Czech Beer & Food: What to Eat and Drink

The Czechs drink more beer per head than any nation on earth, and the pub is the beating heart of social life. But there's far more to Czech eating and drinking than lager — hearty roasts and dumplings, a reviving spa liqueur, and a fast-rising wine country in the south.

The home of Pilsner

The world's first golden lager was brewed in Plzen (Pilsen) in 1842, when the town's brewery produced a clear, pale beer that became the template for the 'pilsner' style now drunk everywhere. Pilsner Urquell still comes from there, while Budweiser Budvar hails from Ceske Budejovice in the south. Order beer by size (a velke is half a litre) and look for it served tankove — unpasteurised tank beer — for the freshest pour.

The Czech pub

The hospoda is a national institution: unpretentious, wood-panelled and sociable, where a freshly tapped half-litre often costs less than a bottle of water and regulars settle in for the evening. A beer mat left on the table means 'keep them coming'; cross it through or say zaplatim when you're ready to pay. Many pubs brew their own — Prague's microbrewery scene is excellent — and most serve the classic plates below.

Classic dishes

Czech cooking is hearty, meaty and built for the climate. The national dish is svickova — roast beef in a creamy root-vegetable sauce with bread dumplings, a dollop of cranberry and a swirl of cream. Look also for vepro-knedlo-zelo (roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut), beef goulash with dumplings, smazeny syr (fried cheese), and the crisp roast-pork knuckle (koleno) made for sharing over beer. Dumplings — knedliky — come with almost everything.

Sweet things

For dessert, try ovocne knedliky (fruit dumplings dusted with sugar and curd), apple strudel and medovnik honey cake. The spiral of sugared dough sold from street stalls as trdelnik is a tourist-era invention rather than a true Czech classic, but it's tasty enough on a cold day.

Beyond beer

Czechia isn't only about lager. South Moravia is a serious wine region, its cellars and vineyards around Mikulov and Valtice well worth a detour, and the autumn young wine (burcak) is a seasonal treat. From the spa town of Karlovy Vary comes Becherovka, a herbal bitter once sold as a digestive cure, and plum slivovice brandy is the traditional toast.

Quick recommendation

Spend at least one evening in a proper hospoda over tank-fresh Pilsner and a plate of svickova or goulash, seek out a Prague microbrewery, and if you reach the south, give Moravian wine a try. Eat where the menu is in Czech and the locals outnumber the tourists.