska Ulicka, Praha 1; ungelt@jazzblues.cz; www.jazzblues.cz

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Great pub, popular with students, young crowd. Beer garden out back. Stock Czech menu, so smazeny syr, hranolky a tatarka (fried cheese, chips, tartare sauce) is good stuff. Some other good bars in the area, too, including Akropolis club and not far to walk to see the radio/TV tower with statues of babies crawling up it.

Bořivojova 110, Prague 3 Trams 5, 9, 26, 55 and 58 (stop Husinecká).

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Situated very near to Malastranke Namesti, this is a great place to stop and have lunch, or maybe a couple of beers, while exploring the Mala Strana area.

The atmosphere is friendly and inviting; a largish room decorated with frescos/paintings of Prague. At lunch-time it was very busy with a mixture of visitors and locals, all sharing the wooden tables. The general feel is of a good old-fashioned pub/beer hall.

The food is traditional Czech (Fried fillet of fish with tartare sauce
Pork fillet with cheese, Dumplings
Boiled potatoes,Red beet salad)
with a range of main course and smaller dishes. Service was slow with only one – very friendly and charming – waiter/barman serving everyone in the place. However, while you are waiting you can enjoy the dark and light Staropramen beer.

The food, when it arrived, was good quality and at a very reasonable cost. I’d recommend it.

Karmelitska 25, Mala Strana
Very near Malostranske namesti and St. Nicholas Church

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This is possibly my favourite pub/beer hall in Prague. It’s situated very near the Loreto and a short walk from the Castle.

You can’t really see into the pub from the outside so it doesn’t always look like it is open (above the door is a trio of figures in stucco on the façade of the building) but don't be put off as inside is a small traditional beer hall, with long wooden tables and benches lining the walls, serving fantastic Velkopopovicky Kozel beer.

The clientele seems mainly to be locals with a smattering of tourists. It can get quite busy but still retain the sort of relaxed, comfortable atmosphere where at one table someone may be sitting quietly reading the paper while at another a group of colleagues or friends indulge in a lively discussion all seemingly happy and all accompanied, of course, by the wonderful beer.

The pub also serves snack type food such as sausage and mustard, scrambled egg with onion, salted fish, pickled cheese.

Large beers are 21 kr (approx. 0.45 sterling each) food ranges from about 20kr-40kr (0.43 to 0.87 sterling) each

In winter it’s a great place to escape from the cold, in summer a lovely place to rest your feet while exploring Hradcany. Highly recommended.

Loretanske namesti 1, Hradcany
About 30 seconds from the Loreta, 5 to 7 minutes from the Strahov Monastry and 7 to 8 minutes from the gates of Prague Castle

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A pub/restaurant between Betlémské náměstí and Staroměstké náměstí.

Huge beer cellar with good atmosphere, mentioned in The Good Soldier Švejk.

Worth remembering for the fact it serves food very late - up to 1am normally - which is extremely handy to know if you've just arrived in Prague off a late train/plane.

And as an added bonus, the food's both decent and fairly reasonable - expect to pay about CZK 250-300 for a hearty meal plus a beer or two.

Jilská 4, Praha 1. From Můstek station, walk towards Staroměstké náměstí and take 1st left (Rytiřská). At the next crossroads go right up Skořepka to Betlémské náměstí, then right again into Jilská.

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The best jazz club in Prague! OK, so it's the only one I've been to, but it was brilliant - really good live music, waiters serving drinks to people in every nook and cranny of the venue (which was small but it had what could be described as 'character' for want of a less cliched term) - it was everything a jazz club should be. You can also buy CDs from their website - it took me a while to understand it all (there were dubious English translations) but don't give up, it'll be worth it in the end.

Agharta Jazz Centrum
Praha 1, Železná 16
Tel: + 420 222 211 275

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