PRAGUE GUIDE

"Utopenec" (Drowned man) — so-called because it consists of soft, strong, spicy sausage filled with onion and spicy paprika, seasoned with pepper and covered or "drowned" in a liquid made from water ... Cheese platters are quite common, and are composed of slices of eidam, hermelín (camembert) or niva (blue) cheese with a chunk of butter, a dash of paprika, and perhaps a pickle and a basket of rolls or bread.

Czech wine is produced mainly in the Moravia region, the south-eastern part of the Czech Republic. Although it is not as famous as other south-eastern wines like those from France or Spain, Czech wine is known through its representatives like the red wines Frankovka, Vavrinecke and Modry Portugal, and the whites Muller-Thurgau and Riesling.

Traditional meals in the Czech Republic are wholesome and designed to feed people up well after a tough day's work of manual labour. They are quite high in fat content and usually very substantial  which is perfect during the winter months. Recently, there has been a trend of eating lighter meals containing a greater quantity of vegetables. The standard fatty and heavy Czech foods are often not consumed everyday now and many people omit these meals completely. Nonetheless, there's no food that compliments fantastic Czech beer as well as good quality, traditional Czech food like duck, goose and knedlíky (i.e. dumplings), sauerkraut and pork.

Czech menus can be problematic. Even if you have a reasonable knowledge of culinary terms in Czech, you'll almost definitely require the assistance of the waiter. If you ask a Czech to name the most typical Czech dish, the chances are he or she will answer "Knedlo-vepřo-zelo". This dish is synonymous with traditional Czech cuisine.

Our tips - Best for Czech food: U Sádlů; La Degustation; U Maltézských Rytířů. Budvarka - This is not far from the Dejvická metro station but worlds apart from most pubs when it comes to food service. Café Savoy - Just off Legions' Bridge, this is a picture-perfect Victorian-era café. Even if the food were marginal, it would be recommended for the setting, décor and ornate ceiling.

The pubs in Prague, which are omniscient, smoke-filled and down-to-earth, have straightened up a little recently but are still packed with locals and are affordable. The Golden Tiger is quite an old drinking hall with cool beer prices, just 36 CZK for 0.5l for the frothy Pilsner Urquell lager. When Bill Clinton visited the Czech Republic Vaclav Havel showed him this pub - to see a real Czech pub.

As in other parts of Europe, Prague is adopting more and more of the American lifestyle of quick eating. Hamburgers, kebabs, fish and chips-style eateries, Chinese quick food restaurants and street-selling food are spread all over Prague. Sometimes the irresistible smells will totally charm your nose, and it would really be a loss not to try the grilled sausages ...