DEPO

DEPO opened in 2019 in a converted train-depot building (hence the name) a five-minute walk from the main square. The format is a modern-Czech pub. Craft beer from Moravian micro-breweries on tap, house-smoked meats from the kitchen out back, a wine list that is 85 per cent small-grower South Moravian, and a beer garden under chestnut trees that is the best afternoon-drinking spot in Český Krumlov.

The kitchen is led by Tomáš Kratochvíl, 31, who worked at Eska in Prague and brought the modern-Czech technique south. The goulash is slow-cooked with dark beer; the roasted goose leg with herbed bread dumplings is served with a red-cabbage reduction tightened with plum brandy; the tartare is hand-chopped at the table and served with garlic toast and mustard the kitchen makes every Monday. Main courses run CZK 280 to 440 (€11 to 18). The six-course tasting menu is CZK 890 (€36) and is the best-value serious meal in town.

Drinks are where DEPO shines. Twelve taps of craft beer (Matuška, Únětický, Zichovec) rotating weekly; 90 Moravian wines by the glass, priced from CZK 80 (€3.20); a short but serious slivovice list including a 15-year-old unfiltered from the Zlín region. The beer garden holds 80 seats and does not take reservations before 17:00.

Inside, the dining room seats 50 across an industrial-design space. Exposed brick, steel beams from the original depot, long communal tables. Solo diners sit at the 12-seat bar counter that looks into the kitchen. Service is young and English-speaking.

Solo-dining friendly: the bar counter faces the kitchen, the menu works as small plates, and the Moravian wines-by-the-glass let you explore the region one pour at a time. Weekends the garden gets social and a solo seat becomes a conversation; weekdays it stays quiet. Order the tartare, a 2021 Veltlínské, and stay for the slivovice.