Czech Please: You can eat as well in Prague as in major world cities
The anonymous writer behind the Czech Please social media accounts has been reviewing restaurants in Prague for over a decade and a half. Also going by the pen name Brewsta, Czech Please has built up a large and dedicated following as one of Czechia’s best-known English-language food bloggers. When we met at a cool Prague café, we discussed the city’s dining scene at length – but I first asked Czech Please a little about himself.
When did you first come to Prague?
“I first came in 1995. I was visiting a Czech woman I had met in the United States. I decided to come over and see how things were over here, and loved it.
“But it took several more years of looking around until I made the big move, in 1999, to come and settle here.”
Had you always been a foodie before you moved here?
“I’m fascinated by restaurants: how they work, how the kitchen works, how the atmosphere and business all interplays.”
“Yes, I definitely was always interested in different types of cuisine and specifically in restaurants.
“I do cook, but mostly I’m just fascinated by restaurants: how they work, how the kitchen works, how the atmosphere and business all interplays. It’s just really interesting to me.”
When you came here in the ‘90s, generally what were restaurants here in Prague like at that time?
“There was a very small group of sophisticated – or sophisticated for that time – restaurants. I could count on one or two hands restaurants that you would consider sort of Western-style fancy.
“Kampa Park was around then. There was a place called Pravda, there was a place called Barock. And compared to American prices and in dollar terms they were extraordinarily cheap.
“A very expensive main course at Kampa Park in 1999 was 300 crowns. The dollar hit 35 to 40 to the crown around that time, early 2000, so you’re looking at 10 dollars to sit on the river in the most beautiful restaurant.
“It was really sort of a heady time.”
Did you also, though, go to more regular, neighbourhood restaurants? What were they like at that time?
“They weren’t that different from regular Czech restaurants today. So I’ve eaten my share of svíčková and koleno and not just in Prague; I was in Brno quite a lot back in those days.
“It was always pretty good stuff in some of those local places. And crazy cheap [laughs].”
What about the service? That’s something that a lot of foreigners would have commented on in those days – that the service wouldn’t have been what one might be used to from America, say.
“I would say I don’t remember too many bad experiences. I used to frequent a very Czech pub in Malá Strana and the waiters were sort of surly but lovable, if you could put it that way.
“They were characters, and we loved their style and their personalities.”
When did you first start food blogging? Or what form did your restaurant reviewing take in the beginning?
“So in 2007 I was looking for a creative outlet. I was trying to think about how to express myself in writing in a way that I would find satisfying.
“And I was a consumer of blogs. Some of them were very personal and I didn’t feel like writing personal stuff on the internet.
“One day I read an article in The New York Times and there was an article about restaurant bloggers in New York City and this light bulb went off over my head.
“I said, I love restaurants, I like to write, I’m going to start documenting what I eat.
“And I looked around and I’m sure there were no other English-language restaurant blogs at that time. So I lay claim to being the first in English; there were Czech ones.
“I just started a Blogspot account and started writing stories of my dinners with my friends and partners, and putting up some photos, sometimes really bad photos with my bad camera.
“I just got a real kick out of it and it started getting a lot of positive feedback and I enjoyed that.”
You used to go by the name Brewsta, now you’re Czech Please. Why are you anonymous?
“Well I thought about it very carefully at the time and I realised that the blogs that I enjoyed the most, that I was consuming, were anonymous. One of them was a bouncer in New York City who was telling the inside story of what it’s like to be a bouncer in New York.
“One was by a lawyer at a New York City law firm who could tell you the inside story in a way they couldn’t tell you if they used their real name.
“I liked the mystery and the mystique of anonymity, sort of, Who is this international man of mystery that goes around and spies on restaurants?
“I realised that the blogs that I enjoyed the most were anonymous.”
“So I thought that was a cool idea. And I just value my privacy, so I’d rather do it that way.”
Have you ever thought about coming out?
“I’ve considered it many times.
“There’s upsides and downsides. I think personality-driven social media is definitely more popular, but at the same time it’d be at the expense of my privacy, so I decided it’s not worth it.”
You’re on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Do you prefer any of those, and if so for what reason?
“I don’t necessarily prefer any. I’ve tried Threads and it seems to get no traction.
“I like anything that gets a response. I think I used to get more responses on Instagram but now all the comments I get are on Facebook, so actually I do prefer Facebook, because I love interacting and comments.
“But by the way, the character that I use for my blog is Brewsta and the name of the account is Czech Please, so they’re not mutually exclusive – they go together.”
You used to do this “best burgers of the year” chart or table, which was very popular. How do you manage to stay slim on an evident diet of non-stop burgers?
“Oh, there’s a very good answer to that: genetics [laughs]. I’ve always had a fast metabolism.
“Yes, I’ve eaten a lot of burgers. I’ve cut back – my cholesterol levels were getting a little crazy and I discontinued the burger ranking list, partly for that reason.
“I stopped it during Covid and just decided not to restart it again.”
But even now, for example, how many times a month would you eat a burger?
“I’ve been kind of getting back into the burger swing of things. There was a period where I was really laying off, but I’ve had quite a few in this last month. I would say four or five in a month.”
One thing I wanted to discuss with you was tipping. A few months ago on social media I wrote that I had rounded up from about 1,100 [in fact it was more like 1,130] crowns to 1,200, because it was just a quick in and out meal, nothing special, and the waitress had given me a look like, What the hell is this? I asked people if rounding up was still the done thing, or am I a bad tipper. What’s your view on this?
“I generally tip 10 percent. I do occasionally round up if it looks close to 10 percent; occasionally it might be a little less or it might be a little more.
“But I try to err on the side of generosity, just for karmic reasons.”
What about bang for buck in Prague? You travel quite a bit, I’m sure – is Prague reasonably priced in terms of what you get?
“That’s a really interesting question, because my comments on Facebook are filled, every single post, with comments about prices.
“My comments on Facebook are filled with comments about prices.”
“I eat out a lot, I can afford to eat out a lot and I pay for things myself; I don’t take freebies, I don’t take sponsorship, it’s just my hobby, it’s just what I do.
“But not everybody has the same economic level and it angers some people when they see the inflation that’s hit. It’s very real – prices have gone up a lot, no doubt.
“But when I look at the big picture, I was in New York this year, I was travelling around the United States, I’ve been in Paris or Amsterdam, and prices are still not at those levels.
“And we eat very well in Prague. There’s very sophisticated dining here and I consider myself lucky that however much prices have gone up in the last five years, they’re not New York/London/Paris levels.”
Generally, what would you say is the standard in Prague? Obviously it isn’t Paris, but how good is Prague for dining?
“This is subjective, but my feeling is that you can eat in Prague as well, or better sometimes, as you can eat in major cities of the world.
“I’ll give you an example. I’m really interested in burgers and I went to find the best burger in New York. I’ve tried many and one of them is the Black Label burger at the Minetta Tavern in Greenwich Village. It’s a great burger.
“Then I went to Kantýna in Prague and their aged beef burger – Minetta Tavern is also aged beef – I found to be equally satisfying for a fraction of the price. It’s a world class burger, and it’s my favourite burger in Prague.
“I’m a fan of the La Bottega restaurants: very sophisticated Italian food. Everything’s imported, they do really nice risottos, pastas, meat, fish. It’s expensive and the prices have really skyrocketed there, but it isn’t New York prices.
“I mean, entrees in New York are 40, 50 dollars – here they’re 20, 30 dollars.”
Maybe you’ve already kind of answered the question, but what are your favourite restaurants in this city?
“Some of my favourite restaurants in Prague are El Camino, La Bottega di finestra, Kantýna, Mr. Hotdog, Burgerman, Sumi Garden.”
What about cafés? I know you like your pastry.
“I love Tisse. They have a lovely garden, near Riegrovy sady, and they have great breakfast and great pastries, a big variety, great quality. It’s one of my favourite.
“And there’s just a huge choice of bakeries around the Jiřího z Poděbrad area.”
I find with cafés especially that it’s virtually impossible to keep up with all the new places that are opening in different districts. How do you stay on top of all the restaurants and cafés? Do people send you tips? Do you just keep your eye out all the time?
“On my social media accounts I almost exclusively follow foodie accounts or restaurants; so all the food so-called influencers, plus the restaurants – I scroll through those every day and every once in a while I see something that intrigues me.
“But I don’t eat out as much as I used to in the earlier days of my blog – I’ve got much more work and personal life commitments that have just really slowed me down a bit.”
Some people listening to this will be wondering, Does this guy like Czech food? And if you do, what dishes?
“I love svíčková, number one, a really good one. I’ve had some bad ones. But I love the sweet creamy sauce and if the meat’s a little bit better quality than the typical Czech version, I like that a little bit more.
“Řízek, schnitzel, I really like. I haven’t had it in a while but I like the version at Vinohradský Pivovar, because it also came with a sort of a German vinegar-style potato salad that you rarely find. Koprovka – I had that this week, actually, at Šodó.
“I love svíčková if the meat’s a little bit better quality than the typical Czech version.”
“I like Czech food, it’s just I’ve been here a long time and it’s very heavy, so it’s usually not the first thing I think of when I go out to eat.”
