Bohemian bites: Restaurant serving mini versions of Czech food opens on Wenceslas Square

A new restaurant has opened on the ground floor of the Pytloun Boutique Hotel in Prague's Wenceslas Square. With a number of new hotel restaurants augmenting the city's culinary landscape in 2022, the opening itself isn't groundbreaking.

But the small bites concept and price point may just whet the appetite. Called Taliř ("Plate" in Czech) the restaurant serves traditional Czech cuisine with a tapas twist.

"Taliř is a concept in the form of Czech tapas. Czech cuisine is served on small plates and bowls, small portions of the most popular dishes...This way guests can taste it all at once," said Lukáš Pytloun, CEO of the hotel network.

The menu encompasses Czech mainstays such as svíčková with dumplings, duck and cabbage, and goulash rendered in miniature. Prices for each small plate are around CZK 150; appetizers of pate and tartare are CZK 100. No indication is given of size or weight on the menu.

"Though the restaurant is part of the Pytloun hotel, the entrance is on Wenceslas Square, and patrons are encouraged to enter directly from the street," Pytloun said.

The new restaurant is helmed by chef Denis Wágner who says ingredients for diminutive dishes have been carefully sourced from local farmers and suppliers.

Wágner names trout from a fishery in the Moravian Karst marinated in beetroot, black currant, and dill as well as deer leg from the Green Valley Eco Farm in Vysočina among menu highlights. The 130-seat restaurant is open daily from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. (the bar stays open later).

Designed by architect studio Vrtiška & Žák, the building's new look is the result of a demanding reconstruction of the first three floors of the hotel. Located in a historic space, it housed a hotel after the revolution and then a Česká spořitelna. It was built between 1926 and 1927. The Pytloun opened here in 2018. 

The small plates' concept, has been done to perfection elsewhere including Michelin-starred La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise and Špejle, a bistro and tapas bar where you can eat Czech classics from a wooden skewer.

But Taliř's sleek interior design with its minimalist oval bar and intimate restaurant with dark blue and gold accents may appeal to those looking for something different to try in the new year.