Saturday 1 September 2012

The Posh Side of Prague

Many tourists go to Prague for stag dos and cheap pivo, however, there is a chic side to the Czech capital. When our Tasmanian friends came to visit, we decided this would be the perfect excuse to check out all those fancy places we had walked past and read about, but not tried out yet.

We found the hotel Pure White online and made a reservation through www.bookings.com, as reserving through the hotel website was not that straight forward. The photos of the hotel looked great and when we arrived we were not disappointed. The entrance and reception area is stunning and the rooms are modern and tasteful with some nice touches.

Double room at Pure White

Toilet and wet room with rain shower

The best thing about Pure White is the price; for a 4 star stay, €53 a night is excellent value.

Once we had checked in and freshened up, we decided to head into the centre of Prague. First stop was the beautiful Zdenek's Oyster Bar. I had walked past this little place, tucked into a side street, not far from Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square), on a previous trip. The bright Veuve Clicquot parasols caught my eye and I knew I had to come back and try it some time.


At night, the interior of the bar is simply gorgeous. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.



I was a bit dubious about having seafood in Prague. After all, the sea is a long way away. However, our Australian friends were happy with their Marennes oysters and my shrimp and prawn platter was very fresh and much bigger than expected for the price. We each had a glass of 2004 Veuve Clicquot, which was served with complimentary caviar.


We left the sultry interior of Zdenek's Oyster Bar for another dimly lit establishment: Hemingway Bar. This cocktail bar only opened about a year ago and as you can probably guess is decorated with photos of American writer Ernest Hemingway. Upon stepping inside you feel as though you are entering a gentlemen's club (not of the Spearmint Rhino variety, but the old fashioned London variety); there are leather sofas, book cases and lots of dark wood.

The cocktail menu has some classics, but also a good list of house cocktails that I had never tried before. I went for the "Walk in the Clouds". The pink pepper on the top and the white chocolate syrup made it really unusual, yet delicious. My OH had a "Hemingway's New Fashioned", which comes in a small bottle inside a book!



Many more cocktails ensued, naturally. Well, with the bar being open till 1am, it would have been rude not to, wouldn't it?

Cherry Julep

 Apricot  and White Chocolate Caipirinha and Six Fingers Cat

It was great to have a little luxury for an evening and better still, it cost us a fraction of the price it would have done in London or Hobart.