Culinaria - Prague

So, I've yet to actually mention one of my favorite restaurants in Prague: Culinaria.

I am not even lying when I say that I come here almost every single day for lunch. Why, ask you. Well, it's cheap and it's damn good.

From 1pm until 3pm, you can get the lunchtime plate special for only 149 Kč. Each plate comes with a main course, a starch, a vegetable and a salad. What is really great about the food at Culinaria is that after I'm finished, I feel genuinely healthy. Unlike so many other places in Prague, where I feel as though I've just eaten my recommended daily intake after only two or three bites.

So, what's on my plate today?

First of all, I started with the Beef Stroganoff. Thinly sliced pieces of lean beef, in an amazing beefy-cream sauce, that has been filled with thinly sliced onions and shiitake mushrooms. Next, an amazing slice of quiche: filled with goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. The quiche is fantastic for many reasons, but what really makes it tower above the rest is the flaky pastry. It isn't too doughy, but at the same time, it doesn't crumble immediately, leaving you with what resembles a pile of rubble after an earthquake. For my vegetable dish, I chose to get zucchini and squash which had been stewed in a delicate marinara sauce.

The best part about my main plate is ALWAYS the combination of the flavors from the various meals. Today, for example, the sauce from the Stroganoff blended perfected with the quiche, transforming the strong goat cheese into a warmer and more delicate cheese, that had a new flavor, one that was slightly tarty from the goat cheese, but also filled with a creamy, warm blend of mushrooms, onions and beef. On the other hand, whenever the quiche touched the stewed vegetables, the goat cheese was transformed into an Italian heaven from the marinara sauce.

For my salad today, I had the Greek Salad, which is easily becoming one of my favorite things from Culinaria. Filled with red, green, and yellow pepper slices, pieces of Bermuda onion, sliced Cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and pieces of feta cheese, and topped with a light dressing, the salad is always cool and refreshing. A prefect way to reminisce about those long summer days, despite the fact that it is freezing outside and that the sun is always gone by 4:15pm.

I have had so many amazing meals here at Culinaria, and I feel as though I need to recap some of my favorites:

1. Chicken breasts, stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes in a creamy basil, tomato sauce.
2. Sliced pieces of chicken chicken, served in a thickened soy sauce with onions and sliced red and yellow peppers, topped with Sesame seeds.
3. Small, roasted potatoes with Rosemary, tomatoes and black olives/
4. Beef Lasagna (almost as good as my mom's, but not quite)
5. Chili with shredded beef, corn, in a tomato sauce, with Cheddar and Monterrey Jack running through it like veins in a wrist.
6. An amazing salad with chick peas and tuna, in a vinaigrette dressing -- DELICIOUS!
7. Lentil salad with spinach and pieces of feta, in an oil and vinegar dressing -- again, DELICIOUS!
8. Sauteed mushrooms and onions in a thickened beef sauce.

And one thing that is not part of the lunch plate...

9. Chicken Toscana Sandwich (129 Kč) Smoked chicken breast, fontina cheese, sun dried tomatoes, lettuce and pesto mayonnaise. With the smoky flavor from the chicken, the nutty flavor from the cheese, the distinct taste of the sun-dried tomatoes, paired with the crispness of the lettuce, and the smooth but garlicy/herby flavor from the pesto mayonnaise. One of the best sandwiches that I've ever had!


And what is also amazing about Culinaria is the fact that you can get just about every great western snack... including:

- Nacho Cheese Doritos (known as Tangy Cheese Doritos in the UK where they are shipped from)
- Häagen-Dazs
- Ben & Jerry's
- Skittles
- Fruit by the Foot
- Kettle Chips
- Heinz
- French's Yellow Mustard
- Jelly Belly
- Arizona Green Tea
- Fiji Water
- Kellogg's Corn Flakes
- Betty Crocker Cake Mix
- Carr's Crackers

It's a fantastic place to go, and I cannot recommend it enough. The food is amazing. The restaurant is clean. And the staff are always kind and ready to strike up a conversation. Especially if you've eaten there at least four times for the past two months.



INFORMATION:
Address: Skořepka 9, Praha 1
Phone: +420 224 231 017

Hours: Monday thru Saturday, 10.00 - 19.00; Sunday, 12.00 - 17.00
Location: Staré Město
Metro: close to both Staroměstská and Můstek

Attire: Casual.
Payment: Cash or Credit.