If you take tram number 11 to the last stop in Sporilov, you get to the Prvni Pivni Tramway hospoda.
Prvni Pivni Tramway is placed in a recedential area with a lot of highrises around. The inn itself is very special. It has a tram theme, and inside you will find old benches from trams. There is also a tram bell at the bar, which the barkeeper rings when people leave the hospoda.
Prvni Pivni Tramway has many good beers. Pilsner Urquell and Primator Weizen are two of the draughted beers at this hospoda. There is also a rotating tap, and the day I visited they served a beer from Bakalar. I tasted it, but I was not impressed by it.
The last beer on tap is Pardal. Pardal is brewed by Budvar and is supposed to be Budvar's answer to Gambrinus on the Czech market. According to Evan Rail this is supposed to smell like bear urine. I have never smelt bear urine, and if this is how ursus odors are, I wouldn't mind having a bear in the neighbour's garden. It was a completely drinkable lager, but Budvar's vycepni is a much better product.
On the other side of town is the Brevnov monastery. Near the monastery you can find the U Kláštera restaurant. I went in there to try a portion of their pork knuckle, koleno.
At home I usually use bits of salted and smoked pork knuckle in soups, but I had not tried the Czech version before i visited U Kláštera. It was a very nice experience. The skin had a crispy feel to it, and the meat was tasty and fell easily off the bone.
To drink I tried draughted Klášter golden lager. I found it very refreshing and enjoyed it very much. They also sell Klášter's dark lager and Pilsner Urquell, but I did not try those ones this time around.
There are several nice hospodas in Zizkov. My favourite restaurant is U Sadu, which is near the TV tower. This was a place I found by myself on one of my visits to Prague, and I always visit it when I am in the city. Inside there is much to look at, and old tools are hanging from the ceiling. There is always a nice ambience at U Sadu, and the opening times are extraordinary. Usually this place opens at 8 AM and does not close until 4 AM.
U Sadu is a tankova restaurant. This means that you get the unpasteurized version of Pilsner Urquell, which is better than the ordinary pasteurized one. You can also get Gambrinus from tap here together with the two Master beers.
There is also Primator Weizen to be found at U Sadu together with various bottled beers. The wheat beer from Primator is very nice, and I can recommend it.
At U Sadu they also sell Svijany Maz. This is an 11° lager beer that is quite enjoyable. It is not among the best Svijany beers, but it is a good alternative to Pilsner Urquell when you visit this hospoda.
A few blocks away from U Sadu you can find Kralovstvi. Kralovstvi is a nice cellar restaurant which specializes in beers from Černá Hora. The Černá Hora beers I have tried have been nice, and I recommend visiting this restaurant to check them out.
My favourite among the Černá Hora beers is Kvasar. This is a lager beer brewed with honey. It is excellent, and I really like it.
I am also fond of Moravský Sklepní Nefiltrované, which is an unfiltered and unpasteurized 10° lager beer. So far none of the Černá Hora beers have disappointed me, and I am looking forward to trying more of them. I have among others heard rumours of a wheat beer coming up from the Moravian brewery.
At last I will present the place where I have tasted my favourite lager. Down the hill from Kralovstvi, you can find U Slovanske Lipy. This is a taproom with great beers from the little Kout na Šumavě brewery.
I have tasted many lager beers, but the two golden lagers from Kout na Šumavě are just fabulous. It was Pivni Filosof who presented these beers to me for the first time, and I will always be thankful for him doing that.
Myself, I prefer the 12° golden lager. It is a stellar lager beer, and I recommend everybody to visit U Slovanske Lipy to try it out.
U Slovanske Lipy also sells the dark lagers from Kout na Šumavě. My favourite is the 16° dark lager. This is an enjoyable beer. It is strong, but extremely tasty.Last but not least, I will thank Pivni Filosof for his great blog, and I hope you will continue writing about beers and Prague for a long time!
I am probably about to commit total Prague beer geek heresy, but there we go - I don't like PPT at all. Every time I have been there it has been like taking a step back in time to the old days of surly, awful Czech service standards (10 years in the city and I think I have suffered every known con that waiters try on you). The only place I can think of which is worse in the city is U Vejvodu. The beer selection, which is of course better than many places, is simply not worth trekking out to Sporilov for. Perhaps I was spoilt by living just off Vaclavske Namesti and PK being my local. I often maintain that just because a pub serves beer from the smaller breweries doesn't make it a good pub, just as the converse is also true. Several of my favourite watering holes in Prague serve Pilsner Urquell and are excellent, proper Czech pubs, not some dinge hole for the modraci (an older reference for workers wearing blue overalls). If you want to go for a trek for beer, then go the other way to Bar Chyse in Cimice.
ReplyDelete