Staročeská krčma — Restaurant in Prague

Ate here my first night in Prague and came back the next three nights in a row after being blown away on night one (steak tartare appetizer and the roasted pork knuckle dinner). Night two was the "Svickova", a very tender beef cutlet in a cream/root veggies sauce with two kinds of dumplings. Basically tasted like Thanksgiving dinner. Delicious comfort food. I will be making this dish at home Night three was a no go, even though I got there 20 minutes before what I had been told was closing time for the kitchen. The manager said the kitchen was closed. I kind of understood, though all I wanted was the Ghoulash, which would have taken the kitchen almost no time (and I saw several dishes go out after I arrived). But ok... My last night was a bit of a fiasco, but worked out ok. I went planning to get the Ghoulash, but then saw they had a "Duck confit" special. I went with that. Big mistake. It was NOT duck "confit" (cooked in its own fat), it was some kind of braised duck (cooked in a broth, not fat). It was incredibly overcooked and VERY tough. I knew right away as I TRIED to cut in to it that it was bad. Duck confit should shred easily with a fork. I could barely cut this poor duck with a knife...So I sent it back, offered to pay for it, and ordered the Ghoulash. The manager came to check out what was up and started to give me a bit of guff, but as soon as I took my fork and knife and TRIED to shred the duck in front of him he shut right up, apologized, and took it away. The Ghoulash was delicious. So, basically, other than the duck fiasco (which they fixed quickly and at no charge) everything...

It was a very pleasant evening with good food, featuring traditional Czech dishes as well as few more universal options and a very welcoming service.

The young woman who served us was new to the job, but she was very kind, attentive, and genuinely concerned about our comfort. She did her best to make us feel welcome, and despite a few perfectly understandable hiccups in the service, she was truly special and warm toward us. Her dedication and willingness to improve in her work really stood out — something that’s not to be taken for granted and deserves appreciation.

The kitchen made us wait a bit longer than we would have liked, but the food was very good.

You should really try...

Very nice food, decor and service (including English menus). Ordered a venison goulash with dumplings (that turned out to be more like potato fritters or hash browns) and a special of the day, a venison roulade with cranberries (although the cranberries seemed to have changed to a sage type stuffing) and despite the above (errors in translation?) we definitely enjoyed the food and the house (Austrian) red wine and a (fruity) lager were both more than decent as well. All told about £20, perfectly reasonable and...