Karma-free cuisine

Glancing at the average Czech pub menu may lead you to think the only option for the vegetarian diner is the calorific deep-fried cheese. Pleasing for the taste buds perhaps, but rather hard on the arteries. However, the good news is there are plenty of great restaurants in Prague offering meat-free fare without an alfalfa sprout in sight.

With cheekily suggestive offerings such as "foreplay for two" (an appetizer meant for sharing), it's clear Radost FX takes an unconventional approach to healthy eating. The venue has successfully combined a hip discotheque with a vegetarian eatery for almost 17 years: not the most obvious combination, but one that clearly works. In the words of its owner, Bethea Zoli, it's "a place where you can have a great dinner, some drinks, and a few steps away there's an incredible nightclub to take you into the early hours."

Part of the restaurant's success is down to the sheer variety of its menu, which has everything from Thai to Tex-Mex as well as more conventional veggie fare such as sandwiches and salads. "We have always tried to include things that you won't find in other restaurants in Prague," says Bethea. "Whenever new international foods are brought into this country, we try to incorporate them."

Taste has always been of paramount importance, Zoli explains. "We were so excited to introduce vegetarian cuisine that didn't taste like sawdust. Most of the people who eat at Radost always say that they never even realized it's a vegetarian kitchen because [?] all of the dishes are so rich in flavor."

Surprisingly perhaps, it seems you don't need to be vegetarian to run a vegetarian restaurant. "It's not that we think eating meat is wrong," she says. "It's treating the animal without respect that we have a problem with. We are not personally 100 percent vegetarian, and the challenge became to make a vegetarian restaurant succeed in a meat-dominated city."

Since opening its doors in 2005, Lehká hlava (Clear Head) has become a something of a star on Prague's dining scene. Its name may be suggestive of abstinence, but there is plenty on offer to please the palate. Diners can kick off with fresh hummus or veggie tapas, then opt for a "Big Clear Head," a selection of main course dishes that includes eggplant quesadilla and grilled vegetable kebabs, and finally wash it all down with super-healthy aloe-vera juice, or alternatively a glass of Czech chardonnay. Its quirky interior is a major part of its charm: one room, with its blue walls and star-covered ceiling, seems meant to transport you to culinary heaven.

For Martin Dobeš, the decision to open the restaurant was as much about leading a more meaningful life as filling a gap in the market. Dissatisfied with his career in management consultancy, he hit upon the idea of creating Lehká hlava shortly after meeting current business partner Václav Stanislav on a yoga and meditation course.  

"When we traveled, we were inspired by the places we saw, and we found that in the world there were many other choices than just fried cheese."

With its holistic approach to vegetarian dining, it was New York's Zen Palate that made the biggest impression on the prospective restaurateurs. "When we entered the place, we were amazed," Dobeš recalls. "The food was something we had never experienced before. We were so impressed that we decided we had to bring this to people in the Czech Republic."

Building on their initial success, Dobeš and Stanislav decided to open a second vegetarian restaurant, Maitrea, in May last year. Tucked away on a side street behind the iconic Týn Church, Maitrea offers a haven away from the overpriced tourist focused restaurants that dominate Old Town Square itself. While the food is similar to that on offer in its sister restaurant, Maitrea does have a few surprises up its sleeve, including a veggie-friendly version of svíčková - a Czech classic comprising beef in a creamy sauce with juniper berries - which replaces the meat with seitan, a wheat-based meat substitute that looks and tastes surprisingly similar to the real thing.   

The spiritual path that first brought Dobeš and Stanislav together - a blend of Hinduism and Buddhism - continues to influence how they run their business: for example, ordained monks and the enlightened eat for free. "We wanted to create places to eat which had a, let's say, spiritual feeling which is not pushy but is somehow supporting the project," says Dobeš.  

One of several restaurants run by the Hara Krisna community in Prague, Govinda, is another veggie eatery with a spiritual flavor. "We're vegetarian because of our philosophy.  It's called ahimsa or nonviolence toward other living entities. Our food is karma-free," says Vesko Odzhakov.

While it may not offer a lavish interior or a broad range of menu options (you queue up for your food canteen style, and there is only one main course on offer each day), you can get a very reasonably priced and healthy lunch for little more than the price of a Starbucks Frappucino. If you opt for the 108 Kč large portion, you are allowed to have as many extra helpings as your appetite will permit.   

"We use spices, but they aren't as hot and pungent as [in] typical Indian food," Vesko explains.  

Many of the ingredients come from the organic farm that the Hare Krisna community runs outside Prague in Krišnuv dvur. They even produce their own organic flour there, which is then used to make freshly baked chapattis. There is also a mouth-watering array of colorful desserts on offer that ought to satisfy the sweetest of sweet tooths.

Sometimes, it is impossible to persuade a committed carnivore to go vegetarian, even just for an evening. Fortunately, there are restaurants that offer options for both meat-eaters and committed veggies alike. Malý Buddha, a Vietnamese restaurant and tearoom only a few minutes' walk from the hyper-touristy environs of Prague Castle, is one such place. Its cozy, candlelit interior, replete with atmospheric nooks and crannies, is almost as much of an attraction as the food itself.

"The most popular things are our vegetable combination menu, which includes tofu with vegetables and fresh herbs in a sweet-spicy sauce, and our Tibetan-style rice cooked with a mushroom soy sauce, cashews and sesame seeds," says Daniel Munter. There are also some unusual seafood options on the menu to please the seafood lover such as stir-fried mussels with ginger or octopus in a spicy sauce.

Whatever your reason for seeking out vegetarian food - a desire to improve your health, lower your carbon footprint or merely find a lighter alternative to Czech cuisine - Prague has plenty to offer. And, of course, it's all karma-free.

Lisette Allen can be reached at
features@praguepost.com