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Bramborák (potato pancakes)

What: What’s not to love about Czech potato pancakes? Grated raw potato is mixed with seasonings, egg, and flour, and then fried in patties to a golden-brown crisp. While traditionally a greasy street snack, bramborák are relatively common in restaurants in the capital, usually offered as a vegetarian side dish (and sometimes written as the diminutive bramboráčky). Here's where to find a good potato pancake in Prague.

Where: Rustic Klášterní šenk (Markétská 1/28, Praha 6, map), on the pretty grounds of Břevnov Monastery—the Czech Republic’s oldest Benedictine monastery, founded in the 10th century—is all wooden tables, stone walls, crackling fireplace, and really good, classic Czech pub grub.

When: Daily, 11:30am-11pm. Reservations are often recommended here, though we had no trouble getting in without one during our visit.

Order: Pictured is a side dish of delicious “bramborák” (60 CZK), perfectly crispy and not excessively greasy. Though we really didn’t need a side for the amazing koleno (roast pork knee) we enjoyed here, we couldn’t resist these, especially when dipped into the pork’s accompanying mustard-horseradish-sour cherry sauce.

This restaurant also often offers bramboráky as a main course (255 CZK), for which the pancakes are accompanied by or filled with a meat (like smoked pork neck, or even ostrich) and vegetable. Either dish is best washed down with a mix of Klášter 11° light and Černá Hora 12° dark, both offered on tap here.

Alternatively: Try a bramborák on the street, perhaps from one of the vendors around Wenceslas Square (map), for a more down-and-dirty experience.