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.
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.
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| 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.
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.
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) .
Work in Progress
