Hotel Bellevue

Hotel Bellevue sits on Latrán, the main street of Český Krumlov's old town, directly opposite the rampart of the castle. The building is 16th-century; the restaurant occupies the Renaissance ground-floor hall with original vaulted ceilings, stone walls, and bay windows that look straight onto the castle tower across the street. It is the single most composed fine-dining room in town.

Chef Petr Martínek's menu is a Bohemian-French fusion that sounds like a tourism brochure and reads like a Prague menu from 2015. Kulajda soup — the South Bohemian sour-cream-and-mushroom broth — arrives with a soft-poached quail egg and dill oil; venison from the Šumava forest an hour away is served with juniper jus and braised red cabbage; the house confit duck leg is cooked six hours in its own fat and served with caramelised onion dumplings. The three-course tasting menu is CZK 1,400 (€55); the five-course with pairings is CZK 2,400 (€95).

The wine list leans South Moravian and is the best in town: 180 labels, a page of Pálava and Veltlínské Zelené, a small but well-chosen Burgundy section for the French guests, and Czech dessert wines from Mikulov that would be the revelation of the week for anyone who has not drunk late-harvest Ryzlink Rýnský. The sommelier is young and will walk you through unfamiliar Moravian grapes without condescension.

The dining room seats 48. In summer, the terrace above the Vltava adds another 20. Service is formal — jackets for men at dinner, no shorts at any time — but the room is warm rather than intimidating. This is the Český Krumlov proposal table.

Bellevue is the proposal room. The castle-framed window, the candle light against the 16th-century stone, the kitchen's tasting-menu tempo, and the upstairs hotel rooms for afterward — it is the full setup. Book the corner window table facing Latrán two weeks ahead, tell the captain privately, and let them bring the dessert with the ring.