Where to Go for Brunch in Prague
Brunch is a late breakfast rolled into lunch to make one hearty meal - even the word itself is a blend of breakfast and lunch. It's typically served on weekends between ten in the morning and two in the afternoon, and what really sets it apart from an ordinary breakfast is the pace: nobody is in a hurry to be anywhere.
There are two things I love about brunch. I get to taste loads of dishes in one sitting that I'd never order one by one - from oysters and carrot tartare to chicken mole. And the weekend day gets off to a slow start: no alarm clock, just a long morning at the table.
How Brunch Came About
Behind the word brunch there's a real person and a real piece of writing. In 1895, British journalist Guy Beringer published an essay called "Brunch: A Plea" in the magazine Hunter's Weekly (you can read the original on Wikisource), in which he proposed replacing the heavy Sunday dinner after church with a lighter meal around noon. One of his arguments was that people wouldn't have to get up early on Sunday - and he was also thinking of those who'd had a late Saturday night. Brunch, he wrote, "is cheerful, sociable and inciting. It is talk-compelling."
Beringer's plea caught on far from where he wrote it. Brunch only became truly popular in the United States in the 1930s. Hollywood stars traveling between New York and California by transcontinental train would get off in Chicago for a late Sunday meal. Hotels jumped on the idea - regular restaurants were closed on Sundays - and the Sunday hotel brunch has stayed with Americans ever since. After World War II, brunch spread across America as a Sunday morning social ritual and picked up cocktails along the way: the mimosa, made with sparkling wine and orange juice, and the Bloody Mary.
What People Eat and Drink at Brunch
A brunch menu is built on combining breakfast with lunch. From the breakfast side come eggs in all sorts of styles - eggs Benedict with hollandaise sauce, poached eggs with avocado, or Turkish eggs with yogurt - along with pancakes, waffles, or croissants. From the lunch side there are salads, fish, grilled meats, and soups. And since there's no limit on sweet things at brunch, desserts are usually a chapter of their own - mini desserts as well as sweets like curd cheese dumplings.
The format varies from place to place. Some serve the courses to your table one after another, others build it around a buffet where everyone puts together their own feast. The buffet is where brunch's greatest strength really shines: variety. Three bites of five different dishes on one plate? That's exactly how it's meant to be done.
To drink, there's coffee, tea, and fresh juices, but very often prosecco or wine too. Many places offer a "bottomless brunch," with unlimited selected drinks for the whole sitting. What I usually still miss back home in Czechia is an interesting alcohol-free option - which is why I appreciate it all the more when a place offers something like an alcohol-free "prosecco."
The Brunches I've Tried in Prague
Mlýnec Restaurant
The weekend brunch at Mlýnec is the table-service kind: three starters, three main courses, and two desserts land on the table one after another, each course shared by the whole table. Add unlimited wine, prosecco, and beer, plus a view of the Charles Bridge that never gets old. I still remember the superb mushroom kyselo, a sour Czech soup, with shimeji mushrooms. And I'll admit that we closed the place down that day. You'll find more about the restaurant under the Mlýnec tag.
Občanská plovárna
The Sunday brunch at Občanská plovárna combines a buffet of starters with eggs and main courses served to the table, all in a lovely setting right on the Vltava. The welcome drink was gazpacho in a shot glass - a nice nod to Spanish cooking. The highlight for me was salmon with green curry sauce and fermented currants, a dish I'd never have expected at a brunch. The unlimited alcohol-free "prosecco" I mentioned also scored points with me.
The Artisan
The brunch at The Artisan in the Marriott Hotel is all about themes: every Sunday the buffet has a different one - caramel one week, wild garlic or a proper Czech pig-slaughter feast another. I happened to catch the chocolate one, and the chocolate didn't stop at the desserts - it turned up in the chili con carne and the chicken mole too. The main draw for me, though, was the beef steaks from the Josper grill and the cheeses from the Krasolesí farm, which even Czech Michelin restaurants seek out.
Buddha-Bar Prague
The Asian brunch at Buddha-Bar skips eggs and pancakes entirely. Every Sunday, the two-story underground space with its three-ton Buddha statue turns from a nightspot into a family-friendly space with a self-service buffet: sushi, oysters, tempura shrimp, gyoza, and a soup station serving Tom Yum. Where else can you help yourself to as many fresh oysters as you like at brunch? A well-equipped kids' corner with babysitting is a nice bonus for parents.
I think Guy Beringer would be pleased to see how his plea caught on - a hundred and thirty years later, brunch is exactly what he promised: a meal made for conversation. If you've never been to a brunch, try starting one Sunday at noon. And feel free to write and tell me where you enjoyed it.
Buddha-Bar Prague: Asian Brunch with Babysitting
The Sunday brunch at Buddha-Bar Prague is a rich Asian buffet with unlimited consumption of food and selected beverages. For 1,599 CZK (64 EUR) per person, guests can taste fresh sushi, oysters, hot Pan-Asian specialties, and diverse desserts. Families with children will certainly appreciate the well-equipped kids' corner with babysitting. The quality and freshness of all dishes are ensured by the experienced Executive Chef Jan Voráček, who has been at the restaurant continuously since its opening.
The Artisan Restaurant: Chocolate Brunch at the Marriott Hotel
The Artisan is a modern restaurant in the Prague Marriott Hotel that hosts brunches every Sunday. The theme changes every week, so the visitor can experience a brunch focused on, for example, a Czech pig feast, burgers, caramel, or wild garlic.
Občanská plovárna: Sunday Brunch by the Vltava River
Brunch at Občanská plovárna takes place every Sunday, and the menu changes every two months. The price includes unlimited consumption of starters, egg-based breakfast dishes, main courses, and mini desserts. Unlimited consumption also applies to selected types of soft drinks, wine, or beer.
Mlýnec Restaurant, Prague: Weekend Brunch
The weekend brunch at Mlýnec Restaurant ranks among very popular events. Guests gradually taste three different appetizers, three main courses, and two desserts. The experience is complemented by unlimited consumption of selected wines, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages. Advance reservation is a necessity due to high demand.