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As well as being as beautiful as Edinburgh, PRAGUE is arguably the best place on earth for beer. Robin McKelvie puts on his drinking gear and explains.
hen Franz. Kafka's brilliantly tortured mind
conjured up the phrase ‘the Little Mother has
claws' he spoke of his ambiguous feelings for Prague. These days the multinational fast food outlets and tour groups have well and truly moved in and in the early hours of a misty Prague morning Kafka's other. more nefarious and romantic city emerges. especially alter a few glasses of the line local beer.
If you find Kalka a touch too depressing you can console yourself in one of the city‘s hostelries. always a treat in a city whose citizens each polish off an impressive 157 litres of beer annually (according to the Guinness" Book of World Roma/s). It all sounds a bit too good to be true and it is ~~ bars that sell some of the tastiest beer in the world in one of liuropc‘s most visually stunning cities for only 40p a pint. While some parts of Prague may have become too touristy and the price of the beer has rocketed towards London prices. you can drink for an entire weekend for less than a tenner if you know where to go.
On arrival in Prague it is easy to see why the locals enjoy their beer so much. Forch the insipid chemical drenched stuff that gets served up lukewarm in much of liurope. This is the real thing with Budvar. Pilsner L'rquell. Radegast and Staropramen overflowing throughout the city. These beers have few additives. giving a richer aroma and taste. as well as. crucially. reducing your chances of being floored with a hangover.
In all of the best traditional bars the set-up is roughly the same. They generally only serve one beer (don't ask for an alcopop or a packet of crisps if you want to leave alive) and as soon as you sit down a glass of their finest will be thrown
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down in front of you. Thrown down is the apposite image as there are few customer service pleasantries in Prague. When you near the bottom of the glass another will appear magically out of nowhere. which sets quite a trap for the uninitiated who may end tip on a ruinous cycle of beer drinking when they only popped in for a quick pint. What you consume is tallied up in strokes on a piece of paper in front of you and then added up at the end.
The oldest pub in Prague is L' l‘leku (Kremencova l l i and dates way back to I499. The beer here may be expensive by local standards at around {I a pint. but it is well worth it for the signature dark ale. a creamy delight that tastes like nothing else in the city. Beware. though — tour groups descend on [' Heku in the evening along with the woeful oompah bands. and l' Fleku inexplicably closes its door before midnight.
Another traditional bar is L' (‘erneho Vola (Loretanske .\'amesti l l. which is tucked up near Prague (‘astle Here they serve up the relatively rare Kozel beer. a tasty. richly llavoured brew with a gorgeous aftertaste. Do not even think about slapping your guidebook on the table and unfurling your camera here as they will not serve you. Like all of the best Prague bars. if you behave like a local and drink without causing a fuss your presence will be tolerated.
()nc bar that shows what can happen when the tourist hordes descend is L' Zlateho Tygra (Husova l7). This is a great old drinking den with solid wooden walls and equally ancient clientele. Every ten minutes or so. though. the calm and serious business of alcohol imbibing is interrupted by tourists who pop in to snap a photo and race back out without
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Central Prague is a World Heritage site, oozing mittel- European charm, and some Kafkaesque ambiguities.