Blues Bar Garch is a rambling underground bar just outside the centre of Olomouc. Everyone knows it just as Garch, but the full name is Galimatiašův Archiv. In Czech to speak Galimatiaš is to speak rubbish, so I guess the name of the bar means something like "The Archive of Junk"
The very low-key entry stairs lead you down to a cellar where the first thing you will see is the bar, and the second will probably be the surly boyfriend of whoever is working behind the bar. Ignore him, greet her with "Dobry večer" and head through to the main part of the bar on your left. Keep going through the first room, which has space for around forty people to sit at the long wooden benches, to one of the back rooms where you’ll find the real character of the bar.
The main back room has a stage at one end, where the concerts that you may expect from the name of the bar are held. There is no regular program of concerts through the summer but through the cooler months, various artists perform at Garch, and the program is available as part of the info magazine. In the same back room are also several seating areas, table football and snooker tables, three very expressive paintings, and some old junk including the obligatory sewing machine table and an old crank-operated laundry press.
The second, smaller back room has a table that looks like it was once part of a coolroom door, about twenty six-inch steel meat hooks, some fake trees and a functioning air-hockey table. The air hockey is 40Kc/1.3Euro/$1.60US an hour- the staff will mark your drinks-ticket with your start and finish times. The table football works exactly the same way, but is calculated at 50Kc per hour.
They play quite a range of music at Garch, the main uniting theme being the electric guitar. Everything from Jimi Hendrix to The Who to the Beatles to the Foo Fighters gets a spin. It’s fairly safe to say you won’t be hearing much techno between the exposed brick walls of Blues Bar Garch.
Garch also serves fondue! Meat eaters can choose from eight different flavours of spiced chicken and at least a dozen dipping sauces. Vegetarians will prefer the cheese fondue and should order the large croutons to dip into it. The meat dishes are each 76Kc for 100grams and as much cooking oil as you need. The menu warns that fondue is primarily a social activity; not something to be rushed and that anyone with a large appetite may be better to order from the regular menu. During a recent going-away dinner, though, the fondue was served quickly during the busiest part of the evening and everybody was very satisfied with the portions. We ordered a lot of extra bread and croutons, but the bill only came to 940Kc for eight of us, including 90minutes of air hockey.
Not bad.