Why go
Look for caraway-flavoured bread, garlic-rubbed fried topinky or a poppy-seed-topped rohlík. On a soup menu, česnečka is garlic soup, zelňačka uses sauerkraut, and South Bohemian kulajda combines mushrooms, dill, potatoes and cream. These named dishes make it easier to order something specific instead of treating all soups as interchangeable.
The full story
At breakfast, the distinction is between the familiar rohlík roll, the braided houska and the sweeter, poppy-seed-topped loupák. Darker rye-wheat bread often carries caraway; slices fried and rubbed with garlic become topinky. The bread also appears beside soups or as croutons. On a lunch menu, polévka means soup, but the names tell you much more. Česnečka is garlic soup, commonly with croutons; zelňačka takes its sourness from sauerkraut. South Bohemian kulajda is a thicker bowl of mushrooms, dill, potatoes and cream, while Wallachian kyselica combines sauerkraut with potatoes and sour cream. Kyselo uses rye sourdough and mushrooms. A clear broth with noodles gives a lighter, less filling start; one of these regional soups can be the focus of a smaller meal.