Surprising Spots for Brunch

As a meat-eating, flavor-seeking American, there is a lot to like about The Tavern. Famous for their delicious burgers, microbrew beer, and magical cocktails, The Tavern has made a foray into Saturday brunch for those with a hankering for something fulfilling and highly caloric.

Sitting on their quiet terrace looking onto the lush Riegrovy Sady Park with a cold beer in hand, it’s the perfect place to readjust to reality after a night of indulgence. The brunch food on offer seems to speak directly to those diners that are dealing with a bit of pain from the previous night and want some gratuitous food to soothe them.

The items on offer this specific morning were the Brunchburger and deep-dish Quiche Lorraine. The quiche (139 CZK) was indeed deep-dish, being densely packed with scrambled egg, Italian pancetta, spinach, Cheddar and Pecorino cheese inside a buttery pie crust. To add a bit of freshness it came with a salad and even a few slices of juicy watermelon.

The Brunchburger (179 CZK) was a greasy dream come true. Homemade sausage patty, folded scrambled eggs with gouda, two strips of crispy bacon, zingy French dressing salad, on a homemade bun and a side of hash browns. With those amazing ingredients all put together in one bite, nothing else needs to be said.

Most Italians eat biscotti and quickly throw down a shot of espresso as they run out the door in the morning. But La Bottega di Finestra makes the leap of combining fine Italian ingredients with brunch omelets and scrambled eggs to create a rather delectable morning menu within a cozy and refined setting, offered every day until 11:00am.

The first thing to be mentioned about is their Café Americano (39 CZK). Smooth, rich, not bitter, not too intense, but still eye opening. No one else but the Italians could do it in such a way.

The Eggs Benedict (185 CZK) had a zingy, buttery Hollandaise sauce generously poured over perfectly poached eggs, thinly sliced Prosciutto Cotto, and laid upon a piece of toasted Altamura bread drizzled in olive oil. This sumptuous bread bears special mention as it is baked in house by the restaurant’s Italian baker, Mimmo. Brunch or not, a visit just to sample this bread is in order for any foodie in Prague.

The Scrambled Eggs with Prosciutto and Mozzarella (145 CZK) were an elevated, Italianized version of ham and eggs. The elements didn’t combine together on the plate perfectly, with a heaping of Prosciutto Cotto on the side of some undercooked scrambled eggs on toast, topped with a somewhat sour tasting mozzarella cheese. It wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great neither.

More successful was the omelet with homemade Italian Salsiccia (155 CZK). Fluffy eggs on lightly toasted Altamura bread topped with two savory sausages and fine herbs. The omelet was cooked just right and the sausages were appetizing enough, although they were a bit tough to bite through due to the casing. But all in all, it was quite a delicious way to start the day.

With a beautiful, natural setting near the Dzban reservoir in the upper reaches of Prague 6 and a unique concept of an ever-changing vegetarian menu, Grazing Daysi has much to intrigue prospective diners.

The first point to mention about this restaurant is the location. It’s a hike to get there, and I don’t mean that figuratively. One literally has to hike through the woods for about 10 minutes from the Divoká Šárka bus stop, just a few stations from the Prague airport. Perhaps it’s a good way to work up an appetite or perhaps it’s a bit much to ask of a diner that has forgotten to bring their hiking boots. 

The outdoor terrace, with a soothing all-white interior, makes a wonderful first impression. The next impression is the high price of the food.

The Cream of Urad Dahl Soup with Green Beans (90 CZK) had seemingly no salt in it and lacked any sort of spicy kick. Rumi’s Sunday Curry (210 CZK) was a pile of boiled vegetables sitting in a pool of curry-colored water next to overcooked rice. It was inedible.

On the positive side the Chapati Roll (150 CZK), with seasoned potatoes and Indian spices inside a chapati wrap and served with coconut chutney, had a fresh and exotic flavor to it. And the Apple and Ginger crumble (85kc) with homemade ice cream was a cheery dessert.     

Dock House restaurant, located in the hills of Prague 4, is a top-end steakhouse that just so happens to open their doors one Sunday every month to offer a seasonally themed brunch.

The set-up is an all you can eat buffet (490 CZK for adults, 245 CZK for kids aged 7-15, and free for kids under 7 years old) with literally dozens of courses on offer, including four different kinds of salads, soup, dessert, and enough side dishes to mix and match according to your liking. But of course, we come here for the meat, and I was fortunate enough to attend on “Meat and Mushrooms” day.

Amongst the many on offer, a few of the dishes truly stood out and had me coming back for another trip around the buffet table. The veal shoulder was slow cooked with small chanterelle mushrooms in a wonderful, garlicky au jus. The pork neck cooked with fresh cranberry was equally tender and delicious, with the sweet and tart flavor of the cranberry mixed with what tasted like red wine to create a rich, divine sauce that went perfectly with their homemade dumplings. Also outstanding was the mushroom goulash, which was savory and thick and captured the dense flavor of the button mushrooms inside.

More simple, but still tasty was the grilled meat, including made to order beef fillet and Portobello mushrooms. Each could have used more seasoning, but stood out on their own regardless.

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