Five Brno restaurants praised by the editors of Grand Restaurant Guide are joining Grand Restaurant Festival. This means that you can buy vouchers for special discounted tasting menus offered from January 15 to February 15.

Koishi fish & sushi, La Bouchée, Noem Arch, U Kastelána (CZ only) and Valoria (CZ only) sell the vouchers for the same prices:

Of course, it is still not “cheap”, but it is a great opportunity to try out dining in these fancy restaurants. Just keep in mind that you have to buy a voucher in advance.

If you want to explore Moravian cuisine and Moravian wines, this is the best opportunity (source: labouchee.cz)

Six of the most renowned restaurants of Brno are hosting an interesting Local food festival from June 1 to June 14.

Boulevard, Hansen, Koishi, La Bouchée, Noem Arch and U Katestlána offer special menus with meals prepared only from ingredients coming from farms around Brno. If you enjoy your dinner (which is very likely), you can even get a contact to the farmers to buy what you want.

For better prices, get a festivall passport for CZK 444 – too bad the website is in Czech only.

The Brno House of Arts

After three years, the restoration of the Brno House of Arts is finally completed. In the last stage, the building got a café, a design shop and a restaurant – everything branded “Leporelo+”.

Leporelo+

I was invited to the opening of the restaurant and quite liked its simple concept. There are some five fresh meals every day, based mostly on French recipes. Chef Milan Dvořáček has worked at U Kastelána and in various restaurants at France and manages a huge collection of wine, so this may be a new cool place to go.

Beef and quiche were outstanding

Check out the website of The Brno House of Arts for info on the ongoing exhibitions and the website of Leporelo+ (Czech only, damn).

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Porch chop in Špargl

New venue “Špargl” opened two days ago at Gorkého st. (next to Falk café and the Faculty of Arts) and quickly got some significant Twitter and Facebook love. Called “bistro” by its owners, it tries to offer “quality on low price”, which means four simple meals every day for around €2-€3.

An underground canteen

I had a lunch there today and it was OK. However, it did not meet my anticipations, given the facts that its Facebook page promises “king’s banquet” and they have Mr. Roberto from Sicily, who made the most delicious pizza I have ever had in Brno, in the kitchen.

There are several points to be made:

• It’s too “DIY” to earn the name “bistro” – a friend of mine called it a canteen; I consider it to be very accurate and I am going to call Špargl an “underground canteen”, as it is situated in a dark cellar.
• My pork chop with tomatos and garlic was quite OK. There are not many other places in Brno where you can eat a light, fresh lunch for CZK 59. Still, it could be warmer, and the rice was slightly overcooked.
• Spinach roll for CZK 18 did not deliver the anticipated price/quality ratio. Too dry and small for my taste.

What I liked was free tap water and friendly staff.

Špargl is not this season’s sensation, although some comments have claimed the opposite. However, if you want to have a nice dinner on a tight budget near the Faculty of Arts, then 12 Gorkého st. is the place to go.

Well, we all know that the Valentine’s Day is an overhyped product of global consumerist culture, but… it is still a nice reason for having some extra quality time with your loved one and for exploring Brno at the same time!

Enjoy Valentine’s Day in Kamenná kolonie shanty town

Last year's Valentine's day at Kamenná kolonie (source: Facebook page of Sixty Stone Space)

Have a great dinner

Many restaurants will offer a special Valentine’s Day menu from Friday to Monday – including Rialto, Bruna Antiqua or Momo Sushi. Also, Grand Restaurant Festival is still running!

The weather is nice, so why don’t you just go out for a walk?

Check out the last year’s list of the most romantic places in Brno. Nothing has changed!

Sushi master Tadayoshi Ebina preparing a tuna fish in Koishi restaurant.

The Grand Restaurant Festival is a nice opportunity to enjoy meals in some of the best restaurants of Brno.

Koishi fish & sushi, La Bouchée, Noem Arch, U Kastelána, Hansen (cz) and Valoria (cz) joned the event. Until February 15, you can get a single dish for CZK 250, two courses for CZK 500, and three courses for CZK 600 in any of these venues, ranked among the best restaurants in the Czech republic.

Before actually going to the restaurant of choice, you have to order your coupon(s) online at grandrestaurantfestival.cz (en). Standard menus remain untouched.

To be honest, the discount is quite small – as most of the restaurants offer three course “menu du jour” for less than CZK 300 during the lunchtime. But at least the event can motivate you to move your ass and finally get a table in the restaurant your colleagues keep talking about.

This January, my dear food blogger Chilli Julie asked me whether I wanted to write restaurant reviews for local supplement of Mladá fronta DNES, the most-read serious (well, semi-serious) newspaper in the Czech republic.

How could I say no? So there you have the 10 reviews of local restaurants I wrote this year:

Klub cestovatelů | 65 %

www.hedvabnastezka.cz/brno, 14 Veleslavínova st.

Meal called the Lunch of a Levant peasant

It is always hard for Czech cooks to prepare Indian or Levant meals – in Klub cestovatelů, they are quite successful with some recipes, less successful with the other ones.

Pontos | 85 %

reckarestauracepontos.cz, 22 Křížkovského st.

Yoghurt, honey, nuts. I loved this!

A Greek restaurant with simple, affordable, usually almost perfect meals. Really recommended.

Española | 55 %

espanola.cz, 19 Botanická st.

A piece of tapas made of eggplant.

You can’t cook meals based on fresh tomatos, seafood and other seasonal/regional ingredients in Brno in March. The chef does not get it. However, the place looks nice and the waiter was great.

Makkabi | 70 %

8 Velenova st., Boskovice (only out-of-Brno review)

A trout with horse raddish.

Located in the small jewish quarter of Boskovice, Makkabi is the only Jewish restaurant in the region. Don’t expect bagels – actually they offer traditional meals from the central Europe, influenced by the Jewish cuisine. Not bad at all, but also not particulary great.

Zorbas | 65 %

restauracezorbas.cz, 4 Sokolská st.

The fishes were OK, but the plate looked like a big mess.

Excellent pita but other meals had smaller or bigger imperfections.

Sitara | 60 %

Located in Tesco shopping mall in Královo Pole

Non-veg thali

Unbelieveable quality/price ratio! Good chicken vindaloo for CZK 60 (€2,50).

La Chapelle | 80 %

la-chapelle.cz, 2c Černovická st.

Raspberry cream with vanilla foam

An interesting restaurant offering both terrible “Czech classics” based on ketchup and pork, but also surprisingly good French meals. My girlfriend enjoyed a perfect steak for reasonable CZK 140 and a breathtaking dessert (on the picture).

Chutné štěstí | 70 %

chutnestesti.sweb.cz, 38 Lidická st.

A black egg

Considered by some to be the best Chinese restaurant in Brno, I think it is just a “better average”. I enjoyed a great service.

Avatár | 45 %

avatar108.com, Mendlovo sq. 10

A plate carring almost everything Avatár offers

One of the few vegetarian restaurants in Brno. I liked their halva and their “think globally, act locally” attitude. However, most of the meals were plain bad, even cold.

Dragon II | 65 %

10 Náměstí svobody sq.

Phở gà

This place is awful! However they offer probably the only phở you can get without travelling to a Vietnamese market. And it tastes really well.

Roast goose (source: Wikimedia Commons)

For hundreds of years, geese are being killed and roasted on this day – and then served with dumplings and cabbage. You can get this delicious meal in many restaurants in Brno until Sunday.

Few years ago, wine makers started to market their young wines as “St. Martin’s wines” (“svatomartinské víno”) – you can buy them in many shops around the region since November 11, 11 a.m. The Beaujolais nouveau influence is pretty obvious, but who would care? Carpe diem!

A garden of Hansen restaurant (source: hansen-restaurant.cz)

I got a lovely letter last week:

Dear Kasparek,

I’m an expat in Brno. I was wondering if you could recommend me some restaurants for a romantic evening. The kind of food actually doesn’t matter that much. A wide variety of choice is appreciated.

Thank you for your consideration. Keep up the good work!

Hello! K——

If you sometimes ask your friends a similiar questions, you may find handy my answer:

My girlfriend loves Greek restaurant Pontos (22 Křížkovského st.), but someone might mind the sharp light there. On the other hand, it is a budget-friendly place. I think Hansen (corner of Husova st. and Komenského sq.) may also be a good choice – they even have live jazz in the garden these days!

Later, some more tips came to my mind:

• U Kastelána (51a Kotlářská st.) has a beautiful interior and it offers top-quality Czech meals with some French and Italian influences. Prices are above average.
• La Bouchée (33 Údolní st.) is located in a quite romantic cellar and meals like “snail caviar served with toast, butter and salt” may be good aphrodisiacs, I guess.
• Rialto (125 Veveří st.) is among the most expensive restaurants in town, but they try really hard to offer exclusive meals. The menu is frequently updated with fresh and seasonal ingredients.
• Momo Sushi (13 Solniční st.) is one of the best sushi bars in the town (there was a boom of these venues last year).

What is your favorite place to go when you want to spend a lovely evening with your spouse or lover? Let us know in the comments.

Austrian apricot brandy

Hansen has a simple concept: it is located in a beautiful 19th century palace at Husova st., built by renowed Viennese architect Theophil von Hansen (that Hansen who designed Austrian parliament). The restaurant offers the best meals of the traditional Moravian (or Bohemian or Austrian, depends on your point of view) cuisine for reasonable prices.

The restaurant launched a month ago but it quickly got an attention of local media and foodbloggers. I was pretty curious if the orgastic moaning had been adequate. Well, finally I moaned too.

So let’s take look what I and my family had for a lunch:

Beef soup with liver balls - it was simple yet very strong

Duck confit with apple sauce and small potato dumplings

Beef with cabbage, roasted in Dalešice beer

A pear with red wine and vanilla ice cream

I liked several things about Hansen restaurant:

• Top-quality meals, based on original recipes and made of seasonal ingredients.
• Prices. Meals cost from CZK 150 to CZK 250 – which is basically a price for an average food in the restaurants of Brno. These meals vere high above average!
• Extra-helpful waiters with white gloves. Warm plates. Nice interior. Something you would not expect in this price range.
• Dalešice beer – my very favorite brand of beer, made in a small brewery near Brno. I have heard that Hansen restaurant has great wines too.

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A non-profit Alliance Française launches the 16th annual festival of French culture, Bonjour Brno, on Wednesday. Bonjour Brno runs until April 27 and offers concerts, exhibitions, film screenings, several gourmet events and a petanque tournament.

Meet the new Nirvana at Trans Musicales

On March 25th and 26th, legendary music festival Trans Musicales takes place in Fléda club. The festival has been running for 30 years and its purpose is to show new promising bands. Nirvana, Beastie Boys, Björk and The Fugees have been among the past “unknown but talented” performers!

The Popopopops

You can look forward to these bands: Mr Elegantz (Fr), The Popopopops (Fr), The Wankin’Noodles (Fr), Modul Club (Fr), DJ Missill (Fr), Bobby Hardcore Liberace (Fr), Le Pneumatique (Cz), Success (Fr), Dat Politics (Fr), The Popopopops DJ set (Fr), Danton Eeprom (Fr) and Théo Gravil (Fr).

Tickets valid for both days cost only CZK 180, so this is a really great opportunity to spot new trends and possibly tell your grandkids: “Well, I was at the concert of Dat Politics looong before they became so famous!”

Gourmet week in La Bouchée

Restaurant La Bouchée offers French specials between March 30 and February 4. It is not going to be cheap, but I think it will be worth of the money.

Pétanque tournament with pastis degustation

On Sunday, April 11, a pétanque tournament will take a place in Lužánky park. You can taste the legendary pastis for free, if you want.

But wait! There is so much more!

For complete programme, check out the Czech and French website of Bonjour Brno.

I have discovered 5 interesting restaurants employing foreign cooks and offering fresh but affordable meals, together with unique atmosphere.

I am sorry for the quality of pics, I took most of them with my phone.

Bún cá Hải Phòng

There are 14 meals in the menu, all nicely photographed. Vietnamese news channel is on all day long, so you won't miss anything.

This is maybe the most “bizzare” restaurant in Brno, located in a Vietnamese market at Olomoucká st.

Meals cost between CZK 80 and CZK 90. If you are new into the Vietnamese cuisine, have a beef soup. If you want to try something really special, ask for my favorite “tofu-snail” soup.

A soup with snails and tofu

There are knives and forks prepared for those who don’t like eating with chopsticks. Don’t forget to enjoy the green tea served for free.

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The estaminet of Mr. Thuan Nguyen Van

Hanoi in Brno

There are more interesting restaurants at Olomoucká st. I like especialy this one – an untitled estaminet that belongs to Mr. Thuan Nguyen Van (or maybe to someone else, my Vietnamese is really bad). Only 12 people can fit in, so you have to be lucky to get a place during the lunch time.

The true special of this place are hand-made baguettes with coriander and chilli (CZK 50). Of course you can get a beef soup, noodles or rolls as well.

Beef soup with sprouts

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Mr. Gyros

A small estaminet in quarter Mendlánky offers Greek cuisine prepared from fresh ingredients. I had a moussaka and it was cool. My friends enjoyed gyros and burgers, so why don’t you have a big fat greek lunch here?

Moussaka

Mr. Gyros was closed down in 2010.

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Indian restaurant Goa

Fish masala

There is an interesting Indian restaurant at Geislerova st. in quarter Židenice. The owner employs an Indian cook and waiter (or maybe they are from Nepal, I am sorry for having the central Asia so messed up), which gives Goa an oriental atmosphere.

I was always satisfied with my food, although sometimes you have to wait for a long time – anyway, if you want to have a quick lunch, go to KFC.

Great greasy chapati

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Greek tavern Pontos

Yoghurt, nuts and two kinds of honey: a food orgasm for CZK 40

I visited this restaurant to test it for local newspaper – and I was so suprised by their quality/price ratio! It may has the highest price of all the mentioned places, but you can still have a dessert for CZK 40, so try it out. For more information, read my machine-translated review.

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Do you have any “secret” tips?

If you know about more restaurants that offer cheap but great exotic (or just “not-Czech”) food, let us know in the comments!