Last summer in Prague I tested how Indian paneer cheese bends in Czech and tried four different Indian restaurants, even though the first one made me hesitate. However, vegetarian food was so rare over there that the Indian restaurants brought considerable relief. Here are 3 good Indian restaurants I found from Prague.
Golden Tikka
The Golden Tikka restaurant was located in a modest-looking residential area in Prague and one had to pass quite a few beer terraces on the way there. The entrance to the restaurant was quite unobtrusive and easily lost.
Golden Tikka was decorated in a modest and neat manner that fits the suburban area, and a few paintings delighted the customer on the orangish yellow walls.
The menu of the restaurant, in turn, delighted the customer with a rare restaurant option, chapati, which is a healthier alternative to naan bread.
Mangolassi was not found in the menu, so ordinary lassi, with a bit of salt, was there to extinguish the spices.
At the Golden Tikka restaurant I got to see for the first time papad breads rolled-up. Those were served as starters. However, the curvy look of the papad did not matter and the taste was ok.
The chicken and vegetable dishes at the Golden Tikka restaurant were excellent and well-seasoned. As a bonus one was able to enjoy them with the roti breads, as if one was eating at home, and because of this I did go to eat to this restaurant even for the second time during my trip to Prague. Having this kind of restaurant right around the corner one can consider herself really fortunate.
**** ½ star for food in Golden Tikka restaurant, *** for decoration
Indian Jewel
Another Indian restaurant I visited in Prague was called Indian Jewel. The moment I saw the almost full outdoor terrace of the restaurant, I thought I’m going to get some good food, and I wasn’t wrong.
The restaurant’s orange painted walls displayed Indian wood carvings, average quality paintings, and colorful sunshades and sheets familiar from Indian markets.
Water and mangolassi were served in copper cups, which was new to me, and kadhai chicken and kadhai paneer were also served in similar beautiful copper dishes.
The food in the restaurant was routine tasty and filling with naan bread and rice, and to have the meal inside a quiet restaurant, when almost all other restaurant guests were sitting outside in the summer evening, was nice.
*** ½ star for Indian Jewel restaurant food and *** for decoration
Bombay Express
A surprise in the Indian restaurant world in Prague was the Bombay Express fast food restaurant, which I found in a mall next to the famous sight of Franz Kafka statue.
The Bombay Express’s Paneer wrap was a refreshing novelty for me. In simple terms, it was a rolled naan bread containing paneer cheese together with spicy sauce. It was sinfully good, almost addictive and embarrassingly easy to carry away. And yes, I did enjoy their paneer wraps on more than one occasion during my trip to Prague. The nearby moving Kafka sculpture became quite familiar to me. But more about that later.
The Bombay Express restaurant also served other take-away portions, such as Samosa with chole, which included small chunks of chickpeas, tomato onion salad and spicy sauces.
Paneer wrap was not aesthetically much, but so convenient to eat without hands getting dirty. I really hope that the delicious Paneer wrap finds its way to Finland and Helsinki, as it offers a perfect match for them Mc Donald’s and Hesburger hamburgers.
***** stars for Bombay Express restaurant food, ** for interior design
This is how Indian food in Prague and the Czech Republic was. Read more about Indian restaurants around the world in the INDIVUE blogs and find authentic experiences with guiding photos.
Read also INDIVUE – Trip to Europe and find this article with more photos in Finnish!
