What's Cooking Czech Republic?

Food is a big part of every experience for me. In the past, I would plan which restaurants I wanted to visit before planning the actual trips so you already know that I'm trying every new food that comes my way. Fortunately, I've already had the pleasure of eating many authentic Czech foods. One difficulty I've faced when getting food though is that almost every menu is in Czech with no English option. So there's been just a lot of my pointing at pictures and phrases of words in Czech on the menu and praying whatever comes out is delicious. It's actually kind of fun ordering random stuff off of menu and being completely surprised by what comes out. One of those items was guláš.

I figured that guláš would be a lot like American goulash with the noodles, but that is definitely not the case. However, this version is delicious! I actually prefer this one over the typical goulash I'm used to. It's basically chunks of meat (typically beef) that are served in the meat sauce it was cooked in and with a dollop of sour cream. It also comes with dumplings that you can dip in the sauce as you eat it. It's the perfect meal after walking around exploring the city in the cold and need something to both comfort and warm you up. Czech guláš has been on almost every menu I have seen while here so it is definitely a staple in Czech culture and a must have if you get to visit this country!

Something else I have ordered that has honestly been my favorite thing I've eaten this entire trip is the chicken meal that is pictured above. The menu was yet again in Czech so I had to translate some of the items to English on my phone. One of the food items translated to chicken fried steak so I ordered it because I love American chicken fried steak and what came out was not what I expected. It was basically a grilled chicken steak served in a sauce that was similar to honey mustard but creamier. It was so good! I came into the restaurant not very hungry, but leaving with a completely clean plate and stuffed stomach.

An Olomouc favorite is a soup that consists of ham, cheese, and garlic. Big emphasis on the garlic though. First couple bites, I was totally into this soup and the cheese is the fun stringy cheese that sits at the bottom of the bowl that never seems to end when you try to spoon it up to your mouth. However, this soup is garlic overload and that became apparent like five bites in. Luckily I ordered some bread I was able to dip in it that seemed to calm the garlic a little. I'm glad I tried the soup, but I most likely won't be ordering this again.

Almost every meal I've eaten here I've ordered a desert as well. It's hard not to though when every restaurant has rows and rows of beautiful deserts just behind the glass counter. They take desert seriously here. This beauty pictured above is called a vêneček. The best way for me to describe this is an old-fashioned glazed donuts sandwich. In the middle of this "donut sandwich" is very rich whipped cream (top layer) and light vanilla pudding like filling (bottom layer). This desert is so heavenly and anything I say to describe this desert won't give it justice, so I'm just going to end with- if you ever have the chance to order it, you need it!