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 atmosphereThe 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 PrahaOnce 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.
EntréeThen 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 bootsSoup 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 VenusFrom 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...
CuteWell 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 smokeAhh, 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.
BraiséThe 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 jardinCleansing 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 finaleFinally, 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.
WineThe 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
RatingI 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 Bourgeoisewww.ladegustation.cz/en
