Pissing Fountain is right outside Franz Kafka Museum.
Street food from Prague: Trdelnik. Trdelnik is a cake and sweet pastry. It is made from rolled dough that is wrapped around a stick, then grilled and topped with sugar and walnut mix.
Trdelnik is sold on every corner of Prague. Just look for the sign (below).
Here’s a little video of Trdelnik.
Lehka Hlava means easy head or clear head and is the sister restaurant of Maitre. We were told about Clear Head during our first and second visit to Maitre so we had to check it out.
Clear Head is tucked in on a little side street which is said to be the shortest street in Prague. The whole area has a renovated medieval charm to it. But, that’s outside. Inside, the décor is quite unique; it’s so colourful from the ceilings to the lamps. In certain areas you feel as if you have just stepped into a different galaxy.
The vibe is also different to Maitre I must say. It is more hip and edgy; mostly frequented by young people –naturally. But boy they do wicked gyros here. It was so good, I didn’t care about what my husband had there; I was busy enjoying my seitan gyros 🙂
Seitan Gyros with tzatziki, pita bread, cherry tomatoes and lettuce (above)
I have never had seitan gyros that soft before. It was an absolute triumph in the taste department as well as the texture. We tried to get the recipe unsuccessfully.
If you ever find yourselves in Prague, check this place out.
Lehka Hlava (Clear Head) Vegetarian Restaurant and Tea Room
Address: Borsov 2/280, Prague 1 – Old Town
Website
LoVeg Vegan Cuisine and Specialties, Prague
We were on our way to Prague Castle and surprised to see a sign saying “LoVeg Vegan Restaurant 222m” in an area called The Lesser Town (see the left corner of the photo below). It was lunch time and we decided to go and have a bite to eat without questioning the ingredients –although Prague has been really good with our kind of food.
After 222 metres, we found the place and started to climb the stairs. It was kind of eerie and dark but you get there.
When you do get there… this is what it looks like. There is another staircase (the iron one in the photo) to go upstairs, to the roof which we haven’t been.
Menu at LoVeg is bilingual and quite an international one too. From Asian to Czech specialties, everything is pretty much covered. There is nothing special about the food, I must say; it’s just vegan food. Since we stopped by for lunch, we didn’t want anything too big. So, John had Thai coconut curry (tofu, mushroom, sweet peas and spring onion) which is served with jasmine rice. I didn’t take a photo of it as I find curries not so photogenic. I, on the other hand, opted for LoVeg Burger which is made of beetroot, chickpeas, tempeh, “vegan bacon” and served with salad leaves, tomato, Dijon mustard and baked potato. And I do have a photo of it.
To drink we both had a glass of home-made lemonade with a citrus mix (orange, grapefruit, lime and lemon). The waitress made it fresh behind the bar where we could see it.
Although, as a vegetarian, I ask for food without a face but my burger bun had one ???? as you can see in the photo above.
The view from the window (above)
LoVeg Vegan Cuisine and Specialties can be found in this address:
Nerudova 221/36, 118 00 Praha 1
Website (not in English, by the way)
Maitrea Vegetarian Restaurant, Prague
When we arrived in Prague train station, we needed a taxi straight away but the taxi situation was scary. The signs led us to a wrong spot and the real taxi rank had a long queue already. We rang the guy who rented us an apartment in Old Town Square (Thomas) and asked what to do. He sent us a taxi immediately and we helped two ladies from California to call their hotel for their own transportation by allowing them to use our phone. It was all sorted in the end, however, we couldn’t help but thinking where the hell are were?
When we got to the apartment, Thomas was waiting for us. We took over the keys to the apartment and after a brief orientation to the place we asked the ultimate question of vegetarian places to eat in Prague. The answer was brief: Maitrea. He said: “You can’t go wrong with Maitrea. Besides, it’s just around the corner.” And he showed us the exact location on our city map.
I did a little research around Czech food at the time of planning for this trip and was hoping to find some interesting Jewish vegetarian dishes around town. When you think about the number of Jews living in Prague, there’s bound to be some restaurants but we didn’t need any of that in the end. Because, Maitrea was enough and it really was “just around the corner” as we spotted the place when we were out and about for the first time.
The place looks like a dark cave decorated with Zen principles -check out the water feature video which was right next to our table. It is even darker downstairs (check out the photos taken downstairs) but it feels cozy because of it.
The menu at Maitrea is quite international. However, on our first night, we decided to try some original Czech dishes which have been vegetarianised. Here’s what we had on our first visit to Maitrea:
Czech special: Spicy goulash with vegetarian “meat” pieces, served with wholemeal dumplings/or baked potatoes 175 CZK The seitan in this dish was exquisite; the size, texture and flavour were like no other seitan I have ever had in my life. Apparently, they make their own.
Another Czech special: Traditional “Svíčková“ – vegetarian “meat” slices seitan with a tangy vegetable cream sauce, served with wholemeal dumplings, lime, whipped cream, and cranberries 170 CZK
The second time we visited Maitrea, we tried Paella a la Barcelona (it was by far the best vegetarian paella we have ever had!) and Meatless “chicken“and mushroom balls.
Paella a la Barcelona with sun-dried tomatoes, champignons, and shiitake mushrooms, onion, stir-fry sauce, vegetarian “chicken” pieces and parmesan. 175 CZK
Meatless “chicken“and mushroom balls with oven-roasted vegetables, basil pesto and homemade tofunnaise 175 CZK
Maitrea Vegetarian Restaurant
Týnská ulička 1064/6,
110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic
Maitrea has a complete spiritual center right next door with a bookstore. If you are interested in books and workshops in spirituality, you might like to check it out too. Their working hours are different to the restaurant, though.
