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I promised ages ago to write about Prague, but have come to the realisation that if I haven't done so yet I'm never going to, so instead I'll direct you to my beloved's write up instead.
What I am going to do is talk about some of the food we had there. After the flight got in and we'd had a much needed cup of coffee we made our way by bus to Dejvika, which is a mostly residential and studenty area on the outskirts of the city. The guidebook said it had a few good restaurants though, and it was close to the airport, so we decided to give one of them a try. Unfortunately we relied on my map-reading for a while, until it became clear that we were quite lost, and I figured to hell with the data costs, and I should use the magic of googlemaps and gps. Once we found our bearings it took another twenty minutes or so to reach the restaurant, so we were very hungry by the time we got there.
This turned out to be a blessing in disguise however, because it meant we had space for more of what was probably the best sushi I've ever eaten, at a place called Sakura*. It was sufficiently good that despite only being there for three days, we came back for a second time. I had lots of different things, and could no longer do justice to describing them all, so will pick out some highlights from across the two visits.
The gold goes to the dragon rolls. I've never encountered them before, which may have been part of the appeal, but I find it hard to imagine a better execution of the simply wonderful concept of futomaki crossed with nigiri. Inside the roll was red caviar, cucumber, and prawn tempura in the lightest, most well seasoned batter that I've ever tasted in my entire life. And as though that wasn't enough the eel on top was grilled to perfection, very fresh, and coated in a sweet, sticky sauce that was the perfect complement to the salt of the caviar as it went popopopop on my tongue. The rice, as with all the sushi pieces, was amazing - you could feel each grain individually, and yet it held its form easily as you dipped it.
Silver goes to the cherry tea which Ramesh had on our second visit, and which made me wish I hadn't gone for the (nice enough, but not outstanding) sake again. I'm generally not a fan of fruit teas, as they smell so wonderful and then taste far more insipid than their black, green, and herbal cousins. This turned out to be an exception. It was sweet, without being sickly, fruity, without being sour, and spicy, without being overpowering.
Bronze goes to the california rolls, which I'm not (very) ashamed to admit have long been a favourite of mine. That amazing batter made another appearence around the surimi, and whilst I've always been a fan of avocado, I had no idea it could be this smooth, this creamy, and this flavoursome.
And finally honourable mentions to the avocado nigiri, which I stole from the boy, as they made the ideal ending to a meal, and gave the superlative example of the fruit centre stage. Also to the enonoki soup, which did the thing that always impresses me of finding mushrooms so rich that it takes some effort to distinguish them from the meat (in this case chicken) that they're served with.
I wouldn't quite go so far as to say that this place alone was worth travelling to Prague for, but there are a lot of other reasons to go, and if you do then I would certainly pay a visit if you get the chance.
*Aside - I once had a very brief fling with a girl called Bob, short for Sakura.
What I am going to do is talk about some of the food we had there. After the flight got in and we'd had a much needed cup of coffee we made our way by bus to Dejvika, which is a mostly residential and studenty area on the outskirts of the city. The guidebook said it had a few good restaurants though, and it was close to the airport, so we decided to give one of them a try. Unfortunately we relied on my map-reading for a while, until it became clear that we were quite lost, and I figured to hell with the data costs, and I should use the magic of googlemaps and gps. Once we found our bearings it took another twenty minutes or so to reach the restaurant, so we were very hungry by the time we got there.
This turned out to be a blessing in disguise however, because it meant we had space for more of what was probably the best sushi I've ever eaten, at a place called Sakura*. It was sufficiently good that despite only being there for three days, we came back for a second time. I had lots of different things, and could no longer do justice to describing them all, so will pick out some highlights from across the two visits.
The gold goes to the dragon rolls. I've never encountered them before, which may have been part of the appeal, but I find it hard to imagine a better execution of the simply wonderful concept of futomaki crossed with nigiri. Inside the roll was red caviar, cucumber, and prawn tempura in the lightest, most well seasoned batter that I've ever tasted in my entire life. And as though that wasn't enough the eel on top was grilled to perfection, very fresh, and coated in a sweet, sticky sauce that was the perfect complement to the salt of the caviar as it went popopopop on my tongue. The rice, as with all the sushi pieces, was amazing - you could feel each grain individually, and yet it held its form easily as you dipped it.
Silver goes to the cherry tea which Ramesh had on our second visit, and which made me wish I hadn't gone for the (nice enough, but not outstanding) sake again. I'm generally not a fan of fruit teas, as they smell so wonderful and then taste far more insipid than their black, green, and herbal cousins. This turned out to be an exception. It was sweet, without being sickly, fruity, without being sour, and spicy, without being overpowering.
Bronze goes to the california rolls, which I'm not (very) ashamed to admit have long been a favourite of mine. That amazing batter made another appearence around the surimi, and whilst I've always been a fan of avocado, I had no idea it could be this smooth, this creamy, and this flavoursome.
And finally honourable mentions to the avocado nigiri, which I stole from the boy, as they made the ideal ending to a meal, and gave the superlative example of the fruit centre stage. Also to the enonoki soup, which did the thing that always impresses me of finding mushrooms so rich that it takes some effort to distinguish them from the meat (in this case chicken) that they're served with.
I wouldn't quite go so far as to say that this place alone was worth travelling to Prague for, but there are a lot of other reasons to go, and if you do then I would certainly pay a visit if you get the chance.
*Aside - I once had a very brief fling with a girl called Bob, short for Sakura.
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Date: 2009-05-06 10:32 pm (UTC)From:My love for fruit means I'm often disappointed by fruit teas!
I am, however, entirely in favour of girls called Bob.