Czech Food You Have to Try in the Czech Republic

When you think of Czech food, what do you think of?

When travelling to France, England, Italy or Switzerland, we had a pretty good idea what to expect in the way of food before arriving. Travelling to the Czech Republic was a whole other story. We had never heard of, let alone tried, Czech food so we had no idea what Czech food to try while there.

In planning our trip, we read about the most popular dishes but we really weren’t familiar with the flavour profile of Czech food so we had no idea what to expect or if the kids, while not picky eaters, would even find anything they liked. It turns out, Czech food is wonderful! Each of the kids had their favourite dishes and treats. Servings were huge so even Lucas, our 15 year old, didn’t leave a meal hungry!

For those visiting Prague and the Czech Republic, here are our 8 favourite Czech foods to try. I hope our list of favourites will help! If you’re looking for a place to try all these amazing foods, check out our favourite Czech restaurants in Prague!

Our Favourite Czech Food

1. Smažený Sýr

This yummy gooey deep fried cheese is delicious! It’s served with tartar sauce and fries or potatoes. This was, by far, Lucas’ favourite Czech food.

2. Guláš

In Czech Republic, gulas is a a beef stew rather than a soup like Hungary. It’s often served with potato pancake or bread dumplings. It was Caiden’s favourite Czech food. He loved it and ordered it whenever he could.

3. Moravian sparrow

Ok, so this isn’t a bird. It’s a roasted pork stew that is usually served with dumplings and cabbage. It was delicious and when we had it, it was served with purple and white cabbage.

I wish I had a picture but we ate this on our first night so we were pretty tired and hungry. The food was so good at Kolkovna that I didn’t think to take any pictures at all!

4. Palačinky

Palacinky can be like regular pancakes or very similar to French crepes. They’re awesome sweet pancakes that are usually served as dessert.

5. Trdelník

These are also known as chimney cakes. Not to be confused with chimney cakes that I mentioned in my post on Hungarian foods. They’re similar but this wonderfully delicious Czech food is definitely not the same.

Trdelnik is a pastry dough wrapped around a stick and cooked over heat. In summer, they offer chocolate poured on the interior and then filled with soft serve ice cream. Definitely have the ice cream and if you can, have the chocolate. We tried one plain and it was like eating a plain ice cream cone. It was pretty bland and had very little taste. The version with chocolate and ice cream was to die for!!

I had read that not all Trdelnik is created equally. It’s best to buy it from a location that makes them fresh. As touristy as Karlova Street is, we chose a location about half way down the street and we were thrilled with them.

6. Knedlíky

Basically, knedliky is a dumpling. Caiden LOVED Czech dumplings! They usually came as a side with other dishes: either bread dumpling or potato dumpling. You can see them above in the photos of the gulas and duck. Bread dumplings can be either sweet or savoury… just don’t eat them with your hands!

7. Duck

We had the best duck we’ve ever had at Lod Pivovar in Prague. I’m not a fan of duck as I prefer white meat but this duck is seriously good. Duck is the only Czech food that I had read about in advance. I’m so glad we tried it!

8. Czech beer & Wine

Ok, so it’s not really food but from what I hear, beer should be a food group in Czechia. I’m not a beer drinker, preferring red wine myself, but from everything I hear, Czech beer is the best in the world. The most popular are Pilsner Urquell and Budweiser Budvar (not to be confused with North American Budweiser beer).

Czech Republic is also known for its wines. There are several wine regions in the Czech Republic and we tried red wine from both Bohemia (Prague area) and Moravia (Mikulov area). If you like wine, they are well worth trying.

Sydney took this awesome pictures in Cesky Krumlov. You can see the castle in the background!

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