This weekend we had some beautiful weather in Prague. On Saturday there was blue, blue sky and it was around 23 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit). Dana and I walked around Vyšehrad and ended up at the restaurant Rio’s Vyšehrad for lunch. They are just across from the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (Chrám sv. Petra a Pavla) and have a nice outdoor seating area. We enjoyed the food, but the service was v-e-r-y slow. We waited over an hour to get our two identical plates of simple chicken sauté and two mini-scoops of white rice. We were certainly not in the best mood by the time the food arrived. To top things off, the bill that was brought after another lengthy period of waiting included a 10% tip. This was only listed as a cryptic “DPT” line on the bill that we had to inquire about in order to understand what it meant. The menu had no mention of a service charge being added to the bill. Very irritating, since it is not common in the Czech Republic for a service charge to be added automatically. Plus we wouldn’t have had tipped 10% in this case as spending close to two hours at lunch that eventually left us hungry was not our idea of a Saturday afternoon.
Later in the day, Dana and I grabbed dinner at U Šemíka, which is just below Vyšehrad at Vratislavova 36. It was our first time there and we enjoyed our whole dining experience – from service to food quality to ambience. We look forward to going back. If you are looking for food in the Vyšehrad area, our tip is to try U Šemíka.
Nice to see a blog on the Czech Republic. I lived there from 1998 to 2002 and met my wife there. Keep up the good work… and sorry about them darn smokers. I am one of them.
I haven’t eaten at U Semika since 2004, but it was very enjoyable then, too. Glad to know it’s still around and thriving!
Interesting. One thing I was not impressed with in general in The Czech Republic was the service. This is another example of that poor service. Thanks for the tip on U Semika.
Sorry about your bad experience at that restaurant. I know exactly what it feels like, it’s a typical lose-lose situation. Either you complain and things go sour, or you don’t and end up feeling frustrated and angry. Either way, your day is ruined.
By the way, what does “DPT” stand for?
Thanks everyone for your comments.
We never did figure out what DPT stood for. The waiter said it was a service charge, so it was not related to VAT tax, which would have been written as DPH.