Smažený sýr (fried cheese) has to be one of my best gastronomic discoveries since moving to the Czech Republic. Don’t get me wrong, we have mozzarella sticks and such in the UK, but something about smažený sýr just hits so differently. Maybe it’s the type of cheese used, usually Gouda or Hermelín, or the oil used to fry it in. Either way, it is the one food that I crave if I leave the country for any length of time, and I have been on a mission to find the best smažák in Brno for a number of years now. Here are my top three so far:
3) Lužánka – Burešova 614/2, 602 00 Brno
As the name might suggest, Lužánka is just opposite Lužánky park. The unassuming exterior blends into the street, and I can’t say how many times I walked right past this place without even registering its existence. A few of my Polish and British mates gave glowing reviews of the food here, which I must admit, I now completely endorse. It is very much your typical Czech watering hole. It offers daily menus Monday to Friday, and if you turn up for lunch, you’re greeted with a piping hot bowl of mystery soup and the expectation that you already know what you want to eat from the limited menu before even stepping foot in the place.
In the evening and on weekends however, it does have a full menu available, which includes Smažený sýr Maasdamer. As with most places, you order your smažák, hranolky and tatarka separately, but the prices are pretty reasonable, with the whole meal usually coming to just CZK 210. Add a beer or Kofola onto that and you can be fed and watered for less than CZK 300, which is becoming harder and harder to find these days in Brno.
Now, the main reason I have this in my 3rd spot is because of the use of Maasdam Cheese. The soft and silky texture makes it a perfect choice for smažák. It oozes out of its breadcrumbed prison and onto your plate very slowly, meaning you can enjoy your initial bites without worrying there won’t be anything left inside its golden exterior. The buttery, slightly nutty taste pairs amazingly well with the creamy tartar sauce, cutting through the sharpness with ever so slightly sweet cheesy goodness. And the fries at Lužánka are also very decent: crispy on the outside but soft and fluffy inside. My only gripe is that the fries are a bit overcooked on occasion, which is why I’m going to rate Lužánka a solid 7/10.
2) Na Tahu – Bašty 2, 602 00 Brno
For over two years, Na Tahu was my local haunt, and it got to the point where the waitresses knew my order before I even opened my mouth. I’m not sure how I should feel about that in all honesty! The staff were always lovely though, and happy to put up with my extremely broken Czech, even reassuring me (or most likely lying) that it was actually very good. It also helped that they accepted my Benefit Plus card, so it didn’t feel like I was actually spending real money.
Na Tahu is another classic Czech haunt, with large wooden rooms filled with wooden tables and daily lunch menus through the week, with the normal menu being reserved for evenings and weekends. One interesting twist here is that you can get various different fillings with your fried cheese, ranging from ham and cheese to walnuts and cheese – I tried that one once and I’m still not 100% if I enjoyed it. You can of course get the good old fashioned plain smažený sýr as well, and the cheese used here is the classic Hermelín. Despite being right next to the main train station, the prices here are very reasonable, with a beer and smažák usually coming to just under CZK 300.
One thing that I love here, on top of the cheese, are the fries. They aren’t your usual julienne cut potatoes. Oh no, these are closer to steak fries, though you can tell they’re still fried in oil instead of being oven cooked. The larger chip means you can really enjoy and savour that velvety potato in the centre after biting down on the crunchy outside. Add a bit of that heavenly potato to a bite of gooey cheese and tangy tartar for a flavour that will make your tastebuds tango with happiness. Because of that, Na Tahu gets a well deserved 8/10 on my Smažák scale.
1) U Tomana – Náměstí Svobody 22, 602 00 Brno
Yes, I am that person, who actually goes to the overpriced bars and restaurants on the main square and enjoys them. But I think U Tomana stands out from the rest for a few reasons, the first being that it’s a microbrewery, so it offers a delicious range of beers made inhouse. The second is the brasserie style interior which gives it a much more cosy feel than some of the other traditional Czech pubs. And the third is the outside seating area, big enough to always have a free table, and with a perfect view for people-watching those going about their day in Náměstí Svobody.
The smažený sýr here is the absolute go-to Czech classic: fried gouda with julienne cut fries and tartar sauce. You just can’t go wrong with well-cooked traditional food, and that’s exactly what’s on offer here. Coated in a golden crust of deep-fried breadcrumbs, the gouda erupts out as you cut into it and stretches up to your fork with fine cheese strings linking the two. The skinny fries are exactly what you want to mop up the escaped cheese on your plate, and the tartar sauce adds the perfect pickled finish to it all.
Considering it’s slap bang in the centre of town, I don’t think the price of CZK 245 for the meal itself is all that bad. If you add on a beer, or one of the interesting beer lemonades which are so refreshing in the summer, the whole bill will be just over CZK 300. That makes it the most expensive option on this list, but considering the location, that’s not very surprising. The slightly inflated price is why I’m going to give U Tomana an 8.5/10.
