Key West - Louie's Back Yard

Last Day, we & the newly-weds rode around in a golf cart to see places not so easy to walk to . . .Dang, could rent two cars for what they charge for 4 hours, but it's fun . . .

drifted around the island till we got to someplace the kids had heard of and wanted to try and when everyone was hungry. Wound up at Louie's Back Yard. Nice back yard! Right on the ocean. I don't see how they keep up the property in ocean air like that . . . must work on it all the time . . . the inside is very cherry, sorta clubby feeling. Out back is a huge multi-level deck. We ate outside. Very pleasant.

Mrs asked the waitress and took her reco for Oyster Poorboy. One step up in refinement from a classy N'awlins offering . . . not necessarily better, just more pretensious.

Daughter took the soba-noodle salad . . . maybe she was restauranted out too . . . seemed pretty good tho'.

I always wish I had ordered what the new SIL ordered, so we both had Fish Tacos. Good choice, and I didn't spend the whole meal coveting my neighbor's meal . . . 8^) . . .

Key West - Conch Seafood Company

Totally Florida experience . . . open air shed on the docks . . . two old hippie/beachcombers playing oldies rock . . . Awesome Ambience...8^)...

We were definitely on for Conch dishes, but by the time we got around to it, Mrs was a little "restauranted out", so she opted for a Carribean Salad to start .

I launched straight into the Conch Chowder. So: like a Manhattan Chowder, rather than New England or Rhode Island style. Those might be good, too, you know . . .

Mrs got just plain Fried Conch for her main . . . I think these was our favorite.

The Conch Fritters ... ummmmm. .. just didn't seem to add anything to the Fried Conch . . . that dipping sauce is suspect too, just gimme some Louisiana Hot Sauce, Puh-leeeeeze!

Key West - Seven Fish

Seven Fish serves seafood simply, but elegantly.

I think this mahi-mahi says it all, tho' . . . .that's some unusual bread, too . . .

Key West - Finnegan's Wake

Had our not-a-rehearsal-dinner at Finnegan's Wake. I guess one should not be surprised, anymore, at the places one finds excellent Irish Pubs.They put on a buffet for us. Mrs sensibly balances her plate with fruits, veggies, and meats . . .

stuffing; chicken breast, chicken wings, Irish-Creme-Chicken, etc .  .  .

that lamb shank was pretty good -- good pub grub, not haute cuisine . . .8^) . . .wash it all down with a few Harps. . .

Key West - Banana Cafe

Banana Cafe on Duval

Still kinda dingy from the overseas flight . . .the fam all went to Banana Cafe after walking over to the Southernmost point in the US. I met the them there . . . didn't really want a crepe, so I ordered a hamburger . ..voila!

Mrs Sensibly ordered an egg on a crepe stuffed with ratatouie.

But someone else always orders what I wisht I had. This time Tio Eloy scored with an omelet.

Ambiente Living Prague

1 stop on the 10 or 16 Tram away from Namesti Miru, at Manesova 59.


I've heard less than complimentary things about the Ambiente Pizza, and the whole Brazilian Red-Meat Orgy leaves us a little cold, but the Ambiente Fresca remains our favorite Italian and now the Ambiente Living has impressed us with their Mexican & Red-Meat specials.

First they brought us a little amuse bouchee' that was like a steak-&-potatoes meal in a spoon. Very good.

then we split an appetizer of fresh jalapeno poppers, expertly battered in crushed corn flakes and deep-fried.

Awesome!

Then mixed (Chicken & Beef) fajitas. Almost authentic. Very nice. Would have been nice to have done the full monty with a pitcher of margaritas . . . 8^D. . .

I think for mexican food, ordinarily we would still go to Las Adelitas by Namesti Miru, but they don't have fajitas, so this would easily be our second choice. They could be our first choice for a fine meat meal . . .they seem to take a great deal of care & pride in their meat. Good For Us!

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Update

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so we went back...

There's just to kinds of restaurants, now: them that has amuse bouche' and them that don't. Ambiente's are like a blue-plate special, meat & potatos, and very satisfying . . . someday we'll just go in there for a glass of wine and an amuse bouche', then bolt.

We had the same stuffed jalapeno appetiser, again. Excellent again . Words superfluous.

A Bohemia Charolais Tenderloin in Porto Sauce. They say this is the best they have, meat-wise. I'm not sure I want my red meat any better, for health reasons, if you see what I mean. Just excellent. They have some also from South America, but it is comforting to know such excellence can be had close to home, and so we support it.

Mrs had the same cut of meat with the house sauce, the Ambiente (pancetta, juniper, pancetta butter). She didn't eat the bacon of course, so I finished it for her, just to avoid a scene with the kitchen, doncha see . . . 8^D . . . it had a very fine smoky flavour that if imparted to the meat WOULD be excellent in deed . . . as I expect it was. Mrs made no complaint . . . 8^)

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2nd Visit

Amuse Bouchee' -- ooooh! like goulash in a spoon!

Mrs had selected the Filet Mignon with a Guacamole topping. It was fine, but cutting the filet into these thin medallions made it seem less ... mignon, if you see what I mean. nothing wrong with the guacamole, tho', their grasp of mexican cuisine seems more than adequate . . .

The deal there is, you can pick your cut of meat and a sauce, of which we've now had 4 variations . . . I think this one was called The Ambiente. I really did enjoy the peppers, but again the thinness of the filets was somehow less than what we wanted  -- mine wasn't overdone -- ordered medium rare -- but Mrs "feels" her medium might have been. Hey it wasn't so bad we didn't go back . . . 8^D . . . and that potato . . . with Tzatziki on it. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

El Emir, Palladium v Prague

Sometimes we just like a lite dinner, a mostly vegetarian nosh when it gets a little late. The Meza plate from El Emir fills the bill, everything is great -- except we didn't care for the pickles (far right), and the olives seemed a little weird -- but we must be acclimated to kalamatas or spanish tapas olives. Still looking for a great mediteranean style restaurant, but this will do till one comes along, if you know what I mean . . .

Apostila, na Tynska

#8 in Prague at TripAdvisor.

So every single reviewer thinks they discovered this place. I guess one doesn't want to rain on somebody's parade, so fine . . . Nice Place, no argument, but finding The Artisan is a lot harder than this . . . 8^D . . .

What got us to stop was having Czech Cabbage Soup on the chalkboard menu. Still looking for the ultimate CCS . . . not as common as one might expect . . . 8^) . . .

Mrs complained that they used saurkraut instead of cabbage, but I tho't it was sensational . . . however, therefore, we are still looking for the UCCS.

We were kinda looking for brunch when we fell prey to the Sirens of CCS, so Mrs ordered ham & eggs . . . prague ham with quail eggs with a side of polenta . . . went very orderly with the Moet & Chandon shampoo we ordered to start. . .8^) . . . 

yeh, just a little lite brunch . . . but what I wound up with was a goose breast topped by a fois gras, with new potatoes, and under the greenery, some kind of toast that had the same texture of the fois gras, soaking up the juices.  I think I understand the thinking, I just wasn't that big a fan of it.

So a little pricey, but very, very good, like the Artisan, a notch below Michelin quality, and the ambience of the location does give rise to the feeling of finding a culinary shangri-la hidden in the back alley behind the Tyn.

Sapori na Namesti Miru, Prague 2

on the Circle where Americka & Zahrebska intersect. Replacing the late, lamented Pas Partout. We're not sold . . . awfully smoky when we were there, to the point of obscuring the Italian-style food.

the minestrone was ok -- not as good as Mrs' Famous Minestrone, but Mrs complemented the fresh ingredients -- meatless, too.

I had a very un-extraordinary Chicken & Potatoes.

Mrs had Tuna with papa-something noodles . . . theywere real proud of their pasta. Not terrible, but more sad-sack peas . . . must be a required condiment in Prague Italian restaurants.


This was a daily-special lunch.. . apparently they specialize in grilled fish, which is what we were hoping to sample . . . prob'bly go back, someday, for that, but it was very smoky.