10 Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurants

Finding vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Prague is not difficult but you just need to know where to look for them. Most restaurants are great places for meat lovers as the average Czech likes to eat meat and shuns vegetables. However, many Czechs are changing their eating habits and the menu in most restaurants also features one or two vegetarian dishes. If you want more choice, go to a 100% vegetarian or vegan restaurant. Here a list of 10 vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Prague

Vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Stare Mesto

1. County Life, Melantrichova 15, Stare Mesto
Monday to Thursday 10.30 – 19.30, Sunday 12.00 – 18.00, closed Saturday.

* Country Life offers a self-service selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes and a large salad bar. The Country Life Shop next to the restaurant sells organic products. Water is free (you hardly find that anywhere in Prague). The price of your meal depends on the weight. The restaurant is very popular and always crowded, yet finding a table is no problem. All meals can be bought as a takeaways. More about Country Life

2. Maitrea, Tynska 6, Stare Mesto
Monday to Friday 11.30-22.30, Saturday and Sunday 12.00-22.00

* The menu changes regularly and the prices are very affordable considering that Maitrea is close to Old Town Square. A wide range of atypical meals and all vegetarian. A refined combination of herbs is the secret of Maitrea. The lunch menu includes carrot-ginger soup and red lentil soup, the main course is vegetable based, eggplant, green beans, red cabbage, olives and rice. The summer menu r and vegetable soup with red lentils to name just a couple, and tasty dishes such as baked eggplant with green beans, red cabbage, and rice with lettuce and a quesadilla with smoked tempeh, olives, salsa and rice. Summertime menus specializes in raw food. Seating is on two levels, Buddha decorations, fountains, and an open fireplace make Maitrea very welcoming and intimate.

3. Lehka Hlava, Borsov 2, Stare Mesto
Monday to Friday 11.30-22.30, Saturday and Sunday 12.00-22.00

* Choose from vegetarian gyros with homemade tzatziki or grilled vegetable kebab with smoked tofu. The menu clearly indicates which dishes are pure vegan or gluten-free. At Lehka Hlava you dine in an oasis of peace under a starry sky of hundreds of lights. You can choose from soup or a main dish or lunch menu with water or with wine, all at different prices and a la carte in the evening.

Vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Mala Strana

1. Vegan’s Prague, Nerudova 36, Mala Strana
Daily 11.30-21.30

* Vegan’s Prague offers an interesting combination of classic Czech dishes with a vegetarian twist. Everything authentic and without a single gram of meat. The menu includes potato goulash and tofu with traditional Czech cream and cranberry sauce and also gluten-free and raw food dishes and organic beer. Vegan’s Prague is located on the fourth floor of a historic building with a beautiful view of Prague.

Vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Vinohrady

1. Radost FX, Belehradska 120, Vinohrady
Tuesday to Saturday 11am-5am, Sunday and Monday 11am-12am.

* Radost FX offers an extensive vegetarian menu and serves Greek, Indian, Thai and Mexican dishes until late at night. Radost is not only a vegetarian restaurant but also a pub and a club. The dance floor is downstairs. There is no admission fee.

2. Moment, Slezska 62, Vinohrady
Daily 09.00-22.00

* Moment is a bistro and cafe, 100% vegan. Breakfast is served until 11.00. Most ingredients come from farmers’ markets, including the market on the nearby Jiriho z Podebrad square. Furthermore, an extensive choice of different flavoors of tea. Be sure to try svareny most, hot apple juice. Treat yourself to homemade vegan cupcakes, pastries and cookies, or gluten-free and sugar-free pastries.

Vegetarian and vegan restaurants in food courts of shopping centres

1. Loving Hut Restaurants in Food Courts

Shopping Centre Černá labuť, Na Poříčí 25, Shopping Centre Quadrio, Spálená 22, Shopping Centre Novy Smichov, Plzeňská 8|Monday to Saturday from 11.00 to 21.00

* Loving Hut looks like an average meat serving Asian restaurant, but not quite. Although the meat dishes look like meat, they don’t contain one single ounce of meat. Loving Hut is paradise for vegetarians and is also 100% vegan. The dishes on the menu are environmentally friendly and very healthy and tasty. The founder of this restaurant chain is Ching Ha, a Vietnamese health and peace guru.

2. Dhaba Beas, with 16 restaurants in Prague, 4 centrally located locations:
Tynska 19 (near Old Town Square), Stare Mesto.
Monday-Friday 11.00-20.00, Saturday and Sunday

Na Porici 24, (in the arcade behind the Archa theatre).
Monday-Friday11.00-21.00, Saturday and Sunday 12.00-20.00

Purkynova 9 (behind the Quadio shopping centre).
Monday-Friday 11.00-20.00, Saturday and Sunday 12.00-19.00

Slovanský dům (shopping centre), Na Příkopě 22
Monday-Friday 11.00-21.00, Saturday and Sunday 12.00-20.00

* Dhaba Beas is a vegetarian Indian self-service restaurant with North Indian specialties where you pay by weight. A nice extra is that you get a discount on your meal one hour before closing time. A chef from India prepares the dishes on the spot, so everything is always fresh. Lassi, a traditional yogurt drink, is the prefect drink to accompany your meal. Samosas and pakoras are perfect snacks or a light meal. A bonus is the carafe of free water on every table.

Vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Smichov and Zizkov

1.Pastva, Nadražní 54, Smichov
Monday – Friday 11am-9pm, closed Saturday and Sunday

*Pastva specializes in vegan burgers, the tastiest you can get in Prague. The plant-based menu is varied, and also very attractive for non-vegans. Foie gras, burgers, lasagna and ramen, all prepared with fresh organic products. Moravian wine is the perfect drink to make your meal a true feast for the taste buds. Be sure to try at least one of the vegan desserts.

2. Belzepub, U Rajske zahrady 14, Zizkov
Tuesday 12.00-20.00, Wednesday – Friday12.00-22.00, Saturday and Sunday closed

* Over the years, Belzepub has gone from punk club to health food restaurant. Their specialty is vegan Mana burgers with different toppings. All burgers and toppings, including the cheese substitute, are 100% vegan. The burgers are all the same but pickles or cucumber, tomatoes and lettuce but the sauces are different. The burgers are served with vegan fries.

Manaburger
The ManaBurger is a Czech product and developed by food scientists and biochemists. A 130 gram burger provides 20 grams of high quality protein from peas, rice, hemp, mung beans and algae. The colour comes from natural dyes of beetroot and red pepper, and the dark colours of caramel. The burger has no added glutamate, no animal products, no gluten and no GMO products.

photos: Marianne Crone