Czech bar snacks, from drowned men to garlic toast

The Czech bar snack is built on one idea: whatever you eat should make the next sip of beer taste better. That means salt, vinegar, garlic, fat and sharpness, usually served with plenty of raw onion and dark bread. Order one cold dish and one hot dish, and you have understood the system.

The cold plates

Utopenci. The name means "drowned men", and the joke is in the sausage floating in a jar of pickling liquid. A thick sausage is pickled with onion, vinegar, peppercorns and bay leaf, then served with bread. Strong, sour and best with a pale lager. Eat the onion too; it is half the point.

Nakládaný hermelín. Hermelín is a soft, white-rind cheese, similar to camembert. In the pub it is split and marinated in oil with chilli, garlic, onion and spices, and it comes with bread. It smells assertive and tastes milder than it smells. It is the snack many first-time visitors end up reordering.

Tlačenka. Czech head cheese, a pressed, cold sausage made from pork parts, served with vinegar and onion. If the idea alarms you, order it for the table and take one bite. Locals eat it for the contrast with beer, not for subtlety.

Olomoucké tvarůžky. A small, pungent cheese from Moravia, named after the town of Olomouc. The smell is strong and the taste milder than the smell. It is sold marinated in oil or served fried, and the name is protected in the EU as a protected geographical indication (PGI). Tell the table before you open it.

Sýrová pomazánka. A cheese spread eaten on bread, often with onion. It is a lighter choice at the pub counter.

The warm plates

Topinky. Slices of bread fried in oil or lard, rubbed with garlic and served hot, sometimes with cheese or other toppings. A cheap, filling companion to a second beer.

Smažený sýr. Breaded fried cheese served with tartare sauce, chips or boiled potatoes. There is a full explanation in fried cheese, the Czech comfort food.

Klobása. A grilled sausage, served with mustard and bread. You will find it on garden menus too.

Škvarky. Crackling, little pieces of rendered pork fat, eaten warm or cold, and sometimes baked into scones. A pub classic from older generations.

Tatarák. Raw beef, chopped fine and served with garlic and toasted bread. You season it yourself at the table, with the garlic rubbed on the toast.

How to order

Snacks are often listed under a "ke pivu" (to go with beer) heading. A gramáž (weight) is written next to each dish, so you can compare plates. The snack comes with bread, and extra bread may be charged separately. Ask if you are unsure, because small extras on the table are a classic way for a bill to grow.

Say k tomu bych rád (men) or ráda (women), "with that I would like", or just point at the line. A short phrase list is in Czech phrases every visitor should know.

The mixed-plate rule

If you are with others, order two or three different snacks for the table and share. Pickled and fried dishes balance each other. A plate of only pickles gets tiring, and a plate of only fried food gets heavy. Many pubs also keep a short list of bigger, cheap dishes aimed at the beer drinker, which fill the gap between a snack and a meal.

What locals do

Locals pick the snack to suit the beer, not the other way round. Sharp, vinegary things go with a plain pale lager, whose bitterness cuts through them. Fried cheese and sausage suit a darker or half-dark beer. They also order the snack at the first round, not at the third, when the kitchen is busy and everyone is hungry.

Snacks are cheap compared with a main course, but not free, and prices differ by pub. Compare the price per portion on the menu rather than the headline figure, and note the weight.

Common mistakes

Ordering everything at once is the first. Cold plates are slow to eat and hot plates are not, so a table that orders six dishes ends up with a cooling fried cheese and a warm pickle. Order in two rounds. The second is ordering the strongest dish first: a whole tvarůžky plate on an empty stomach is a lot, and tlačenka is better shared. The third is treating the onion as garnish. In a Czech pub it is part of the dish, and the sharpness is what makes the beer taste clean afterwards.

For vegetarians

Nakládaný hermelín, smažený sýr, tvarůžky and cheese spreads are meat-free. Check topinky for toppings, and ask whether they were fried in lard. For a wider guide, see vegetarian food in Prague.

Frequently asked questions

What does utopenci actually mean?

It means 'drowned men', a joke about the sausage floating in pickling liquid. The snack is a pickled sausage with onion, served with bread.

Is Olomoucké tvarůžky really that smelly?

The smell is strong, but the taste is milder than the smell suggests. The name is protected in the EU as a PGI.

Can vegetarians eat Czech bar snacks?

Yes. Nakládaný hermelín, smažený sýr, tvarůžky and cheese spreads contain no meat. Ask about lard in fried items.

Do snacks come with bread?

Usually, with onion. Extra bread may be charged separately, so ask if you are not sure.

What is a good first order?

One cold dish, such as nakládaný hermelín, and one warm, such as topinky, shared with the table.

Do this today

At your next pub visit, ask for the snack list, order one pickled dish and one warm one, and share them with a half-litre. Add a spoon of mustard and a slice of raw onion and see how the beer changes.