Švejk – Classic Czech on the Castle Steps

No trip to the Czech Republic is complete without bumping into a restaurant called Švejk — there must be at least two thousand of them. The question was: would the kitchen live up to the name?

On a busy Saturday evening, when every seat inside was taken, we ended up on the terrace and partly on the castle steps. Judging by the tourists’ cameras, our schnitzels became part of at least 5,000 vacation photos. And rightly so: this pork schnitzel with traditional Czech potato salad quickly climbed into our “top favorites” of the trip. We ordered five portions and not a single crumb was left.

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Nutritional Breakdown – Pork Schnitzel with Czech Potato Salad

Portion Estimate • Pork schnitzel (meat + breading): ~200 g • Potato salad (potatoes, mayo, peas, carrots, onions, pickles): ~200 g • Lemon wedge: negligible

Nutrition per Serving

Dish Calories Protein Fat Carbs Pork Schnitzel (200 g) ~620 kcal 42 g 38 g 24 g Potato Salad (200 g) ~350 kcal 6 g 22 g 32 g Total ~970 kcal 48 g 60 g 56 g

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Characteristics • Calories: ~950–1,000 kcal → on par with a goose leg or svíčková. • Protein: ~48 g → solid amount, mostly from meat. • Fat: ~60 g → very high, thanks to frying oil and mayonnaise. • Carbs: ~55 g → mainly from potatoes and breading.

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Nutritional Viewpoint • ✅ Advantages: Filling, protein-rich, salad adds some fiber and vegetables. • ❌ Disadvantages: Very high in fat, especially saturated. • 🔎 Comparison: Similar in calories to other Czech heavyweights, but with more fat and slightly fewer carbs.

👉 In short: a Czech classic “bomba” — rich, heavy, but absolutely delicious. The schnitzel-and-salad combo here is exactly why Švejk is an institution, and why it earns its place in the heart (and stomach) of...

Update: I dined at this restaurant tonight and thought it was the best Czech food thus far. Duck and Rabbit were very tender and everything was well seasoned and tasty. I initially gave low rating due to being turned away with no further explanation, but after speaking with Lenka I was able to test their food and service. Definitely top notch traditional Czech food. They do not take any reservations unless you go in person and reserve with 1000CZK. Pretty reasonable because they are always full and limited seating. I saw atleast 20-30 people getting turned away. Some who are lucky get a seat only because a patron just happen to leave at the same time. It would be so much better if they had a sign for all of this, saying all tables reserved or even set an expectation for potential patrons rather than people coming in having waitresses walk past them and not knowing what’s going on, how long to wait, or no tables at all. Slightly flawed on that aspect but once you sit down, you are...

A restaurant is good when it's open, in this respect Svejk Restaurant is a good one. At 7 o clock in the evening there are not many options in november in the old city of Chesky Krumlov. Beside of this, speaking of food, the only word that come into my mind is correct. Nothing to say about the slow roasted pork with black beer, it's only boiled pork meat, not roasted. W/O spices, it's only boiled pork meat. The same bad luck with the ribs with honey, traditional style. Again, boiled and not roasted, as the honey may suggests. A better situation was with the soup. Traditional south bohemian soup was tasty. Also good was the cabbage soup with bacon and garlick. Didn't feel the garlick aroma, however it was tasty.

The location is nice, in an old renovated house. Service is 50% nice. I mean one girl was nice and supportive, the other one was different. However, we got the food in time and that's the only thing...