Prague eats the way it drinks — slowly, in cellars and courtyards. Three days of unpasteurised tank Pilsner, farmers' market kolache on the Vltava embankment, roast pork knuckle, and Karlín bistros that rebuilt after the 2002 flood.
Saturday-only riverside market (8:00–14:00) running 800m along the Vltava embankment wall since 2010. Around 80 stalls: South Bohemian carp, sheep's cheese from Wallachia, sourdough from Antonínovo pekařství. Coffee 60–90 Kč, pastry 50–80 Kč.
Ambiente's beer-hall revival serving Pilsner Urquell from tanks refilled twice weekly, unpasteurised and untanked-in-cans. Handwritten daily menu: guláš with bread dumplings 220–260 Kč, smažený sýr 195 Kč. Half-litre 55 Kč — cheaper than most tourist pubs.
Modern take on chlebíčky, the open-faced sandwich invented at Prague's Lahůdky Zlatý kříž in 1916. Baguette rounds topped with potato salad and ham, beetroot-horseradish, or trout mousse. 45–65 Kč each; three make a light meal. Open 09:00–19:00.
Neighbourhood brewery reopened in 2014 on the site of a 1893 original, brewing 11° and 12° lagers plus a dark 13°. The Vinohrady locals' room fills by 18:00. Half-litre 55–65 Kč, pork knuckle for two 480 Kč.
Riverside café opened 1884, the dissident writers' haunt where Havel held court; Art Deco interior restored in 1997 with Oliva's 'The Absinthe Drinker' on the wall. Vienna coffee 95 Kč, věneček choux 85 Kč. Opens 08:00 weekdays.
Duck specialist in a 16th-century Malá Strana house, hand-painted walls, open since 1993. Roast duck with red cabbage and karlovarský knedlík 590 Kč, venison in juniper 690 Kč. Booking essential for the vaulted back room.
Wine bar built entirely on Moravian producers — Sonberk, Dobrá Vinice, Stapleton & Springer — from Znojmo and Mikulov. Glasses 90–180 Kč, boards of Olomoucké tvarůžky and Prague ham 220 Kč. Small room, roughly 20 seats.
Ambiente's Karlín bakery-restaurant in a converted textile factory, Michelin Bib Gourmand. Fermented and smoked Czech ingredients: burnt-potato bread with sour cream, aged beef with sour cabbage. Tasting menu around 1,800 Kč, à la carte mains 420–600 Kč.
Neo-Renaissance market hall from 1902, restored and reopened 2021 after decades as a warehouse. Butcher, fishmonger, Czech honey and a bakery under the original iron roof trusses. Breakfast plates 150–220 Kč. Closed Sundays.
Sprawling 1895 market complex by the Vltava, now a street-food cluster: Vietnamese bún bò from Prague's large Vietnamese community, langoše with garlic and cheese 90 Kč, bramboráky 70 Kč. Halls open 08:00–18:00, quieter Mondays.
1893 café with a restored Neo-Renaissance painted ceiling uncovered during the 2005 renovation. Their own bakery does the větrník and the sourdough; Savoy breakfast 320 Kč, cheese board with Czech washed-rinds 380 Kč. Opens 08:00.
Cellar bar off Betlémské náměstí with a 200-strong rum list and an absinthe ritual using Czech-distilled Hill's — the drink Bohemia never banned. Cocktails 240–320 Kč, no standing, no phones on the bar.