Prague - Malá Strana & Hradčany

The Malá Strana and Hradčany districts of Prague are located west of the river Vltava. 

A separate post covers Staré Město, Nové Město, Hradčany & Spořilov districts east of the river.

For three nights at the end of November 2025, we stayed at Residence Thunovská in Malá Strana.

Residence Thunovská.is well situated at the foot of the historic Zámecké schody steps which lead up from Malá Strana to Hradčany.

After a 15 hour European Sleeper rail journey from Brussels to Prague hl.n. via Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden and Děčín we took tram 15 to Malostranské náměstí which crosses the river Vltava on the Štefánikův most bridge.

From the Malostranské náměstí tram stop near St Nicholas church and bell tower, we walked uphill to reach our accommodation at Thunovská 196/19. 

Thankfully an early checkin was possible and we were impressed by our first floor studio apartment with electric wall heaters and well chosen furniture.

The European Bar Guide features 'The Royal Route' bar crawl for Prague linking eight bars. Our plan was to visit at least two on our first day, Thursday 20 November which was cold and bright. 

The first stage was to reach Hradčanské Square at the top of the Zámecké schody steps. The sun was lighting the top of Nový královský palace and the spires of St Vitus cathedral beyond. Sentries under the Wrestling Titans statues guard the entrance to the first courtyard of Prague castle with the Matthias Gate at the back leading to the second courtyard beyond.

Klášterní Pivovar Strahov

We now headed west past several impressive buildings, passing also U Černého vola, before reaching the grounds of Strahov Abbey.

We had a walk around the well tended grounds to view the exterior of the Strahov Abbey Basilica.

A brewery van was parked in the grounds with Pivovar Strahov brand of Sv. Norbert which is named from the founder of the Premonstratensian Order, whose relics are within a shrine in the Basilica.

The brewery on the left is reached through a courtyard beyond a gateway. There was no space in the linked taproom and it was too cold to sit at a table in the courtyard so we went to the larger refectory space in the building on the right with a separate entrance around its corner.

Inside the high ceilinged room there is a bar at one end and further inside two rows of large tables with benches on each side. On the other side from the windows, the.white walls are hung with historic framed posters for drinks including Roberston's Dundee Whisky..

On the tables, the paper placemats feature an illustrated description of the brewing process ending with beer in kegs or bottles. 

A waiter brought a bound menu to our table and returned later for our order. There are five Strahov draught beers and a guest pale lager -Hořický ležák PP 12° - from Pivovar JungBerg in Hořice. 

Tim ordered the popular Sv. Norbert Ambert Lager but preferred the taste of Meg's Hazy IPA, served in a tall glass.

U Černého vola

On the way back to Residence Thunovska we reached U Černého vola (The Black Ox) which had been photographed earlier on passing.

View from back room towards front and bar

It was busy inside with some customers in the bar area and no completely empty tables in the main room at the back which has white walls and a high ceiling with two rows of large tables and benches.. Luckily a sympathetic waiter allowed us to share one of the tables despite a reservation note at the free space.

Tim enjoyed a glass of Kozel Černý (50 cl / 49 Kč - about £1.75). Beers ordered for each group are tallied on a paper strip.

Our waiter allowed us to order meals and Tim enjoyed a remarkably cheap, simple meal of schnitzel served with freshly sliced bread, a long red pepper and a split gherkin.

As a complimentary Substack post about the beer hall by The Pragueist advises, it is important to be respectful and helpful to have some basic knowledge of Czech for ordering food here. Helpfully, however, the menu is available in English. Note that payment in cash is expected here.

We followed a different route back to our accommodation by taking the Radnické schody steps. From near the foot of these you can see the slope back up to the castle and Nerudova leading downhill towards the illuminated St Nicholas church and bell tower.

Walking downhill, we passed busy restaurants including U Dvou slunců and U Tří jelínků (above) on Nerudova before reaching U Kocoura at the corner with Zámecká.

U Kocoura

A sign pinned to the door of U Kocoura included a special offer of 0.5l Radegast světlý for 45 Kč. This encouraged us inside but there were no spare seats. There were some people drinking beer outside so we asked for take away beers and these were quickly served in plastic glasses which we carried carefully back to our nearby apartment and decanted into real glasses.

Na zadravi!

U Hrocha

Just down the road from our accommodation at Thunovská 10, Pivnice U Hrocha (The Hippo) offered Pilsner Urquell beer at 56 Kč for 0.5l and was always busy.

This was the the third pub on the west side of the river included in 'The Royal Route' bar crawl. Although we went inside on one occasion, there were no free spaces and we were told that a reservation was necessary. It is obviously a popular pub locally and Friday and Saturday evenings are always going to be the busy times.

In January 2026, David Farley reviewed the U Hrocha in the Where to Drink in Prague guide for The Infatuation international restaurant website and the review also features a couple of interior photos.

ROESEL

ROESEL - Beer and Food deserves its reputation as a hidden gem. Set back at 20, Mostecká 45, from the busy cobbled street a short distance from the Charles bridge, a blackboard on the door to the courtyard mentions 'Hidden Cafe, Craft beer and food, Cozy courtyard' and a sign on the wall facing the street promises 'Craft beer and cake'. 

The draught beers are listed on a blackboard and described by labels hanging under the taps marked with 1,2,3 and 4 handled beer glasses.

On Friday evening we were allowed to wait on bar stools with a first beer until a table was available. Wojtek, a friendly young Czech with excellent English, who was having a beer after work, chatted with us and corrected our linking Czechia with Eastern Europe to Central Europe.

We enjoyed our first visit there on Friday evening so much that we returned on Saturday evening and were welcomed like old friends! 

Over two evenings we managed to drink all the draught beers from the range. The three beers on the left pictured above from the top are: Pivovar Clock - Hektor 50cl / 69 Kč, Pivovar Obora - Art of Hop DDH NEIPA 20cl (generous!) / 56 Kč and Pivovar Obora Sunny APA 20cl.

Tim also enjoyed the draught wine ale (5.3% ABV 0.2l / 53 Kč) from Pivovar Obora (photo from Untappd) which was a deep red colour and tasted very fresh and grapey.

Tim's favourite beer at ROESEL on Saturday evening was Chroust Brewing Co Nelson Cravings session NEIPA (112 Kč / 500ml), chosen from the fridges containing cans and bottles of beer.from independent breweries also including Pivovar Valeč, Pivovar Kladno Kročehlavy and Vik Brewery.

The menu changes slightly and there is a limited number of hot dishes, a changing soup, a changing stew or goulash and a permanent fixture - 'the best sausages in Prague'.

The bread is thickly cut and very fresh.

There's also a range of cold dishes and the tempting cakes are displayed in a cabinet on the left of the bar.. 

The interior decor is white walls with some natural touches.like a photo of goats pinned to a fabric board. Tables and chairs are made from pale wood.

There was some unexpected amusement late on Saturday evening when a group of Athletic Bilbao football supporters left ROESEL singing a club song. Their Champions League fixture with Slavia Prague on Tuesday ended as a 0-0 draw.

On a wall above a shelf with leaflets, there are timelines in Czech and English with the history of the building (The Three Golden Rings), which dates from 1386. Recent history includes: 1961-1992 'The house is forcefully submitted to the totalitarian communist state ...'; 1992-2017 'The house is back in the hands of the family, being returned to the current owner Stanislav Roesel. The roof is in a critical condition, the cellar can not be entered as it is filled with rubble and garbage'; 2017 'Cafe-pub ROESEL opens being run by the grandson of the owner ...'. There is also a photo of smiling Stanislav Roesel (5.10.1926 - 17.12.2024) wearing a cap with the slogan 'Hlavu Vzhůru' (Keep your chin up) .

Real Bohemian Lager

If you can't sample real Bohemian lager in the Czech Republic itself then surely the next best place must be the Embassy of the Czech Republic in London?

I was lucky to be invited by CzechTrade to attend a Real Bohemian Lager workshop at the embassy on 16 May 2019. The event was organised in conjunction with Euroboozer, a leading UK importer of fine speciality craft brewed beers.

My preparation for the event involved a look at Evan Rail's Good Beer Guide Prague & the Czech Republic (2007) which I had last used on my first and only trip to Prague in 2008.
The Czech Republic has the highest per capita consumption of beer in the world according to Wikipedia 143.3 litres (2016). In contrast, 25th placed UK beer consumption is 67.7 litres (2016).

Situated east of Notting Hill Gate and west of the embassy of the Russian Federation, the 1970 building of the Czech embassy was designed as a tribute to the avant-garde Brutalist style. A lot of concrete and glass was used in its construction! After a major remodelling, the Czech embassy reopened in November 2017.

On arrival it was nice to be welcomed by Eva Provot of CzechTrade and Mitch Adams of Euroboozer and find myself in the company of Britain's best beer writers and judges. A useful welcome pack included a map showing industrial and craft breweries (above) and a Beer Guide to Prague which can also be found online.

OnTheWorld map shows Bohemia in west of Czech Republic

Ushered into the cinema we were welcomed by Martin Macourek of CzechTrade. He introduced Czech master brewer Jan / Honza Kočka linked with Kocour brewery and now involved with the Nomád project, a 'flying brewery' that brews on the equipment of others. 

We were informed that there would soon be a new website for the Czech Beer Alliance of eight breweries including Cvikov. Two representatives from Cvikov brewery had flown to London to join us for the workshop. 

page from Pivovar Cvikov website showing tanks and brewing vessels

A video was screened showing scenes from Cvikov brewery that included the 22 horizontal lager / maturation tanks and a healthy young man carrying a sack of malted barley over his shoulders up a flight of stairs. It was surprising that a lift or hoist did not exist for this task?!

Martyn Railton, the 'Austrian Londoner' of Euroboozer, mentioned his lifelong interest in collecting beer glasses. Martyn also provided a useful modern history of Czech brewing. A key date was the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 after which Heineken moved in and breweries were consolidated. More recently business people have been buying up old disused brewery buildings and remaining equipment to set up new independent breweries. Many of the independent breweries have adopted the double or triple decoction mashing style which involves extra time and effort.

Katarina Hobbs, from Czech Tourism, admitted that Czech beer was her favourite drink. She mentioned that cycle and hiking trails to breweries have been developed and that there are beer festivals like the Brno festival (31/7/-3/8/2019) and the Sun in the Glass festival at Purkmistr brewery, Plzeň (Pilsen) which feature smaller breweries.

Czech master brewer Jan / Honza Kočka of Nomád brewing project was the final speaker. Jan said it was a visit to CAMRA's Great British Beer Festival in 2000 that opened his eyes to the wide realm of beer. After visiting the Great American Beer Festival later that year he was 'totally into beer'.
He mentioned that prior to 2000 it was difficult for microbreweries in the Czech Republic to succeed but afterwards the concept began to catch on.
Real Bohemian Lager is brewed with Czech malt and the Saaz hop producing a quaffable and thirst quenching pilsner in the 4%-5.2% ABV range. However, if dry hopping is involved it should not be called pilsner but rather lager or IPL.
Although many traditional and some new independent breweries use double or triple decoction, his Nomád brewing uses the simpler single decoction which is good enough for pilsner.
Jan recommended visiting the Czech Republic as it is a small country, with relatively short distances to travel around and visit breweries and historic towns.

He particularly recommended visiting the beer festivals that feature small breweries. The festival at Prague castle gardens 14-15 June 2019 includes over 60 breweries. The Sun in the Glass festival at the Purkmistr brewery on the outskirts of Pilsen 20-21 September 2019 includes 70 breweries.

The afternoon continued with a beer tasting led by Jan / Honza Kočka. Our tables were set with glasses and a sheet listing the beers to be tasted.

Without any previous experience of a serious beer tasting exercise I was lucky to be sitting at the back, near Jeff Evans, Chairman of the International Beer Challenge, who I could follow without any major breach of etiquette. Key points are not to fill your glass to the brim and not to drink all the beer in the glass.
Relevant details for each beer on the sheet were projected on a screen e.g. Cvikov 12° / Draught / Style: Premium pale lager / Malts: Pilsener / Hops: Saaz hops, Premiant / ABV 4.9% / IBU 32.

We started with shared bottles of Holba 11°, Bohemia Regent 12° (with CzechTrade Export Special label) and Kutna Hora 12° poured into straight glasses.
The draught beers served in stemmed glasses were Muflon 11°, Cvikov 12°, Albrecht 11°, Kanec 12°, Kanec 12° Vienna.

Large bottles with flip tops from Frýdlant brewery were for different styles. We enjoyed Albrecht Philipp 13° (American Pale Ale with Victoria Secret and Enigma hops) and Albrecht Katerina 12° (Czech Dark Premium Lager with Czech Light, Munich, Caramel, Chocolate and Black malts).
Finally we reverted to a draught Real Bohemian Lager - Cvikov 10° to finish the tasting on a lighter note.
A useful tip from Jan / Honza for roughly converting degrees Plato (or Balling) to ABV is to subtract 2 and then divide by 2 so that 12° becomes 5% ABV.

Jan / Honza could now relax with a lager! 
The lagers I was keen to taste again were Albrecht 11° and Cvikov 12°.

My thanks go to all involved with the workshop. I look forward to the next event and to visiting beer festivals, breweries and bars in the Czech Republic!