Packing 101

So -- whether we are flying or travelling by train, nowadays, we have gotten to where we are packing minimalists . . . this is the one bag we took on our 3 day trip to Dresden / Leipzig . . . note that this carryon size bag contains a tie & a bottle of wine . . . we claim this is Extraordinary Packing . . . 8^) 

Hanoi Vietnamese Prague

One of our greivances is that there is an even greater dearth of good vietnamese restaurants in PRG than in SCX (Note: Phuong Dong & Tea Light)
. . . I mean, How Can This Possibly Be?
. . . I mean, There is an arguable equivalency in Thai restaurants, with a nod to PRG based on The Orchid, so why the deficiency? As noted on other blogs, not just IMVHO . . . 


Can't even get Bubble Tea here in PRG, THAT's how low we go . . . 


We went a few times to #8 in the Vltvska Flea Market, till it got too cold in the open air to work a spoon, much less chopstix, and I think now we would go to Remember as a first choice . . . but we decided to renew our acquaintance with Hanoi since it's in walking distance from our house . . . dang, Vinorady is just full of good restaurants . . . 

 This is my Bun, I can tell cuz I put chili in it.

This is Mrs' Pho. I can tell because it has no chili in it . . . call me ignorant or, otoh, elitist, but dangit, should not one be able to tell the difference between a Pho and a Bun? Everything seems to taste sorta the same, too -- but then we know that the eye may fool the tongue, sometimes . . . not unpleasant or even just boring, but not exciting . . . vietnamese food suitable for Czech palates I guess is the kindest thing one could say.

Pind Indian Restaurant - Prague

Ranked # 4 on Trip Advisor, FWIW . . .


Right by Vinradsky Vodarna Tramstop (10 or 16) . . . we just walked there. . . .


We'd gotten a coupon from Slevomat to dine at Masala pod Karlovem, where I'd eaten once on a company dinner, but Mrs had not been so we wanted to go, and we will soon, but the coupon requires a week's advance notice, so with a shrug we tregged down to the Pind, for which I'd seen some over-the-top recommendations . . . Being further from Himalya, and fed up with their indifference anyway, this looked like a good place to re-frequent . . .

 Vegetarian samosas . . . possibly the best I've ever had . . . so light & crispy with such savoury curried insides that the tamarind sauce was forgotten as unnecessary . . .

 Mint, Mango, & Pickle chutneys . . . I dunno, mint was so inviting Mrs had to dip a finger into it before I food came, mango was the best I've seen, not marmalade like at all, but I think they switched the pickle on us . . . we always go back to the pickled chutney of Tandoori Times in SCX as the ultimate: Jalapeno, Lemon, Ginger pieces . . . Mrs could eat that stuff raw.

 OoooOOooooh! Very Special Raita!

 an amazing oversized Garlic Naan, Lamb Panesha (?), and Saag Paneer. All excellent, although I am not convinced the Panesh is better than a Vindaloo . . . makes a nice change, for sure.

 Tandoori Chicken . . . as a benchmark dish, that is, one to compare to other Indian restaurants, very good, if not a smash hit . . . Mrs says better'n the Tandoori @ Tandoori, but not by much.

 I am a total sucker for Mango Ice cream and kheer, together . . . Mrs just looked on with glassy eyes as I force fed myself . . . that's a lot of ice cream . . . there were craisens in the kheer, what a hoot . . .

 The most tiny-liquorice-balls mixed with anise I've ever had . . .

Mandala like placemats . . . .I think I start to see something . . .


Great place, and handy for us . . . looking forward to compare with Masala (both of 'em) . . .

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 We enjoy the Pappadam with peppers . . . sort of like an Indian Nacho . . . if you see how I mean . . . 

 And we have to have Mango and Mint chutneys . . . that mint chutney is so good we dip our fingers into it while we're waiting for the rest of our food . . . 8^D . . . 

Mrs always, always gets Tandoori Chicken at Indian restaurants, and she says this is her fav-o-rite.

I, otoh, experimenting: Lamb biriyani, pickles, raita, daal, and garlic naan . . . uh, gibbber, gibber, gibber, just excellent . . . 

Aromi - Prague

Aromi is another citation from the Prague Post Best of Prague 2010 . . . as the best Italian Restaurant, Readers' Choice . . . we're not so wild about Italian Food, so much of it is so heavy, so bad . . . but Aromi surpassed our expectations as a favorite of the hoi polloi . . . it has a Michelin Bib award too, it totally deserves it.

We wanted to go over to dinner on date night . . . but the charming young woman that answered the phone and spoke to me in flawless English said they were all booked . . . in sorrow we parted, reluctantly, on the phone . . . then Mrs said, It's not even 5 pm yet, and they're already full? So I called 'em back, got the same young woman, so we were already up to speed, and I said, What if we get there by 5, and she said, no problem then. . . . so that's what we did. Jumped on the tram 1 stop, and hoofed the 3 next blocks down to Aromi.

The same young woman, I could tell by her voice, greeted us & sat us down, then brought over a glass of Prosecco to get us started, while she described the fish table to us . . . I wanted whatever she talked about last, thru 9 different fishes. . . 8^D . . . 

So first we had minestrone . . . now, it wudn't Mrs' Famous Minestrone, but it was awfully good . . . creamy in a way different than Mrs' which is all clear vegetable juice . . . sinfully good.

Then we had our SeaBream for 2 with grilled vegetables . . . just fine, just fine.

So we stumbled thru dinner and a bottle of wine and resolved to return for lunch, soon . . . as it turned out, we were able to go the next Friday, before we went to Greece. If nothing else, we wanted the Minestrone again . . . I think Mrs had the idea for Minestrone & Salad & Dessert, which had looked good before, but we'd had no room left. But that ain't what happened. We did have the minestrone again. Good . . .but got the lunch special,  Calamari & Pasta . . . it was almost like a degustation platter.

So I felt righteous enough for dessert still, but Mrs demurred.

The waiter brought 2 spoons tho, so she did have 2 or 3 bites . . . 

I remember the words Orange & Infusion, but I'm not quite sure how that works . . . there was chocolate, too.

The new neighborhood is starting to look real good to us . . . 8^) . . . 

Aromi's pasta is all made down the street by their partner retail front. They sell the pasta, and assorted other dishables that looked quite palatable . . . there might have been some tabouli in there . . . which we intend to check out soon. very soon.

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11-03-25

Lunch Again

Potato / Fennel Soup ... thinner than a heavy soup, creamy and we thought buttery, since it was so good . . . like the minestrone.

veal medalions on polenta & spinach . . . pretty filling tho' it looked small, just excellent. An interesting change from the ubiquitous pounded & battered & sauced version . . . we had, as is our wont, not a chianti -- that they don't have -- an italian cabernet that might not have been paired well, but was very good non-the-less. Just love this place.

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2011-04-26

 A little Amuse Bouche

 Grilled Octopus, Steamed Mussels, & Prawns . . .

 Grilled Sea Bream with mixed grilled vegetables . . .

an orgiastic luncheon, we agree, and we're ashamed of ourselves . . . 

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2011 - 05- 16`

Aromi's version of the now-ubiquitous Pea with Mint soup . . . very similar the Chagall version in style, taste, and quality.

we like to go when it's not so busy . . . we avoid date-night . . . but sometimes it's busy all the time . . . if you know what I mean.

 oooh. a little lagniappe, a palate cleanser .  . . lime sherbert drinkypoo . . .

 oh we were so bad this time . . . when they brought the fish tray around we just took the lobster . . .

 Mrs took it with salad, I took it with pasta . . . both are successful alternatives . . .

there are no words to describe this except :

Perfectly Cooked Shellfish

if you know what I mean . . .

Noodle Bar v Vyton - Prague

We had been to the Noodle Bar once before, after Yoga at Prague Yoga, when it was too cold to go too far for dinner . . . somehow it left us cold . . .too expensive, off-in-some-minor-way . . . but we went again, a year later . . . pleasantly surprised by how good it seemed.


Mrs got spring rolls instead of soup . . . full marks . . .

but I had the standard Tom Yum Gai . . .I mean, if one is going to measure a thai restaurant to Siam Orchid, one wants something to go by . . . but we believe the Orchid's Tom Yum Gai has medicinal value, mysterious healing powers . . . so it IS a challenge . . . 

up to the challenge .. . .while I still say the Orchid's is better, due to those mysterious powers . . . this has to be 2nd best . . . I can't believe if it was this good the first time we wouldn't have noticed. Spicy and flavourful. 

Mrs got a pho for her main . . . her only complaint was that it was too full of solid food . . . nuthin' wrong with the flavour or the spice, but she couldn't stop eating even after she was full . . . 8^D . . . 

I had Panaeng Curry Chicken . . . but maybe a small demerit for colour . . . I've had yellow curries redder than this . . . I'm comparing it now not just to the Orchid but also to the Bird in Amsterdam . . . that Panaeng had lychee fruit in it . . . this was spicy enough and good enough, just not quite, if you see how I mean.

All in all, we feel Noodle Bar has to move up in our standards, from the also-rans . . . Maybe the Lemon Leaf has better ambience, tho the cheeky atmosphere in the Noodle Bar is more fun -- a little tatty, tho' . . . and definitely, probably, better on food than the Orange Moon . . . they have wine, but not Bohemia Sekt, which we like with our Thai Food now . . . 

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2011- 05 - 25

The Starter Plate:  Variety of appetizers for two persons - 2 Spring Rolls, Sweet Corn Cakes 2pc, 2pc Satay Kai, 2pcs Tempura prawns . . . we were not partial to the satay, but everything else was outasight!

 Oh! I think these are two variations of Phad Thai, with chicken above, and prawns, below . . . very, very good.

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8/31/2011

Mrs & Bitsy went to Yoga with Monica, then went around the corner to the Noodle Bar. Mrs Finally got the tuna there she's been wanting and looks like Bitsy had some sort of curry . . . Place is really on a roll the last few months.

Cafe Press 1911 - Prague

The Prague Post's Best of Prague 2010 has Cafe Press 1911 as an Editor's pick for best breakfast . . . it's near our house, too . . . walking distance . . . so we hadda go over there and see if it could give Bohemia Bagel and the Globe a challenge . . . think so . . .

first comes the de rigeure fresh squeezed orange juice . .  .

then standard bacon & eggs, made in a unique way . .  . with potatoes, also unusual .  . .

Mrs went more unconventional but playing to the Cafe's strengths, the rare roast beef . . . grilled peppers were nice, too . . . 

Definitely have to add it to the Breakfast Rota . . . too good & too close not to . . .

Now, if they only had the IHT handy, too . . . 

Athens Day 3

So Monday morning was Plan A: Golf at Glyfada . . . . a 34Euro cab trip informed me that Glyfada is NOT open on Monday Morning . . . didn't see that on their web site, so - okey-dokey.

We'd already planned to hit a couple more museums after I played golf, so we just left early. But both museums we tried, The Benake Annex and some other, were closed both Monday & Tuesday . . . didn't see THAT either on www, so, okey-dokey.

As we walked the mean streets of Athens to and from these closed museums I saw these two street arts:

Does my memory fail me or is that Georges Pompedou in the middle ? . . . but hey, it looks like Spiro & Tricky Dick to me,

Hmmmmmm...

So, filled with failure, we stomped back over to our now regular, er, stomping grounds . . . now we found the starbucks, just up the street, and a little sustenance seemed in order . . . for all the coming and goings, it still wasn't noon, yet. 

I would have taken pleasure in telling you that this store, 

next to starbux, on the plaza in front of the Cathedral, 

sells the IHT, we found copies there every day we looked -- it would have given me pleasure, but SBUX has moved down the street to a corner on Aiello (spelling) with a view of the Parthenon. We were there when it happened . . . on day SBUX is here, the next day it is there . . . so I don't know if the store will still stock the IHT. . . but the little kiosk in front of the new SBUX does, now.

So we walked around the gentrified area by the entrance to the Athenian Agora . . . there's tons of tourist traps, shops, & eateries. . . We don't mind looking for stocking stuffers (always looking ahead!) and immediate gifts for the kids. There was a brass band playing for tips on this square and another plaza by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, later . . . 

It just may be that since the two euphoniums seemed to lead this band that it caught my ear . . . it seemed unusual to me at the time.

We walked around some more then back "towards" the hotel, still hoping for dinner at one of the places in our notes . . . we walked around the block of the hotel, and found another SBUX, 3 blocks from the hotel, but nothing else of interest. We finally went back to the hotel and consulted the desk for assistance . . . the place we'd decided on, from the IHT article didn't open till 7, wanted reservations, and the clerk blanched when we said we might walk over there. It would involve the train for one stop from Osmonia to Metaxourghio. We went up to the room to watch a couple of Mike & Molly episodes till 7 . . . but in the end we decided to stay in the hotel . . . they had a 2 for one happy hour from 7 - 8, then dinner, so okey-dokey. . . 8^) . . . 

I think Mrs was a little leery of spending a whole hour in the bar before dinner, but it was fine. She had white wine and I had Sempe Armagnac -- very nice . . . 8^) . . . before we had finished the first round, the bartender had laid a fire in a more secluded area of the bar -- not that there were many people around, at first we demurred, but then I said, yeh bring our second round over by the fire . . . so we sat on the couch in front of the fire and drank our drinks . . . 

however long it was till 8 pm seemed to fly by there . . . if you know what I mean . . . so we moved over to a table for dinner. 

I had grilled octopus salad with balsamic vinegar, nothing wrong with that, a tiny bit rubbery, maybe just . . . 

Mrs ordered Cauliflower Soup . . . oddly, it came 5 minutes after my salad, and was so hot she couldn't eat it for another 10 . . . it seemed thin to me, too, and milky instead of creamy . . . unsuccessful, I would say . . . 

Mrs had a Shrimp Salad for her main . . . 

I had something . . . starts with PO.... I saw it on the menu somewhere else, too . . . the waiter said it was a typical Easter Holiday Dish, pork with peppers kinda stewy . . . *could* be related to the Spanish dish Posole, but no hominy . . .