Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
PUB ETIQUETTE
There's an etiquette to be observed if you want to sample the atmosphere in a tradi-
tional
hospoda
(pub) without drawing disapproving stares from the regulars. First off,
don't barge in and start rearranging chairs - if you want to share a table or take a
spare seat, first ask
'je tu volno?'
(is this free?). It's normal practice in crowded Czech
pubs to share tables with strangers.
Take a beer mat from the rack and place it in front of you, and wait for the bar staff
to come to you; waving for service is guaranteed to get you ignored. When the waiter
approaches, just raise your thumb for one beer, thumb and index finger for two, etc -
it's automatically assumed that you're here for the beer. Even just a nod will do. The
waiter will keep track of your order by marking a slip of paper that stays on your
table; whatever you do, don't write on it or lose it (you'll have to pay a fine if you
do).
As soon as the level of beer in your glass falls to within an inch of the bottom, the
eagle-eyed waiter will be on his/her way with another. But never, as people often do
in Britain, pour the dregs of the old glass into the new - this is considered to be
deeply uncivilised behaviour.
If you don't want any more beer brought to your table, place a beer mat on top of
your glass. When you want to pay up and go, get the waiter's attention and say
'za-
platím'
(I'll pay). He or she will total up the marks on your slip of paper, and you pay
there, at the table.
TANKOVÉ PIVO
One recent innovation that you will come across in many Prague pubs is the phenomenon
of
tankové pivo
(tanked beer). Ordinarily beer goes stale through contact with oxygen in
the air. Tanked beer is delivered in sterile plastic bags that are stored in chilled stainless
steel tanks (often in plain view in the pub). Compressed air forced between the tank and
the bag forces the beer through the tap without it having to come into contact with oxygen,
a system that allows pubs to serve fresh, unpasteurised beer (vastly superior in flavour to
the more common, heat-treated keg beer).
