Drink In the Woods of Lovely Vršovice
| Name: | Cafe V Lese |
| Location: | Krymská 12, Praha 10 (Vrsovice) (Tram #22) |
| English friendly: | Neutral |
| Web: | http://cafevlese.cz/ (czech) |
| Hours: | Mon – Fri: 17:00 – 01:00 (?), Sat – Sun: 18:00 – 01:00 (?) |
Sept 2012 UPDATE: 1) The front room is now non-smoking!!!
Adjectives: lively, smoky, artsy, evergreen, liberal, czech, merry, mirthful, rad
Nouns: beards, art chicks, sweaters, birdhouses, newspapers, dilapidated furniture, taxidermy, huge dogs, lamps, music, performances
A place to: drink, get merry, see live performances, be friendly, dance, smoke, philosophize, chill
A place not to: eat a serious meal, be pretentious, cheer for manchester fuckin' united
This is my favorite drinking spot in Prague. The location used to house a bar with a similar vibe called Shakespeare until it switched owners in around 09/2010 and became Cafe V Lese (czech for "Cafe in the woods").
It's hip/fashionable but not in a hipster fitted-cap-tight-pants-new-nikes kind of way. The clientele are largely an unbranded mix of people. Behold the bearded 70 year-old eccentric man. Behold the young art chick in a dress her friend probably designed. Behold a roomful of interesting people having a good time.
Layout
There are two rooms upstairs. The main room by the entrance is smoke-free. And as of late 2011, they opened the basement area to customers. There's a variety of gigs that go on down there. Sometimes it's rented for a lesbian hairdresser party; sometimes there's a band so entrance costs cover, other times it's a vacant cellar. Check out the program (Czech / English (via Google translate)). Note that the basement is insanely smokey.
I sit in the front room when possible. This is where I saw a massive dog lick someone's birthday cupcake. Even on a week night, the place is usually nearly full and buzzing. Be careful when sitting as the legs tend to fall off the chairs and tables.
It turns into a party on the weekend. The music in the front room ranges from electro/classical/folk to shit I've never heard before (probably because it's in Czech).
Menu
Re: Beer, their speciality is Regent. It's one of my favorite Czech beers.
Re: Food, they only really have snacks. If you don't want chips, try the disgustingly delicious utopenec (pictured below). I could barely get it down the first time I ate it but now I crave it.
English
It's a Czech bar. Ninety percent of the people are speaking Czech. The staff are generally friendly and speak English if you get too drunk to remember "ještÄ› jedno."
Advice
If you go to cafe V Lese and there's no seats, don't despair. There's another interesting artsy/intellectual bar on the other side of the block called "cafe sladkovský". Have a beer there and then try cafe V lese again later. Or check out what's going on in the backroom.
See ya in the woods.
I went here tonight (Tuesday night) at 11:15pm. I wanted to do some writing work and have a beer. The front room was completely full. It was smoky as hell. and lively as it too. good music (on stereo). woulda been good for a party-vibe, but not a writing vibe.
Ended up at cafe sladkovsky instead, and enjoyed a beer. it was insanely smoky as well. but i could sit.
– life, 2011
[…] of the situation as long as I could. I wandered back out into the cold night to try and find Café V Lese. When I did, I entered a warm, bustling, café-like bar. I wandered into a back room, and still not […]
two updates:
1: local beer is no longer regent. but its’ good. i forget the name
2: cafe v lese has now dug out, renovated (partly) and opened the basement area. (since summer 2011 really)
basically, this means you can always find a place to sit somewhere. often there are live shows down there, or private parties. part of the downstairs is also a gallery area.
still no real non-smoking area, but the cafe is bigger and better while still being cosy.
[…] small'ish pubs. If the Boudoir is full, I recommend strolling down the hill (3 minutes) to Cafe v Lese or Cafe […]
“Behold the bearded 70 year-old eccentric man.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vratislav_Brabenec
yes! him!
We went here last night and really loved it! Thank you for the recommendation! We’re studying abroad and living in Vinohrady-it’s right around the corner from us and I can tell it’ll quickly become our new favorite spot! x