Hergetova Cihelna’s Sunday Family Brunch, Prague 1
There are basically 2 ways to have Sunday lunch with the kids at Hergetova Cihelna (Hergetov’s brickyard). Once you arrive at David Cerny’s (in) famous fountain of 2 men urinating water into a small pool in the shape of the map of the Czech Republic, you can either turn left or right.
A turn to the left will lead you to the top level of the restaurant, where the Family Brunch Buffet is served. A right-hand turn, on the other hand will take you to the lower level of the restaurant, where you will be offered an a-la-carte menu as well as stunning views of Charles Bridge and the Vltava river. Luckily the two levels are internally interconnected, so you can change your mind and go the other way.
The Sunday Family Brunch buffet costs 495 CZK p/h for adults and 195 CZK for children over the age of 5. Anyone younger than that gets to eat for free. Drinks are charged separately. The buffet itself is not huge but offers a sufficient choice of entrées, mains and desserts.
The play area is situated on the same level as the Sunday Family Brunch and between 11am and 3pm up to 3 babysitters are present to keep an eye on the children. There are plenty of toys and equipment to keep little monkeys occupied including slides, a ball pool, small scooters and LEGO tables. When all that fails, a large plasma television screen helps to save the day. Once a month, as part of its Sunday Family Brunch, Hergetova Cihelna organizes thematic brunches some of which have included Bob the Builder, LEGO, puppet and magician shows.
The lower level offers both indoor as well as outdoor seating on a large terrace, which has uninterrupted views of Charles Bridge. When we ate here on a sunny but chilly Sunday afternoon in late October, the outside heaters and a good supply of blankets ensured that we didn’t get any frost-bite.
The menu was quite extensive with dishes ranging from Czech favourites such as duck, piglet and potato dumplings to seafood including monk fish, salmon and lobster. Vegetarians were not forgotten either. The sashimi and foie gras pizza did look tempting but in the end I chose the organic wild mushroom risotto with parmesan, and found it absolutely delicious.
The relatively new Bio (organic) menu allows customers to choose from 3 entrées, 3 mains and a dessert, all of which have been prepared using only organic food sources.
It cost 195 CZK to buy a kids’ meal from the special children’s menu and the dishes included chicken schnitzel with mashed potatoes, grilled sausages with French fries, baked salmon with potatoes and spaghetti with tomato sauce. Once we had had our entrée and 3-year-old Albie finished his grilled sausage, I took him to the play area on level 2. After verbally registering his presence with the babysitters, I was able re-join the adults again.
The only negative experience was the 45 minutes of waiting time between our entrée and main course. This made us a bit wary of ordering dessert, although I must say that the traditional Czech pancakes with blue berries and sour cream on the Organic Menu looked terribly tempting…
OPEN: Sunday Family Brunch from August-June: 11am – 15pm
ADDRESS: Cihelna 2b, Mala Strana, Prague 1; Tel: 296 826 103
FURTHER INFORMATION: www.kampagroup.com
DIRECTIONS: By Tram take 12, 18, 20 or 22 and get off at Klarov. By Metro catch the green A line to metro stop Malostranska, walk down towards the river and veer left into Cihelna street (5 minute walk). By car: paid outdoor parking available at Maostranske Namesti (10 minute walk to restaurant) or for the cash price of 120 CZK a special parking card is available for purchase directly from the restaurant. This will enable you to park in the blue zone (marked by blue lines on the road – normally reserved for local residents only) – parking cards available for the duration of 120 minutes.
