Prvni Pivni Tramway, Prague

Prvni Pivni Tramway

Na Chadovci 1A

272 765 683

All Aboard for a very special beer experience! My Prague Pub Pilgrimage has shifted into high gear by my second afternoon in the Czech Republic, and now it's time for a little adventure.

I boarded a #11 Tram and rode for twenty minutes or so to the end of the line at Sporilov. Not so scenic out here in the 'burbs, is it? But Lucky Number 11 will deliver you directly to the front door of the Prvni Pivni Tramway, "The First Beer Tramway" pub!

What an amazing and truly unique pub! Part of the interior is laid out like an old-fashioned Prague Tram.

Inside I found a hard-rockin' atmosphere, veering towards a punk/goth soundtrack. They had settled down to U2 by the time I left. The main bar area was covered in all kinds of "stuff", much of it somewhat on the risqué side, and all of it loads of fun. The staff were very friendly, and whenever they felt like it, they rang the authentic old Tram Bell (directly over the server's head). Ordering a second beer seemed to get me the Ring-a-Ding treatment!

The First Beer Tramway differs from most Prague taverns in that it isn't a strictly one-brewery operation. The sign outside indicates that Pilsner Urquell is indeed available here, but Prvni Pivni also prides itself on a "rotating tap" or a visiting draft. This was the Guest Beer when I showed up - a Holba Serak from the eastern part of the country. Very nice and tasty, if a little bitter to my (after)taste. For 29 CZK (approx. $1.75 Canadian) a pint, who am I to complain? I'm not complaining! It's a Pleasant 7 on the Goodness Scale!

Oh my. Oh my. Here's the real deal. On tap that wondrous day was a Primator Premium Dark. Wow! I've never tasted anything quite like it. Very filling, with a hint of coffee. Evan Rail's guide also mentions cola and ginger notes. Do I detect cocoa as well? No matter, it was magnificent. One of the best glasses of beer it has ever been my pleasure to slurp, and easily a 9 out of 10 on my Yuk/Yummy Scale of Goodness, and maybe a 95% overall, but I'll have to return to Prague and visit this lovely bar again for a longer period of time and verify this rating. Suddenly, I felt at home. I must have been smiling a lot by this time, as I kept hearing that darn Trolley Bell! What a great place!

NEXT: Lose your cares At The Little Bears!

Ferdinanda

Ferdinanda, Prague

Opletalova and Politickych

222 244 302 http://www.ferdinanda.cz/

This was my first pub in Prague, and it's a good one! Where else will you be offered "1 small bear" with your entree? Looking back, it seemed cleaner and more spacious than most of the traditional Prague pubs I visited. The staff was friendly, the food was delicious (great caesar salad, nice fries, tasty fried bread with cheese), and the lager was excellent.

Of course I managed to lose all my details of how much everything cost, the various % of alcohol, etc. But this photo shows that a "big" beer comes in a 0.4 liter glass, perhaps a tad short of a full pint. The prices in Prague were very reasonable, so no complaints there, and this was delicious!

My friend Ute, who generally prefers the darker beer, reported that hers tasted very nice indeed. It was a great start to our Prague pub-crawl, and I can highly recommend "Ferdinanda". Ferdinand beer, by the way, comes from Benesov, home town of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose nasty end in Sarajevo in 1914 led to the outbreak of World War I. It gets a big 8 out of 10 on my Yuk/Yummy Beer Scale!

NEXT: A Happening At The Hippo!

It's August!!

Crumbs! It's been ages since I have written anything here. So busy...and when I'm not, it's difficult to get motivated to think up something to type. Thanks, however, to my buddy over at Project Fleece, I'm finally getting around to catching up on this year's events.

Let's see...

In February, I fell down. Slipped on an icy patch of sidewalk. Fractured a knee.

In July, I fell down. Tripped over a boulder. Banged up my ribs, bloodied my arm.

Aside from that, it's been all great. I visited Chicago in early May, traveled to Switzerland, Germany, and the Czech Republic in June/July, and tomorrow I fly off to Chicago for a long weekend.

If you have travel plans that involve Munich and/or Prague, and you have a hankering to visit a beergarden or pub, allow me to introduce you to two wonderful Guides that helped me make a great holiday even greater.

This is the second year running that I've made The Beer Drinker's Guide To Munich an essential part of my plans when visiting this sudsy city. Earlier entries have touched on my passion for Munich and its wonderful selection of beers and outdoor facilities in which to relax and drink them. Future submissions will outline my trips to old favourites, as well as describe a couple of adventures to new, and highly recommended, beergardens!

I visited Prague for the very first time in early July. I only had three nights to explore this historic treasure of a town, and especially wanted to make the most of the city's wonderful pubs. Fortunately, a new Guide, The Good Beer Guide to Prague, was there to help me find the best of the best. Yes, I will dish the dirt on my fave pubs in Prague, where a number of drinking establishments scored very high indeed on Mooncattie's unpatented Yuck/Yummy Scale of Goodness. Stay Tuned!

I shall close with a photographic teaser of what's to come. What a lovely holiday! Except for the Schneider Weisse, of course. Cheers!

Once you've had a Schneider Weisse, the rest of your holiday is bound to feature better beer!

A night of blues music, and a Staropramen. Oh well, at least the blues music was great!

Ah, now that's more like it! A nice stein of Spaten Helles.

NEXT! Mooncattie's first Prague Pub! Where will it be? Can you say "Archduke"?

Raise Your Glasses!!

It's getting into late October as I write this - months after my wonderful European holiday - but a late-night stein of Hofbrau Oktoberfest beer (thank you, Binny's of Chicago!) has me in the mood to wax nostalgic on a wonderful August visit to Munich, Germany. I've never been there for their Oktoberfest festivities (actually held late-September to early-October), but the beergardens of this lovely city are usually open and ready for customers throughout the year. When the sun is shining, there is usually beer somewhere to be enjoyed!




So....the year 2008 saw me visiting Munich TWICE! I took advantage and visited no less than 8 of the city's famous beergardens. Here's is a rundown of some of my favourites:

Any list of Munich's best spots for delicious beer must include a place run by the fine folks at the Augustiner brewery. The Augustiner Keller, just west of Munich's main railway station or Hauptbanhof, offers a magnificent beergarden as well as an indoor beerhall for when the weather looks less than kindly upon the visitor. The Helles, or lager, is wonderful. The Edelstoff is fantastic. Locals will tell you this is THE best place in Munich for a liter of beer.

So...where do the TOURISTS go?? Well, I've waxed on about the Hofbrauhaus in an earlier post, but for Hofbrau fans there is a special treat in store if you visit Munich's Englischer Garten. It's the Chinescher Turm (or Chinese Tower) beergarden. Both locals and out of towners love to visit this special spot in the middle of the park. A Bavarian brass band often appears at the Tower to offer local drinking songs on weekends. And the beer...well, sublime is a good word! And the food isn't bad either!

Ahhh...Spaten! When it's good, it's REALLY great. I visited one highly-rated beergarden in Munich's southern suburbs in August, and found the local Spaten Helles to be...well, Stale! Very unusual for such a wonderful product. But I remember happier times and better Spatens, such as this May 2008 visit to the Hirschau beergarden, in the northern section of the Englischer Garten. In addition to the beer, you can enjoy ribs, chicken, or (in my case) a delicious pretzel with your choice of mustard. Weekends at the Hirschau feature some fine jazz music if it's sunny outside. It's a bit of a trek from the city centre, but well worth the Metro ride and walk, and a great way of starting a southbound Beer Walk in the Englischer Garten. After hoisting a liter at the Hirschau, perhaps you'll have time to wander south, on a convenient pedestrian bridge across a busy road, to.....

....the SEEHAUS, one of Munich's truly beloved beergardens. It's run by the folks from Paulaner and is located along the shore of a beautiful little lake. You can rent a boat there (not while drinking!), watch the ducks, or just settle into a nice glass of Paulaner's fine Helles and do some serious people-watching. Adjacent to the Seehaus is a fancy indoor restaurant, but if the weather permits then outdoors by the lake is the place to be.

There are many other fine places in Munich to relax over a Maß (that should be "Mass" or a liter of beer). If you're stuck downtown, then I recommend the Viktualienmarkt beergarden, which has the added attraction of "rotating" its beer offerings. If you're lucky (as I was) and arrived on a day when Augustiner was being served....well, RAISE YOUR GLASSES!!

NEXT: I BLOGS FOR HOT DOGS!

My First Wing

Deep-fat fried to perfection, lovingly laced with hot sauce, pleasingly plopped in a vat of high-cal blue cheese dressing...Welcome to the first entry of an attempt at happy writing, featuring Mooncattie. That's me!

I'm aiming to put together a little diary filled with photos and comments about people, places, and activities with an accent on the positive. If you've nothing better to do (and I mean really nothing, and you have my sympathies), then come along and watch me GETTING STUFFED with good food and drink, the happy company of pleasant folk, and scenes from the wonderful travels that I've been fortunate to make over the years.

FEEDING TIME!