Thursday 8 December 2011

Bellevue Restaurant - Prague, Czech Republic


For my wifes birthday this year, we decided to head off to Prague, a city we'd heard so much about. We booked a lovely little hotel on the castle side of the Charles Bridge, near the embassy's and did some searching on the internet for a decent restaurant. I came across the Bellevue Restaurant which we understood was in Central Prague and very close to the Charles Bridge.

We booked a table for the Saturday night and had a little look for where the restaurant was situated when we arrived on the Friday. The location is fantastic with great views over the river, straight across to the bridge and castle beyond that. We'd seen a sample menu online and were excited about what was in store on the Saturday night.

So when Saturday night arrived, we wandered down across the bridge heading for the restaurant. Once inside, we were greated by a lady who checked our reservation and led us to our table. Champagne? Oh yes please that would be lovely. An amuse boche arrived which were so memorable that I've forgotten what they were!

Anyway, from the menu we opted for the four course taster with wines to accompany the meal. So to the first course which was a trio of seafood - they called Bellevue seafood degustation and included Lobster in Lardo di Colonata , Scallops with Barley Kuba and Tempura of Tiger Prawns. It was paired with a glass of Chardonnay and arrived at the table, looked great. It was a very pretty dish, served on a long horizontal plate. Tasty? I really liked it, lots of flavours but everything worked really well including the wine.

Second course was a Dashi Infused Cod served with a wasabi potato puree, spinach leaves and shi-take mushrooms with a safron oil. Looked lovely, very nicely presented but couldn't help wondering what happened to the wasabi....it just wasnt there. However the dish was nice and local Czech wine it was served with went very well.

Up next was Grilled Saddle of Venison (pictured above) which claimed to have roasted mushrooms and a rosehip sauce. Couldnt find any mushrooms anywhere but the spinach spatzle was fantastic enhancing the texture of the dish. This was my favourite despite the missing mushrooms and I could have eaten another one. I'm not sure the picture does it justice but it was absolutely lovely...perfectly cooked and the sauce worked really well. The wine was good too, nothing special but a nice red to go with the venison.

The final course for me was cheese, not being big on deserts but my wife had the Apple Strudel which she loved. My cheese was delicious, a really good selection which I'd had my eye on all night. I was persuaded to have some port to go with it, that went down a treat.

All in all, we had a lovely experience and would go back again if we visit Prague. It's a lovely restaurant with spectacular views over the river to the bridge and castle. Great ambience, good service, very friendly and not at all snobbish. The food was splendid too and represented excellent value for money. I'd certainly recommend it as somewhere special to go in Prague if you get the chance.

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