For Foodies: Soup's On

When I lived in New York for a time in the 90s, I frequented for lunch neighborhood soup stands that offered brown bags of soup, a hunk of bread, and a cookie to-go. Such places were at one point immortalized in another mid-90s institution, the American sitcom Seinfeld. Remember the infamous soup Nazi episode? While I can’t say I miss the frantic noon rush and head shots of celebrity clientele, I’ve often found Prague’s lunch spots lacking in wholesome, warming take-away options that taste like they were made at home rather than bought on the fly. But a handful of Prague cafes have caught onto the soup-bread-cookie (yes, even a cookie!) phenomenon. In just about every corner of the city it’s possible to get a quick bowl of soup—and not just the brothy traditional Czech variety; soup that when paired with bread counts as a meal. We tried:

Polévkárna
Polévkárna has one of the best assortments we came across.

Order a small (36 CZK) or large (57 CZK) bowl of soup, which arrives in pale blue crockery, bread not included. At 35 CZK the homemade bread selection seemed on the high end at first, but the enormous triangle of buttery flatbread that came out, akin to naan, was well worth it. Despite the fact that we arrived early, the borscht with beef and cream had already disappeared. But the excellent chicken tarragon, small bits of chicken and diced potatoes in a thick, tomato-based soup festooned with herbs, made up for it.

Two long wooden tables along one wall and a single cafe table in the center of the room comprise the narrow dining area. We chose from a slim menu of chicken broth (29 CZK), bacon and bean (39 CZK), Mexican corn (39 CZK) and Moroccan couscous (49 CZK). The soups come in just one size, a generous bowl, and a mixed bread basket of chewy chléb and rohlíky is included in the price. The Mexican corn was, in fact, a sweet corn chowder revved up with red pepper and served with a swirl of cream. Flecked with pieces of smoked bacon and loaded with lentils and parsley, the thick bacon and bean is also recommended. Certainly a great value and we noticed a number of locals stopping by for take-out orders—hopefully, for Dobrá polévka, the word is spreading.

Na Maninách 9, 17000, Praha 7
Open: Monday–Thursday 7:30–17:00/ Friday 7:30–16:00

Home Kitchen
The perfect place for warming up with a bowl of soup in central Prague, Home Kitchen dishes up a daily menu of soups, salads, and small plates, made with fresh seasonal items and great skill by the accommodating and, dare I say, handsome staff. All of this in urban farmhouse surrounds—communal wooden tables, pepper plants in punched tin planters, and an oversized hutch stocked with massive loaves of herb-crusted bread. We arrived late in the day and missed out on the cream of pea soup with mint, but a cup of the cream of celery with bacon, potatoes, and parsley (50 CZK) hit the spot.

Culinaria
I always want to like Culinaria. I like the location and the promise of food and groceries that remind me of home. But like most “American-style” places in Prague that cater to the so-called expat community, I’m always disappointed by something or other. This time it was the soup. The website bills the small station of three soup choices as a “soup” bar, though it isn’t self service and when we visited there were only two varieties available: tomato and cream of chicken, 50 CZK each, which you can dress with tiny croutons. The portion was generous and the flavor was fine; the tomato skewed brothy rather than creamy and the chicken came accented with peas. Still, if there’s anything worse than unintentionally cold soup, it’s tepid soup.