A new, very good beer hall delivers on drinks and eats

Final night in Prague, and we are desperate for an all-around good Czech meal, having not quite met that bar the first couple of nights. We head for Lokal, which had an intriguing, all Czech menu when we passed it the day prior.

First up is a plate of Davle's spicy sausages with fresh horseradish and mustard. The sausages don't live up to their billing as spicy. However, they are fresh and good. Meanwhile, the freshly grated horseradish is divine, bringing some of that lovely horseradish-like tartness but also mellowing itself out. Mustard excellent as always, and we are off and running on a good meal.

Next is "Sopjes" salad, filled with cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, green peppers, and topped with a delightful feta-like cheese. This was excellent, bursting with freshness and bringing back my longing for the high-quality shepherd's salads of Turkey.

A meat-filled main has arrived and it is pork knee goulash with fresh horseradish and bread dumplings. This is far and away the best version of goulash we've had to date. The meat is tender, the sauce is flavorful, and the horseradish brightens up the dish and my palate. The bread dumplings, meanwhile, are light and fluffy, perfect for soaking up the sauce.

Our other main is fried cheese with homemade tartar sauce. It also came with a side of mashed potatoes with onions. The cheese didn't surpass the melty fried cheese from sunset a couple of days earlier. The potatoes, however, were divine. That perfect blend of mashed with small chunks of potato remaining, the onion only added to the symphony.

As a side to it all there was cucumber salad. This was a welcome variation and was nearly entirely cucumbers, with a bit of salt, maybe some sugar, and perhaps some fennel (or very light dill). Crisp and refreshing!

After a very good Czech meal (with good Czech beer, by the way), Kevika and I decided to finish with digestifs. She went for Vajcnia, a Czech egg liqueur that she liked so much a bottle is going home with her. I went for Orechovice, a walnut brandy that was also quite good, stiff and with balanced flavor.

Thanks, Lokal, for delivering a Czech meal when it was needed most!