Going Vegetarian in Prague

There are quite a number of vegetarian restaurants scattered around the city centre of Prague. They are not located directly in front of touristy sights, but hidden in some small lanes amongst the maze of the streets. However, they are not that difficult to find with the aid of a detailed city map.

The first one I went to is called Lehká hlava. It means 'clear head' in plain English. This is a very interesting restaurant with two dining halls. One is a cool themed hall with starry-night atmosphere.

I was seated at the warm themed fiery ambiance dining hall after 10 minutes of wait. That wasn't too bad as I was told this restaurant is always full. Sometimes the waiting time can be up to an hour!

All the tables are lit from within. Some of the tables have glass pebbles inside, giving them a radiant look with the lighting from the inside of the tables.

The attention to details of the frescoes on the vaulted ceiling really amazed me. I haven't seen a restaurant like this before. The two dining halls were really a feast to my eyes.

I couldn't really make up my mind on what to order as everything on the menu sounded nice to me. Finally I found one item which includes five house specialties, the Velká Lehká hlava (Big Clear Head). It came with herbed potato gratin, vegetable shish kebabs, eggplant quesadilla, yogurt and salsa sauce. It was a giant-size serving, but I still managed to gobble up all the healthily and freshly prepared vegetarian food. I haven't tasted such high quality vegetarian food before. With such kind of scrumptious vegetarian food, who needs meat!

With such a good impression on Prague's vegetarian food, I went on to look for more. Maitrea happens to be a sister restaurant of Lehká hlava, so I was confident with the food quality.

The interior is not as 'unusual' as its sister restaurant, but still not that ordinary. This restaurant has two levels. I was seated at a corner of the ground floor dining area near the bartender.

I was spoiled for choice again, so I just ordered something with the word 'favorite' stamped at the side. I wasn't very keen on the vegan 'chicken', so I settled for the eggplant dish.

The eggplant and tofu in Thai green curry sauce was a hit to my gastronomic adventure! Every grain of rice fully soaked with the sauce tasted divine. Capped with the fragrance from the coriander leaves, this dish was just perfect! This time, the serving size was just right.

As I am a die hard non-alcoholic drinker, I can't stand a drop of alcohol in my drink. That Pivo (Bernard) švestkové was just nice for me, a beer without alcohol.

This non-alcoholic beer came in a very good looking bottle. Taste wise, it has got some plum flavour. Something very nice to go with the green curry taste. I spilled one-quarter of it due to my camera setup hitting the glass when the camera toppled, what a waste.

If you feel like having something lighter after many meaty meals in Prague, these two restaurants are highly recommended. Furthermore, it's not expensive to dine there as you can see from how much I spent for both meals.