Tasting Menu
A tasting menu is a way of dining where the chef serves you a series of smaller courses - usually 5 to 10 - and uses one plate after another to show you what they can do and how they think about food. For a long time, when I traveled, I steered clear of restaurants where dinner takes three hours - I put my faith in street food and cheap bistros and skipped the fancier places on principle.
That approach fell apart in 2021 at La Table de Montaigne in Bordeaux: the dinner where my road to fine dining began. These days, before every trip, the first thing I figure out is where I'll have dinner.
How a Tasting Menu Works
The portions are smaller than on a regular menu - the idea is to taste as many flavors as possible, not to be full after the third course. The number of courses usually doesn't include the little bites sent out by the kitchen at the start (amuse bouche) or the small sweets at the end (petit fours) - so in reality you'll eat more than the number on the menu promises. Plan on two to four hours at the table, and expect virtually every restaurant to require the same tasting menu for the whole table: that way the kitchen can serve everyone at once and the evening has a shared rhythm. You'll almost always need a reservation, and at the most renowned places you can easily be booking weeks in advance.
And the dress code? Most of the time nobody enforces it. That evening in Bordeaux, standing in the doorway in a summer shirt and dark shorts, I cautiously asked whether I was even dressed appropriately. "You are always dressed correctly, sir," the manager replied, and showed me to my table with a smile. It was the only test of the evening - and the staff passed it for me.
Menus with Choices, Blind Menus and Carte Blanche
Some restaurants offer a tasting menu with choices - you might pick from three starters and two mains. I like this version because it gives me control over what I get to taste. But I'd rather be surprised: with a blind tasting menu, you don't know the lineup of courses in advance, and the chef puts it together based on whatever ingredients are on hand that day. Luckily, I don't have any food allergies and I eat pretty much everything, so I love blind menus. If you have an allergy or dietary restrictions, mention them when you book - a good kitchen will work around them, but it needs to know ahead of time.
At the far end of the scale is carte blanche. At La Table de Montaigne, you just let them know about any allergies and the kitchen sends out whatever it sees fit. Marie B in Prague goes even further: you can't tell what the courses are even once they're served, and you only find out what you've actually eaten after you've finished. It was there that I realized I'd spent several hours thinking intensely about nothing but the food in front of me. I also had a blind menu at Dimora Ulmo in Matera, Italy, where the choice of dishes was entirely up to the chef.
Pairings: Wine, Non-Alcoholic and Tea
With a tasting menu, you can treat yourself to a pairing: the sommelier picks a glass of wine for each course to complement or highlight the dish. The right wine can do remarkable things for the flavors of a dish - at Entrée in Olomouc, the sommelier's explanations were knowledgeable and pleasantly relaxed at the same time, though with Czech cooking I'd have liked to see more bottles from Moravia.
More and more often, though, I go for the non-alcoholic pairing - and it's no longer just a fallback. At Field, it's very nearly a fully fledged alternative to wine: plum with chamomile, quince with hazelnut, or cranberries with pine needles. At La Degustation, the elderflower lemonade instantly took me back to my childhood, when my mom and I used to go out picking elderflowers, and the grape soda brought back memories of my grandfather and his soda siphon. At El Camino, I'd planned to stay off alcohol all evening - the staff just gave me a conspiratorial wink, and a bottle of Copenhagen Sparkling Tea landed on the table. And at Papilio, they even offer a tea pairing - clean, clear flavors that consistently complement the food without ever overpowering it.
Tasting Menus I'll Never Forget
I've eaten most of my tasting dinners at home in Czechia - I put together an overview of the award-winning places in my article on Michelin restaurants in Czechia. On December 11, 2025, Jan Knedla's Papilio became the first Czech restaurant to earn two Michelin stars ⭐⭐ - and the carrot with miso and pistachios, a visual illusion I completely fell for, was the standout moment of the whole dinner. Radek Kašpárek's Field has held on to its star since 2016, and its ten-course menu, much of it finished right at your table, is a front-row ticket to a three-hour show. La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise holds a star while cooking exclusively with Czech ingredients and recipes - and I'd recommend its five-course menu to Czechs and tourists alike without a second thought.
A star isn't a requirement, though. At Vallmo by the Náplavka embankment, eating pike with horseradish sauce, I searched my memory in vain for a time I'd had anything better - quite possibly never; it was my second visit, three years after the first, and I left itching to book the next table right away. At Přemek Forejt's Entrée, I had what was probably the best mushroom soup of my life. Na Kopci has held a Bib Gourmand every year since 2015, and El Camino tapas serves its tasting menu as a shared Spanish feast.
Abroad, I've had tasting menus in France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal, among other places. Besides La Table de Montaigne in Bordeaux, I have fond memories of La Tasquería in Madrid, where Javi Estévez earned a Michelin star with a menu built around offal. In Nantes, I had dinner at the Michelin restaurant Roza ⭐ as well as at Sources, in Athens at the Michelin restaurant Hytra ⭐, and in Porto at chef Angélica Salvador's In Diferente.
But the most powerful tasting menu I've ever had was at Dimora Ulmo in Matera, Italy - during covid. There were maybe five of us in the restaurant, and the whole blind menu was practically ours alone. The day before, I'd had dinner at the Michelin-starred Vitantonio Lombardo ⭐, so the bar was set very high - and Dimora Ulmo still came out on top, perhaps partly because of those strange times. Vitantonio Lombardo, the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Matera, tucked away in a cave, won me over in its own way with a dessert called L'ultimo Bacio (The Last Kiss): red lips on a plate and no cutlery - they told me to lick them straight off the plate, and played love songs in my headphones while I did. The most fascinating combination of taste, hearing and touch I've ever experienced in a restaurant. In Matera I also managed to fit in Ego, and in Turin the Michelin restaurants Condividere ⭐ and Scannabue.
To me, a tasting menu is a chef's story told over several hours - and it still holds true that before every trip, the first thing I figure out is where I'll have dinner. Would you take your chances on a blind menu, or do you prefer to pick your own courses?
La Veranda Restaurant, Prague: A Tasting Menu Next to a Library of Cookbooks
La Veranda has been cooking modern European food with a Mediterranean base in Prague's Josefov since 2002, and the Michelin guide lists it among its recommended restaurants. Alongside a tasting menu with a wine pairing that names both the suppliers and the winemakers, it draws you in with an unusually cozy interior, a library full of cookbooks - and a kitchen that can make a potato peel shine.
Papilio Restaurant ⭐⭐, Vysoký Újezd: Jan Knedla and His Perfection
Papilio Restaurant in Vysoký Újezd represents the peak of contemporary Czech gastronomy under the leadership of Jan Knedla. The ambitious establishment builds on the rich experience of the chef, who connects French technical precision with Asian sophistication and respect for local ingredients. Knedla's signature style is characterized by visual perfection, a play with textures, and the use of luxury ingredients. After triumphing in the Gault&Millau guide, the restaurant is on track to win prestigious Michelin stars.
Vallmo Restaurant, Prague: Great Tasting Menu for a Steal
In the Praha Vallmo Restaurant, Chef Dan Kukačka connects Czech culinary roots with pure Nordic simplicity. Dan Kukačka, who went through the school of the legendary Alcron. The poppy motif permeates the menu. Flexible wine pairing gives space to Moravian winemakers as well as interesting foreign wines.
El Camino Tapas Restaurant: Spanish Hospitality in Prague's Vinohrady
El Camino tapas restaurant in Prague's Vinohrady is an establishment focused on modern Spanish gastronomy. Owner David Böhm shows here that tapas are not just cold canapés with wine. Guests choose from several courses in the form of a tasting menu. The atmosphere is complemented by a great selection of Spanish wines.
Field Restaurant ⭐, Prague: Radek Kašpárek Reaches for a Second Star
Prague restaurant Field by Chef Radek Kašpárek represents an established icon of Czech fine dining. After years of successfully defending one Michelin star, it is now ambitiously targeting a second star. The establishment bets on an immediate experience, where the final preparation of dishes moves from the kitchen directly before the guests' eyes. Staff precisely finish plating or flambé meat at the table, blurring the lines between chef and waiter.
Marie B Restaurant: The Most Original Fine Dining in Prague
Marie B is a restaurant that offers tastings in the form of carte blanche. The guest never knows in advance what will be on the menu - not even when the dish is already in front of them. Everything is revealed only after you finish eating and have a dialogue with the staff. Carte blanche isn’t for everyone, but if you embrace this concept, you’re in for a unique and powerful experience.
La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise Restaurant⭐, Prague: A Michelin-Starred Tribute to Czech Cuisine
La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise is a Prague Restaurant that, uniquely in the Czech Republic, has been awarded and has maintained a Michelin star for a cuisine based exclusively on Czech ingredients and recipes. Traditional Czech ingredients like Olomouc cheese, beetroot, or carp here take on surprising, modern forms and push the boundaries of Czech cuisine.
Vallmo Restaurant, Prague: Six Courses from the Crystal Pin Winner
Six courses from chef Martin Makovička - from carp tartare in cucumber soup to poppy seed pudding served at the table out of a big pot. Vallmo, a short walk from Prague's Náplavka riverbank, won Google's first Crystal Pin as the best-rated place in the city, so I went to count those stars for myself.
Entrée Restaurant, Olomouc: A Tasting Menu with Pivní Pes, a Spread of Olomoucké Tvarůžky
A nine-course tasting menu at Entrée in Olomouc, the restaurant of chef and MasterChef judge Přemek Forejt: Czech classics disguised beyond recognition, from vepřo, černo, zelo to a katův šleh made of sturgeon, and pivní pes of olomoucké tvarůžky as the regional signature. An evening that ranks among my strongest food experiences.
Na Kopci Restaurant, Prague: Czech-French Cooking with a Bib Gourmand
A small family restaurant in a villa district above Prague's Smíchov pairs French technique with Czech cooking, and it has held on to the Michelin Bib Gourmand every year since 2015. The beef tartare with fries is legendary among the regulars. One of the first good restaurants I found in Prague - and it's still going strong.