La Dégustation Bohême Bourgeoise @ Prague, A Guest Blog Post

La Dégustation is a remarkable place. Hidden in the maze of streets that makes up Prague centre, it waits for you like a silent creature, crouching in the dark, camouflaged against the surrounding buildings. You open the door, and it pounces. Out of nowhere.

You lose your footing slightly, your pupils dilate wildly as they try to focus on what hit you, the rush of adrenalin making your heart pound so hard that it skips a beat.

Then the moment passes.

And you find yourself smiling back at a person who is welcoming you and helping you with your coat. Excuse me, what happened?!





Buzzing atmosphere
The evening we were there, all tables were full, and people were waiting in the bar. Good sign! There was a lot of lively talk, but not too loud, just the right kind of buzz to make you happy that you ventured out in the night.


Pristine Praha
Once more, we wanted to enjoy food & wine with a Pristine Praha touch, so we opted for the menu Dégustation Bohême, which had a more local twist than the Chef's menu.

A generous 3 x amuse-bouche maison got us off to a good start, all three elegant and exactly right. My favourite was the tatar caught between waifer thin layers of crisp bread. Yummy.

Entrée
Then for the entrée which was hmmm not the very best in the world. Diced pork in a marjoram béchamel with pickled cucumber. The thick, glue-like consistency of the marjoram béchamel was not appealing to me, but the dish as a whole was still tasty (saved by the pickled cucumber).



Remembering a pair of yellow rubber boots
Soup next. Prague ham soup with a quail egg, celery root, carrot and lovage oil. This was a delicious, mouthwatering soup that hit me with a wave of nostalgia when the lovage oil opened up memories of my grandmother in her herb garden on Fyn in Denmark. Yellow rubber boots planted solidly in a myriad of herbs, skirt tied at the hip and a big grin on her face. She would have found great pleasure from the delicate pairing of lovage and quails egg.



The Birth of Venus
From one delicate dish to another. Butter poached pikeperch tickled by a few petals of brussels sprouts, resting on peeled barley, hazelnuts and encircled by a beautiful line of beetroot. What is it with Prague chefs and fish? Precisely like Le Terroir the day before, this fish was cooked to perfection. It was like silk.



However, if I could do this dish, I would cut down on the foam, and let the colour-clash of the fish and beetroot stand out even more. That would create a bold and dramatic visual counterpart to the soft, innocence of the fish. Imagine the white flesh of the fish, with only a little (sea) foam at the base, presented on a backdrop of deep red beetroot. It would evoke Botticelli's The Birth of Venus...



Cute
Well that was what flashed through my mind anyway. Venus is a lady you cannot take your eyes off, so unfortunately I was a bit distracted when I gulped down the next amuse-bouche. Cute spoons, don't you think?



No fire without smoke
Ahh, ready for the smoked beef tongue, pickled shallot garnished with white bean and apple puré. This dish was in the same exquisite league as the pikeperch and a welcome powerful punch at the taste buds. I need to try to prepare this at home.



Braisé
The next dish was lamb accompanied by a garlic purée (a bit too tame I think), parsley root chips and rosemary juice (again, a bit too tame). Somehow there was something missing in this dish.



Back on track with the amuse-bouche du jardin
Cleansing the palate with the next amuse-bouche.



Fromage and...potatoes?
Yes, seeing it is believing it. Cheese with... potatoes. Although in a molecular disguise. Still, the kitchen lacked courage here. They should have aimed for a more prominent potatoe taste, that could pick a fight with the scrawny (but extremely tasty) cheese. I liked the caraway track. It made me think of Hansel & Gretel's breadcrumb track through the forest.



A sweet finale
Finally, a wonderful dish of sweet buns with walnuts, plums and rum foam. This is the kind of dessert that challenges your patience and manners. It is so incredibly tasty, that your instinct is to gobble it up in 2 seconds. Oh no, no, don't do that in a super restaurant like this :-o



So, with a controlled effort to respect general etiquette, I managed to slow down, and succeeded in prolonging this lavish Bohêmian experience right until the very end, until I reached the full stop, and put my spoon down with a content sigh.

Wine
The wine was exquisite all the way through. 95% of it from the region or neighbouring regions. I don't know what to say except that I loved it, and I was slightly annoyed that they didn't pour very much in each glass. But then again, maybe that is a good thing.

The wine connaisseur in action


Rating
I will leave the rating to this blog's rightful owner, but suffice it to say that La Dégustation won a star in my book, a star that has a really sexy sparkle in its eye.

It doesn't get full points though, because we both agreed that they were stingy with the wine :-(

La Dégustation Bohême Bourgeoise
www.ladegustation.cz/en

Restaurant Le terroir @ Prague, a guest blog post

On Earth as it is in Heaven...

The wine expression terroir is the perfect name for this restaurant; Terroir meaning the various factors within a specific area which, in combination, make each wine or vineyard absolutely unique.

The Czech restaurant Le Terroir in Prague is itself one such unique combination of factors and it is guaranteed to make your evening worthwhile :-)

The dynamic here is a love of wine (hence the name), and the wine selection is vast. You catch a glimpse of it while you descend to the dining area, and according to the venerable Velkoski, it contains 'some serious shit':-) I loved the cellar for its expression; dusty bottles stacked nonchalantly here and there and everywhere. Another cool detail is the soil sample laid into the restaurant floor as a kind of statement.

After several hours trying to swim against the current of mass tourism, it was a relief to enter a place true to itself. We were welcomed like private guests, and attended on by the most loveable waiters ever. They were relaxed yet at the same time extremely passionate and dedicated to the values of the restaurant. They love what they do, and it shines through. Definitely one of the factors that contribute to the unique quality of Le Terroir.

The chef changes the menu every 2 weeks and swears to seasonal produce only. Wise choice. The food was heavenly, and all the courses were balanced and complemented each other perfectly. I have only praise.

And the wine ... let me just say that Prague and its surrounding regions have absolutely delicious and prizeworthy wine! Being in Prague, we asked the sommelier to spoil us with the best local wine.

As I was having fish for my main course, he offered us a white wine, a special reserve made especially for the restaurant.. well what can I say except that I sincerely hope they start producing it for us lesser mortals, so it would be possible to buy a few bottles myself! The wine is a blend of 4 varietals of traditional grapes and aged 12 months in Slavonian oak barrels.

We also tried two red wines, the best one being from Moravia.



...never before has a cave been so appealing



A small gift from the kitchen: Mushroom and shrimp soup... yes, it was a surprising combi for me, but really tasty!



mmmm :-)


Octopus terrine on a bed of red lentils, with cucumber and red pepper. Delicate, fresh and a beautiful balance of texture and taste.


Beef tenderloin with a salad of figs and chestnuts. The meat melted on my tongue like butter. I have never in my life had meat that was SO tender. Wow. With just the right hint of pepper and grill.


So Velkoski was happy to get his ravioli today. This is a class of its own, filled with creamy tallegio, cloaked in a soft pumpkin sauce and garnished with proscito and roasted pine nuts - a wonderful salty, almost bitter twist.


Zoran's main dish: Venison with a cranberry sauce, brusselsprouts on a base of chestnut and pumpkin puré. Pure and rich in taste.


Ahhh my main dish.. Sea Bass basking itself in a crab sauce and topped with roast potatoes. The fish was moist, moist, moist; a fresh and fantastic backdrop for the crab sauce which must have been done by magic. This dish now ranks very high on my list of 'best ever..', and pushed at least 4 of its competitors aside in a single elegant gesture.

Could I have a second helping please....

Matured French cheese Mâitre Affineur G. Waltmann



And the best way to end a meal: sweet and light. Nectarine dessert with traditional Czech dougnuts on top of silky marscapone pillows.

Zoran, thanks for yet another memorable experience. Did I forget to say, that of all the factors working together to create a unique experience, you are the most important one!

Diving at Puerto Galera, The Philippines, a guest contribution

If you ever find your self in the vicinity of Manila, The Philippines and feel the urge to get wet, I can strongly recommend a little trip to Puerto Galera located at the island of Mindoro.

Puerto Galera is a town based around diving with a dash of funny business on top. One of the main benefits with diving here is the vicinity to Manila. A comfy three or four hours after hitting Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport you can be at your diving resort of choice at one of the three beaches at Puerto Galera.

View from Big Lalaguna beach.

There are a few dive sites that you definitely do not want to miss once you are here. Take a day trip to the Verde Island for perhaps the best diving in the area. The currents are known to be a bit tricky there and hence the name of the most famous dive spot at the Verde Island is "The washing machine". But as long as you go with an experienced dive guide he/she should be able to keep you safe from the nasty down currents and keep you out of harms way. The other spot to dive there is The Pinnacle. Here you dive next to a reef column of some sort around which you encounter quite a bit of pelagic creatures such as tunas, jacks and trevallies for examples. The pinnacle form a beautiful coral wall that starts at 60m and goes all the way up the surface. The visibility here is usually quite a bit better than around Puerto Galera. The Verde Islands is absolutely a must if you ever visit Puerto Galera.

The Verde Island.

Another dive spot that you cannot miss is the Canyons. Some people love it while others fear it. Fierce currents and depths between 25-35 meters can make this a challenging dive even for very experienced divers. We heard both horror stories and love stories regarding this dive spot from other guests at the resorts, but when we finally got a chance to dive the Canyons it was almost a bit too uneventful. Barely any currents at all. This is one of those dives where Nitrox really shines. You will almost double your bottom time zipping Nitrox instead of good old fashion air. Expect to see quite a bit of the same here as you will at the Verde Island.

Trevally at the Canyons.

A third dive spot that kind of grew on us is the sandy shallows close to the Giant Clams area. Part of this area falls neatly into the definition of "muck diving". Not much in terms of beautiful corals here in other words, but plenty of enormous clams and lots of bizarre creatures such as Flamboyant cuttle fish, Yellow scorpion fish, Fingered Dragonet and different kinds of Frog fish and Sea horses.

Flamboyant Cuttlefish at the Giant Clams.

Since the Giant Clams area is very shallow (15m-20m) and easy to dive, this is an ideal place to get some really wicked dive times. On our final day of diving we managed to pull of a 67 minute dive on normal 12 liter air tanks. I believe that is my record.

Yellow Scorpionfish at the Giant Clams area.

Due to the number of weirdos we encountered here we found ourselves returning to the Giant Clams area many times during our stay at Puerto Galera. One moment that is still stuck on my retina is this funny Frogfish that came jumping towards us on the sandy bottom. Usually frog fishes don't move at all and are virtually impossible to spot due to their amazing ability to blend in with whatever background you can imagine. And when they do move they tend to walk or jump instead of swimming.

Green Frogfish out for a walk at the Giant Clams area.

The tricky currents around Puerto Galera turns almost all dives into drift dives of one sort or another. The conditions here are such that a dive quickly can turn ugly if you are not careful. Even though our dive guides had thousands of dives here we ended up in a few dives that were complete disasters. Poor visibility and extreme currents makes you shift focus from finding funny creatures to just keeping track of your dive buddy and your dive guide. And sometimes you will have no choice but paddling like a crazy tuna on roids just to get out of the currents.

A huge Green Sea Turtle at a normal dive around Puerto Galera.

The water temperature has been at a steady 30 degrees centigrades lately which has had a very bad impact on the corals. There is coral bleaching pretty much everywhere. Some spots affected worse than others. As far as I understand, many of these corals might survive though if the water temperature could just drop a few degrees.

Lionfish at a night dive.

Puerto Galera has also been struck by a couple of really fierce typhoons the last decade something that has also taken its toll on the coral reefs. That said, you will still encounter the expected variety of reef inhabitants like Green sea turtle, Lion fishes, Moray eels and the usual lot of reef fishes.

Moray eel at a night dive.

Among the many dive sites in the immediate vicinity there is a handful of wrecks diveable by mere mortals. Some of the wrecks can only be reached by tech divers though. At the Sabang Wreck you can feed batfishes with bread crumbs from a bottle. That is a funny experience if you have not tried it before.

Yours truly feeding batfishes at the Sabang Wreck.

To wrap it up:
The great diving and the proximity to Manila has made Puerto Galera quite a magnet for local and foreign tourist alike. There are lots of bars and clubs for those who feel the urge to party. Most hardcore kick-ass dive sites on the planet are not only difficult and time consuming to reach, but when you finally do get there you will find that there is absolutely nothing to do except eat, sleep and dive. That is not the case with Puerto Galera. At the Sabang beach you can easily find more funny business than you can shake your diving stick at. So if you are looking for a bit of great diving mixed with some fun partying you will love Puerto Galera. If you are looking for pure and spectacular diving in the Philippines and don't mind the eat, sleep and dive kind of life, you would be better of diving the visayas (Negros, Cebu, Bohol etc.) though.

At the pool table.

Rambling Nordsjællandin, a guest blog post

This is visual contribution from my dear friend Elena; enjoy!


Arrival Friday evening: lots of rain and old brickets...


Macedonian Salad


working on grill to be alive


the beach


Breakfast Day 1


Fun 1


Zoran


Fun 2


Relax Time


...


Macedonian Salad with correctly cut tomatoes this time! :)


nam nam


Breakfast day 2