Located just a short walk from the Prague center and the heart of the Czech tourist traps is Lokal, a popular restaurant and pub that we made it a point to visit on this latest trip to Prague. The restaurant stretches the full length of the block long building. Fitting into it a truly impressive number of dinners and drinkers, a quick guess is that there are no fewer than 40 tables for 6-8 people filled every night. Each visit I have never seen the place less than brimming with people, but we have always managed to squeak in a seat (often having a quick seating at the reserved tables for the 45 minutes or so until that party arrives).
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| Amber with just one third of the restaurant in the background |
Like most restaurants and pubs in Prague smoking is still permitted. The non-smoking area of this pub fills quite easily, so seating in the smoking area is often unavoidable. The menu here is very Czech authentic, portions of meat served with sauce and bread dumplings of several varieties. There are also a variety of sausages and salads, and many tasty sides.
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| Goulash with bread Dumplings, hearty and filling |
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| running a tab is easy, but expectations seem a little high |
The main event is of course the beer. One of the specialties of Lokal is the claim that the bartenders can pour the same beer in different ways to deliver a special taste. Mliko, which our friend Jan introduced us to, looks at first like a mis-pour; the glass is 100% foam. However, the Mliko (which means milk in Czech) delivers an experience quick different than the mug full of foam you might get from a mismanaged keg at a frat house. Milko somehow forces the beer into a suspension (not unlike what Guiness does) so that it can be drank quite smoothly in the "milky" state without leaving you bloated.
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| the beer is served direct from large tanks, filled regularly direct from brewery |
Also, the beer is served from large tanks in an unpasteurized state. These large "tans" are as close to brewery direct decanted beer as you can get. The pasteurized beer is slightly spicier and more flavorful than the Pilsner Urquell you can buy that is served from kegs or bottles. The ability to take the bottom fermented beer an directly serve it without additional heating and cooling keeps the beer tastier. The only better was the beer we tasted direct from the wooden casks down in the cellars below the Pivovar Plzeňský Prazdroj during our visit to Plzen.
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| Jan and Hops the travel bug |
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