Prague Travel: A Kosher
Meal at the King Solomon Restaurant
After our extensive tour through Prague’s
Jewish Quarter it was only fitting to cap off this
experience with a nice meal in a kosher restaurant.
Owner Michal Günsberger welcomed us at the
King Solomon Restaurant, Prague’s oldest kosher
restaurant. We sat down in the light-flooded winter
garden and enjoyed the sun’s rays after our
walk on this cool and windy day.
The King Solomon Restaurant
Michal indicated that his restaurant started as
a family business that used to produce kosher meat
and supply the Jewish community. The King Solomon
specializes in Ashkenazi-style Jewish cuisine –
the cuisine of the Eastern European Jewish People.
With the planned introduction of falafels to the
menu, the King Solomon will also be able to offer
some Sephardic cooking in the near future.
Michal Günsberger of the King Solomon Restaurant
Most of the dishes at the King Solomon Restaurant
are based on the Austro-Hungarian Jewish traditions
of cooking which originated before the world wars
of the last century. Main dishes include Gefilte
Fish, which are essentially poached fish patties
or fish balls made of ground deboned fish, usually
carp or pike. Other popular items include Kishka,
a traditional Jewish sausage dish that is made here
of veal intestine and stuffed with matzo meal and
ground vegetables. The King Solomon also offers
matzo balls with mandeln, a type of Jewish pasta,
lamb stew with carrots and potatoes, different types
of pasta, and various organic items.
The winter garden, a great place on a cool windy
day
The restaurant’s delicacies include venison
goulash and venison steak. Michal added that his
company produces the only kosher venison in the
world as it is very difficult to produce. According
to Kosher food preparation requirements game cannot
be shot, it must instead be farmed to comply with
Jewish dietary laws.
The Kosher Certificate
In line with hearty Eastern European foods, the
King Solomon Restaurant also offers a wide variety
of soups: Krupnik, for example, is a vegetable soup
made of beans, barley, mushrooms and potatoes. That’s
what I was going to taste for lunch to warm me up.
Desserts include various Middle Eastern treats such
as Baklava and other sweet temptations.
Interior of the King Solomon Restaurant
As I wanted to learn more about kosher food production,
Michal explained that the term kosher essentially
means “clean, proper”. He went on to
say that there are 65 special rules that are rather
complicated to explain. Meats and dairy must be
separate and only meat from suckling mammals is
allowed. Meat from predatory animals is forbidden.
Kosher food products are widely available in the
United States and Canada, all countries with a large
Jewish population. However, the Czech Republic has
a very small Jewish community and real kosher food
is in short supply.
A big wine collection awaits at the King Solomon
Restaurant
During the post-war years it was impossible to
buy anything kosher in the local retail shops. Michal
and his family decided that they needed to get involved
in kosher food production themselves if they wanted
to have access to kosher food. His company also
supplies Pilsner Urquell with the kosher certificate
for export to Israel. To do so, Michal and his family
had to bring in a rabbi from abroad to help them
with the kosher inspections. This rabbi also supervises
food production at the King Solomon Restaurant,
a 100% kosher establishment, where even the cooking
utensils comply with kosher rules.
Jewish cuisine is known for its hearty soups
The majority of the clients at the King Solomon
are tourists and business people. Interestingly,
Michal added, 90% of his customers are not Jewish.
They often ask why there is no milk for the coffee
and only whitener, which can be explained by the
restrictions on dairy products, another example
of kosher dietary laws. But in addition to complying
with kosher rules, Michal also focuses on high culinary
quality.
Many photos on the wall show the Jewish Quarter
before its reconstruction
As I was sitting down to taste my krupnik vegetable
soup, Michal described the surrounding area to me.
Right opposite the King Solomon is the Old Jewish
Cemetery whose museum features a wall of names of
Holocaust victims who were born in the Czech country.
The famous Charles Bridge is about five minutes
from the restaurant, and the Vltava River surrounds
the Jewish Quarter. The biggest castle in the world,
Prague Castle, is just on the other side of the
River. The Old New Synagogue, the Maisel Synagogue
and the Spanish Synagogue are also just steps away
from the restaurant. Also close by is Parisian Street,
Prague’s luxury shopping street. Old black
and white photos in the main restaurant reveal a
look at Prague’s Jewish Quarter before it
was razed and reconstructed in the 1890s.
Gefilte Fish
After my hearty soup my main dish had arrived:
Gefilte Fish, made of a carp or whitefish paté
that was mixed up with vegetables, honey and lemon
and baked inside carp skin, accompanied by a sweet
sauce of horseradish, beet root, honey and raisins.
My walking tour guide Richard was enjoying a kishka,
a dish which used to be popular among poorer Jewish
residents. I had never had kosher food before and
I am generally not much of a fish-eater, but I was
pleasantly surprised by the delicate texture and
the sweet note of the Gefilte Fish.
Kishka, another traditional Jewish dish
After this foray into kosher cuisine, it was time
to continue my explorations of Prague. The next
item on my itinerary was Municipal House, Prague’s
Art Nouveau masterpiece.