Hospoda

321 E. 73rd St., Upper East Side, NY

8.1

map & more

Neighborhood
Upper East Side

Cuisine
Eastern European

Nearby
Central Park/Rumsey Playfield
Metropolitan Museum of Art

212-861-1038

Official Website

By Chris Stang
November 8, 2011

If there’s such a thing as “fine dining for dudes”, we’ve just discovered it. Welcome to Hospoda, an upscale Czech restaurant that’s just as much a beer hall as it is a culinary destination. There aren’t many places in this city where a guy can order a light beer with his three course meal and not get treated like a redneck that just won the lottery. But at Hospoda, they actually encourage such behavior. As a matter of fact, half the point of this place is to educate you on the nuances of drinking fresh Pilsner Urquell with varying amounts of foam, just like they do back in the Czech Republic. No wonder we liked it so much.

Now that you know what to drink at Hospoda, let’s talk about what to eat. The answer is whatever your waiter tells you. The menu is a very modern approach to “Eastern European” cuisine, which means there’s a 99% chance that you’ll have no idea what to do with it. That’s usually bad news, but the service at Hospoda is excellent, and the wait staff will be happy to walk you through things. Cultural education actually seems to be part of the mission statement here, which would make sense. The restaurant occupies the bottom floor of a building that also houses the Consulate General of the Czech Republic. I suppose that’s kind of like us building a Chili’s into a US Embassy overseas. Come learn about America and our baby back ribs! Oh right, there’s already a Chili’s in your airport. Our bad, Paraguay.

Photo Credit: Daniel Krieger/Eater NY

Food Rundown:

Steak Tartare
An appropriately tasty steak tartare to eat while drinking huge mugs of beer. This is probably the only bar snack on the menu that’s worth it.

Pickled Camembert
I used to think that any food became instantly better after being pickled. Then I had this. My American mouth is not ready for pickled cheese. Sorry, whatever part of the world invented this.

Pork Belly, Grated Horseradish, Mustard
This is not pork belly like you’re used to. This belly has been thinly shaved and tastes a bit like raw bacon. The fat is nice and melt-in-your-mouthy, but the slices are bit too thick for our liking.

Free Range Fried Egg, Chanterelles, Cauliflower Velouté, Nutmeg
When we asked our waiter what the “can’t miss” items were on the menu, he didn’t even think. He just described this soft-boiled then deep fried egg, and then looked at me the same way girls do when I’m supposed to apologize. Ok, I get it, I’ll order it. This photo should pretty much sum it up. Incredible.

Confit of Duck Leg, Red Cabbage Essence, Dumpling
Another home run suggestion from our waiter. This duck leg has delicious crispy skin, flavorful dark meat, something called cabbage essence, and the strangest fluffy dumplings we’ve ever seen. You should order this and/or any other duck item on the menu.

Chocolate Ganache
We ordered this dessert after watching the waiter present it to the table next to us. Hot chocolate sauce is poured on top of a chocolate sphere, which then melts and reveals more chocolate. That’s the prettiest way to get diabetes that we’ve seen in a while.