Hmmm, not sure how to rate this restaurant. The space is indeed very big, or rather long. The non-smoking area is large and despite being right next to the smoking area, it’s not smoky at all. I noticed they have about 15 highchairs for children next to the entrance too, different ones for different ages. You can still tell it’s an Ambiente restaurant; this would never happen in a ‘real’ Czech pub. The place was packed. We made a reservation and it was necessary. There were two tables free when we arrived but both had reservation signs on them. It does seem to be very popular. The decoration, writings on the wall are ok, but nothing special. It does not evoke a pub feeling in me at all. Menus are short and comprise of classic Czech dishes. We struggled a bit with choosing food and it’s not because we don’t enjoy the occasional svickova and knedliky. The menu is simply rather limited and it seemed that most of the dishes were prepared from not so lean cuts of meat. We ended up
ordering a beef roast with some rice and the classic goulash with dumplings. The waiter was very friendly and professional. We had a beer and glass of wine. The wine list caters to everyone and the most expensive bottle is about 1700 CZK, definitely not typical pub. Beer comes from the special beer tank which is located at one end of the restaurant. It’s flatter than most beers in other Czech pubs, but I am no beer connoisseur so I can’t really tell if that’s how it ought to be. The house white was decent enough, much better than the usual pub selection. Food arrived in about 20 minutes. The beef was medium rare, which I enjoyed, but the waiter did not ask me how I wanted it done. I guess in a pub you get what the chef gives? It was nice and juicy but the rice the waiter recommended with it seemed too dry. There wasn’t any sauce with the dish. The goulash was certainly not the best in town. The sauce and dumplings were lovely but the meat was too chewy. My dad makes a far b etter goulash then that. We didn’t take deserts. I did notice some nice ‘totalitarian’ touches. The cutlery is rolled in awful quality paper napkins, just like it used to be before. The plastic bread baskets look like something my babicka has at home. They serve soups from a small bowl at the table, which is also something from the 70s. I wonder how the coffee tastes. The price is indeed favorable for Dlouha, but all in all I wasn’t as impressed as I hoped to be with the restaurant. Having said that I’d go back if someone would book a table and say let’s meet at Lokal, but I don’t think I’d put the effort into it myself.
Feb-23-2010ordering a beef roast with some rice and the classic goulash with dumplings. The waiter was very friendly and professional. We had a beer and glass of wine. The wine list caters to everyone and the most expensive bottle is about 1700 CZK, definitely not typical pub. Beer comes from the special beer tank which is located at one end of the restaurant. It’s flatter than most beers in other Czech pubs, but I am no beer connoisseur so I can’t really tell if that’s how it ought to be. The house white was decent enough, much better than the usual pub selection. Food arrived in about 20 minutes. The beef was medium rare, which I enjoyed, but the waiter did not ask me how I wanted it done. I guess in a pub you get what the chef gives? It was nice and juicy but the rice the waiter recommended with it seemed too dry. There wasn’t any sauce with the dish. The goulash was certainly not the best in town. The sauce and dumplings were lovely but the meat was too chewy. My dad makes a far b etter goulash then that. We didn’t take deserts. I did notice some nice ‘totalitarian’ touches. The cutlery is rolled in awful quality paper napkins, just like it used to be before. The plastic bread baskets look like something my babicka has at home. They serve soups from a small bowl at the table, which is also something from the 70s. I wonder how the coffee tastes. The price is indeed favorable for Dlouha, but all in all I wasn’t as impressed as I hoped to be with the restaurant. Having said that I’d go back if someone would book a table and say let’s meet at Lokal, but I don’t think I’d put the effort into it myself.
Czech cuisine has deserved a place like Lokal to open in Prague. The former spot of the very popular Dahab restaurant was taken over by the Ambiente group whose latest concept surpasses the other successful dining ideas.
The concept is simple, great quality Czech food at reasonable prices. Seems like a no brainer really, but it took the adventurous owners over at Ambiente to make it happen.
The long restaurant (I mean really long circa 200 meters) is standard in design, but is clean, dark wood and has an interesting theme of self-graffitied walls to give you that old-school Czech pub theme. The waiters are dressed in the traditional black and white and carry themselves as if in the 1920s with their posture, speech and polite manner. It really is as if you are being served from extras in the movie I served the King of England.
First thing you notice about the menu is that it is only in Czech (no foreign languages). The second thing is that there are no foreign items on the menu, no coke, no Pepsi, no French wines and definitely no foreign beers. This is Czech through and through and my recommendation is to begin with a half liter Pilsner Urquell beer.
Lokals' beer is one of the best in the city, the old style rounded glass mug is a treat to drink from and the pour is exactly on the mark. They have a person on the menu whose sole job is to make sure the beer is delicious so you can always count and a good pour from clean pipes.
The menu is short but covers all the bases from starters such as pickled camembert (nakladani hermilin) to pickled Czech sausage with onion and toast (Utopenci).
There are 2 soups on the menu, chicken noodle and tribe which are brought to your table, poured in front of you and served with fresh Czech bread.
Main dishes are your standard Czech fare with roast pork and sauerkraut, roast duck with cabbage and dumplings, goulash, fried cheese, and Tartarak (a blend of raw minced tenderloin, raw egg, onion and hot toast with fresh chunks of garlic.
The prices all around are very, very reasonable and the quality cannot be topped by any pub in the city. Fresh dumplings, lean meat cooked to perfection. The Ambiente group has really gone all out to maintain a high quality of food and service whilst not raping their customers on the price. Case in point, 1 beer, a soup, roast pork with cabbage and 3 dumplings (dumplings are extra) came to 220 CZK (12 USD and 8.50 EUR) with tip.
One other cool feature is the bathrooms. They are entirely decorated with old ads for products from the times before 1968 and the wondrous times of communism. In the men’s bathrooms there are lots of decent yet most definitely topless women advertising various products, my favorite was the Tatra truck.
Lokal is a true taste of the past, and proof that the Czech cuisine can be fantastic.
Dec-21-2009The concept is simple, great quality Czech food at reasonable prices. Seems like a no brainer really, but it took the adventurous owners over at Ambiente to make it happen.
The long restaurant (I mean really long circa 200 meters) is standard in design, but is clean, dark wood and has an interesting theme of self-graffitied walls to give you that old-school Czech pub theme. The waiters are dressed in the traditional black and white and carry themselves as if in the 1920s with their posture, speech and polite manner. It really is as if you are being served from extras in the movie I served the King of England.
First thing you notice about the menu is that it is only in Czech (no foreign languages). The second thing is that there are no foreign items on the menu, no coke, no Pepsi, no French wines and definitely no foreign beers. This is Czech through and through and my recommendation is to begin with a half liter Pilsner Urquell beer.
Lokals' beer is one of the best in the city, the old style rounded glass mug is a treat to drink from and the pour is exactly on the mark. They have a person on the menu whose sole job is to make sure the beer is delicious so you can always count and a good pour from clean pipes.
The menu is short but covers all the bases from starters such as pickled camembert (nakladani hermilin) to pickled Czech sausage with onion and toast (Utopenci).
There are 2 soups on the menu, chicken noodle and tribe which are brought to your table, poured in front of you and served with fresh Czech bread.
Main dishes are your standard Czech fare with roast pork and sauerkraut, roast duck with cabbage and dumplings, goulash, fried cheese, and Tartarak (a blend of raw minced tenderloin, raw egg, onion and hot toast with fresh chunks of garlic.
The prices all around are very, very reasonable and the quality cannot be topped by any pub in the city. Fresh dumplings, lean meat cooked to perfection. The Ambiente group has really gone all out to maintain a high quality of food and service whilst not raping their customers on the price. Case in point, 1 beer, a soup, roast pork with cabbage and 3 dumplings (dumplings are extra) came to 220 CZK (12 USD and 8.50 EUR) with tip.
One other cool feature is the bathrooms. They are entirely decorated with old ads for products from the times before 1968 and the wondrous times of communism. In the men’s bathrooms there are lots of decent yet most definitely topless women advertising various products, my favorite was the Tatra truck.
Lokal is a true taste of the past, and proof that the Czech cuisine can be fantastic.
