Prague Budget Food Guide - These Restaurant Hacks Will Save You Money

Are you a budget traveler to Prague and looking for some tasty cheap meals to try on your trip? Then this video is for you. I'm gonna finish all of it I think. Today we're gonna take you on a walk across the city center and show you some of our most favorite budget food options. Let's go! By the way guys, have you recognized where I am? I'm right in front of Powder Gate. It went through a cleansing and now she's not brunette, she's blonde. We decided to divide this video into four categories, but before we get into those, there are certain things you should know if you're hunting for budget food in Prague. First of all, you will have to sacrifice service in favor of the lower prices. I'm sorry, I asked for scrambled, this is over easy. That means a lot of budget food restaurants might not seem very welcoming to tourists especially, because they don't speak Czech usually. They do not offer English menus and in general treat you as a come and go customer, hoping that you will be rotating pretty quickly. Obviously the quality of the food might also be lower than in a Michelin style restaurant, but I guess you guys can expect that. Now we can get into our categories and the first one is called Jedelná or a canteen. There are many canteens in Prague and they generally offer Czech traditional food, even though you can find some more international options there. And Jedelná is probably one of the cheapest options for the budget food in Prague. A meal there normally costs from 130 to 180 crowns. Don't expect any custom options, it's whatever they prepared for food at that particular day. One important thing to remember about visiting a Czech canteen is that most of them are only opened on the working days, so they're not opened on Saturdays and Sundays, and only for lunch. So usually from about 10 or 11 a.m. till 3 p.m. latest. So if you are visiting on a weekend or looking for a place to have a meal for dinner, this is not the option for you. Now we will show you some of the canteens that we have in Prague. Of course we wanted to start with one of the best rated canteens in Prague, called like this. It translates as people's canteen, which probably comes from the communist times. We knew it is very popular, because when we would pass by there would be sometimes a line of people outside, so we made sure to come here right after they open at 10 30, and lo and behold it is packed. So we cannot eat inside, let alone film much for you guys, but this is how it looks like. As you can see you have to get a tray as soon as you walk in, and please make sure you know what you are ordering before you get into the line. You will most likely have to say it in Czech. I don't think this is a place that caters to tourists. It is a blue color canteen, so you will be surrounded by manual workers, construction workers, and of course I looked like a freaking clown when I walked in. So you'll probably stand out as a tourist. If that's not what you're looking for, I don't recommend coming here, but it can be a nice option if you're around Florence metro station, and the prices are great. The food was like six euro per meal. They do have some daily menu options, as well as permanent menu options. Oh yeah, and please note that they are only opened from 10 30 to 2 30. All right, well I'm still hungry. Luckily there is another canteen just around the corner, so let's go there. Our next canteen is located on the fifth floor of a shopping mall called White Swan, Bila Labud. Make sure not to confuse it with Černa Labud, Black Swan over there. The name of the canteen also has to do something with a swan. It is Mosna Labud. Mosna is an adjective that unfortunately doesn't have an equivalent in English language, but it's something like a swan that really likes to eat. We have never been there before, so let's go try it. All right guys, let's try it. I got svičkova and Václav got goulash. It's a different type of goulash. Thank you. So yeah, this one is a little bit different taste-wise. It's called Segedinsky and it has cabbage. All right, let's go for it. That's actually nice. It tastes like exactly the same as svičkova that we were trying in Lokal and all these other restaurants that we talked about in the video that we filmed last year, which are much more expensive. I'm kind of shocked about how good it tastes. It's amazing. I'm gonna finish all of it, I think. And also we don't know if it's just today, but there's no one here. We're one of the only customers and the food is great. And compared to the other one, the people's canteen, it was stuffed and the prices are not so different. A hidden gem. How long will it stay hidden for? I don't know. But it seems like they want customers here because there's a big advertisement. It reopened. There used to be another canteen here, but it had a different name. This one is called, as you can see, Mosna Labut. We were just talking about how when we got here, we were unsure how it will taste like, but then when we actually tasted it, it's delicious. So we were just talking about how sometimes the food looks good, but it tastes average. And you probably won't be able to tell if you haven't had a lot of these dishes before, but sometimes when you see like the color of the sauce, the texture of the dumplings, you will be like, you are able to tell approximately how the dish would taste in the end. And when I looked at this one, it looked normal, but I was thinking maybe the sauce is not going to be creamy, but it is very creamy. So sometimes in the more expensive restaurants, they just make something look good, but it has no effect on the taste. It reminded me of this clip when they invited like two professional chefs and one girl that worked in a cheap restaurant, and she, even though her presentation wasn't as great, was able to cook something infinitely more delicious than a professional chef. Of course, in real life, it's slightly different, but you get the gist. And I'm gonna finish my meal, because it's amazing. And don't forget that after you finish your food in a canteen, you have to clean up your tray. Our next recommendation is a veteran among the cheap eats in Prague. It's called Havelská koruna, which means Havel's crown. It's located a stone throw away from the Havel's market, the oldest still working market in Prague. And this is the place to go if you want to try traditional Czech food. I will now walk you through the whole experience, so it is as smooth for you as possible, because the service inside of this place is traditionally Czech as well. Before you get in, choose what you want to eat on the screen. Upon entrance, you will receive an important paper. Don't lose it! Take a tray and give the paper to the lady at the counter. Tell her what you want to eat. In Czech. She will write it down and you will get your meal. Keep the paper, do not throw it away. Then feast. And right before you exit, give the paper to another lady and pay. Obviously, we had to show you the most advertised canteen in Prague called Světozor. If you look online, this is the one that is mentioned the most, because it is the one that is mentioned the most. It is probably the best deal when it comes to food, because for 159 crowns you can get a soup, main course, and a little bite. It is pretty popular, because it is very central. It is located right on the Wenceslas Square. This one is opened from 10 a.m. till 3 p.m. So this is lunch place only. And if you are vegetarian or vegan, you can also check out Daba Bees, which is a chain of Indian canteens all over Prague. They also have happy hours in the end of the day, so you can get an even better deal. Just a little warning guys, a canteen doesn't always guarantee low prices. For example, now we are in the Prague Castle, just on the left side of the Saint Vitus Cathedral, where you can find this canteen. And as you can see, the prices here are as high as in a regular restaurant. It is not a bad place. We've been there before. The food is quite average, regular canteen food, I would say. But the prices in the castle are quite high. So it is kind of normal that the food in the castle would cost as much. But of course, the best canteen in town is in IKEA. So if you want to go all the way here, be my guest. Did we go all the way here to record this joke? Maybe. As you probably saw, some of the canteens that we visited today were not as busy as the other ones. So in case you come in and you see that there are a lot of people, make sure to pick what you will order before you get into the line. Because then you will just create a little jam, people will be angry, both staff and other customers. You don't want that. They usually have the menu somewhere accessible, so you can look it up and then get into the line and order very quickly. Let's get to our second option, and that is lunch menus. Surprisingly, some lunch menu options are as expensive or as cheap as the canteen options. But that is nice, because that allows you to just explore Prague without being tied to a specific canteen to go for a meal later. To illustrate our point, we decided to go for lunch at a restaurant called Uzpevacku, which is located right behind the National Theatre. But first and foremost, what is a lunch menu actually? I believe it is pretty self-explanatory, but just want to reiterate that a lunch menu is a special deal which is offered by restaurants to attract customers for lunch. So they offer meals at cheaper prices, and you can save a lot of money. For example, today we saved about 40 percent, so our bill was just over 400 crowns, and it normally would be around 600 to 700 crowns if we would not come here during lunchtime. We liked it, so you can definitely check it out. They're also open for dinners, of course. Usually, restaurants have a special paper with their lunch menus, and it is separated from the regular menu. It can be just hanging on the door or at each table. And of course, the downside of lunch menus is that they're only available at lunch, and also only on the weekdays, unfortunately. Most restaurants have about three to five options for lunch menus, so you will not have a lot to choose from. For sure, less options than in the canteen, but it's still a pretty good deal in our opinion. Most restaurants also mention if they have lunch menu available on their website, so you can look it up in advance if you need to plan something ahead of time. And let's get to our third category, which is fast food. Don't worry, it doesn't mean McDonald's or Burger King, even though that is also available in Prague. But there are also some fast food chains that are exclusive to the Czech Republic, I believe, unless they expanded over the years, which I might not know. One of them is called Ban My Ba, and this is the Vietnamese food. Pretty good and pretty cheap for what you are getting. The quality of the food is for sure better than the regular fast food chain, where you get burgers and fries. Overrated as f**k, in my opinion. Then we have Bagaterie Boulevard, which is baguettes and sandwiches. They also have soups, salads, coffee, and pastries. They're all over Prague, so you will be more likely to stumble upon one of those. Then we have my favorite, which is called Ugo, and that is a salad bar. I know not many people will be into that, but they also have other meals. They have like pasta, they have soups as well, they have lunch menus, which is like a better deal price-wise for a soup and a hot meal. And then there is the fast food that is available in most countries nowadays, which is more like American style fast food. I think recently they opened some chicken restaurant. Ah right, lots of remind me. Popeye. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. But just so you know guys, you can also find McDonald's, Burger King, I don't know other ones because I don't eat it. Right, KFC. So these are also available. I have no idea how it tastes like here, so I cannot tell you unfortunately, but it is available here. Fast food restaurants are located all over Prague, so you can simply google it and find the closest one to you. But if you need a specific location, you can go on top of the Wenceslas Square. And when you walk from the National Museum down Wenceslas Square on the left side, there are a lot of fast food chain restaurants there. You can also go to any shopping mall and in the food court they usually have a lot of fast food options as well. So all of these that I mentioned now, they have places to sit down, but we also have a lot of grab-and-go options like kebabs and pizzas. So you can also find some much cheaper food available on the streets of Prague, not in the trash bins of course. And our last but not least category is regular but cheaper restaurants. As you might know, the prices for things rose in the past couple of years. We've mentioned it many times, yet people visit and they're really surprised or unpleasantly surprised about the prices here. So we have a little secret to share when it comes to regular restaurants where locals go, where it is relatively cheap. And the secret is, you will have to get out of here. You will have to get out of the city center. I know it is very pretty, but it's much much harder to find an affordable lunch or dinner option in the city center here. As soon as you go out, take a tram for a couple of stops, go to let's say Ujest, Smichov or Vinohrady, Zizkov, you will find many more affordable restaurants there. So here we are at a restaurant which is called U Kristiana. It is right next to Staropramen brewery, about 15-20 minutes away from the city center. We've never been here before. They also have some Czech traditional food, for example goulash for 198 crowns, which is a pretty sweet price, and pork knuckle for less than 300. So we got the chicken schnitzel and this chicken steak with something that we have not tried before. It is kind of like bready, like pasta, and it comes with a sauce. The sauce was similar to Svičkovo, but it was more spicy. It was delicious, the portions were pretty big, and it was not expensive at all. In fact, the price was similar to any canteen in the city center. So if you're in the area, definitely check it out. Another useful recommendation for budget food in Prague is Vietnamese food. I know it might sound strange, because we are not in Vietnam, but you guys might not know it, that in Prague we have one of the biggest Vietnamese communities in Europe. I believe it's second biggest. We made a video about visiting Sapa market, Vietnamese market in Prague. You can check it out, we'll link it down below. But in general, Vietnamese food in Prague is really good and quite affordable, unless you are in the city center, which we are just a few meters outside of the city center, literally outside of the former defense wall, next to Ujest tram stop in a restaurant called Clover Leaf. So we are gonna have some Vietnamese food now, and we'll show you how it looks like. As you've probably gathered, for lunch you will be fine. You can go to canteen in the city center, you can go to any other restaurant for a lunch menu. But for the evening, if you want to save some money, you have to visit the neighborhoods, which would be cool. We made many videos about the neighborhoods. I will not leave them down below, because there will be too many to leave. But we sometimes also visit restaurants there, so you can check it out. Alright guys, thank you so much for watching our video, and we will see you in our next one. Don't be hungry, bye!