UPDATE: Closed 2018

For the first half of this year, I felt like I was stuck in a rut in terms of eating out.  I know the places I like in Prague, and I eat there a lot.  Dr HH often suggests going somewhere new, but there is always the possibility of smokiness to contend with (how can a country not have a smoking ban by 2016?!)  and sometimes it’s just easier to stick with the tried and tested options and save adventurousness for our holidays.

But sometimes, he does talk me into going somewhere new.  Back in April we paid a visit to Thai Box, a nice little place that’s in the city centre but somehow not as well-known as the other meat-free eateries around there.  It’s a vegetarian place, with about a 50% vegan menu – non-vegan options are marked with an egg symbol.

We ended up getting three courses, because it’s so rare that we have Thai food and everything sounded so exciting.  There were four or five starters, and while the spring rolls sounded tempting we decided to be bold and try something different.  We ordered some Farang’s Patties, which were nicely spiced and crispy, and some skewered rice balls which were really good too, especially the sticky sauce.

Unfortunately, the starters are all sitting out on the counter and aren’t even re-heated before serving.  They were both tasty, but surely they would have been better if they weren’t lukewarm.  That was our only complaint about the meal though.

The main courses were piping hot, freshly made and delicious.  Actually, maybe we do have one more complaint:  Dr HH ordered the Made in Thailand, which promised a red or green curry with tofu, aubergine balls and veg.  After he’d been eating for a while I asked about the aubergine and he realised there was none – we think he got the Bangkok Dangerous by mistake.  Whatever it was, it was well-spiced, creamy and had lots of bamboo shoots, which he loved.  He was still happy.

And I ordered the only vegan noodle dish, Phi Phi Island.  It was hearty!  The noodles and soy meat were lovely, and the sauce was creamy and coconutty with plenty of bite.  I enjoyed all the fresh, raw veg around the outside.  It was great.

Somehow, we still had room for dessert.  There were two vegan options on the counter, so we took one of each.  Dr HH had this blueberry dumpling, which was good and coconutty with some nice crunchy sugar for texture, but he felt it was a bit too doughy and needed more fruity filling.

I absolutely love this ricey, fruity cake.  The waitress said she didn’t know the English name for the fruit and I couldn’t put my finger on it either, but basically there was a layer of sticky rice and a layer of fruity goodness, and altogether it was sublime.

This was such a great place to go, and it has spurred me on to get out of my food rut and try some more of the eateries Prague has to offer.  It would be a shame to live somewhere with so many vegan options and not try them all out!