Mozaika Mediterranean Menu, Prague

we haven't visited Mozaika as much lately as we would like, vacations & obligations & what-not . . .

so we were glad to get back on the spur-of-the-moment . . .

I was not so glad that the mediterranean menu militated against me having sous vide . . .

but one must go with the flow . . .

the service as always was friendly and helpful, a pleasure . . .

we got two starters, two mains, and a dessert, to share, all . . .

it was odd that the soup was cold and the salad was warm . . . 8^D . . .

I tho't the gazpacho, fuzzy tho' the picture is, was very good, tho' it was finely pureed, with no cruditee' . . .

the salad was a meal in-and-of-itself, with sundried tomatoes, parmesan, olives . . . wonderful . . .

the kebab was very good, too, as-if sliced off the giant spindles; the tabouli was great, the tsatsiki, not so much . . . like a czech version we've seen other places, rather than a truly greek inspired version, like a cucumber salad, rather . . .

the grilled calamari on corn puree was a revelation . . . sweet corn and calamari complement in a way I hadn't conceived, and mitigated with the bitter spinach it was just wonderful.

we had a really excellent Mosel valley Trocken Reisling from Loosing . . . in the glass it warmed up, releasing a gorgeous fruity, floral bouquet as it breathed . . .  

Mamma Mia, Korunni Dvur, Prague

too cold to dine out on the very nice terrace . . .

so we sat by the window on comfortable sofa chairs . . .

the minestrone was nuthin' special . . .

the chicken saltimbocca was an interesting idea, but execution was not so impressive . . . it may just be an impossibility that veal & prosciutto merge in a wonderful way that chicken & prosciutto does not and cannot . . .

Mrs salmon on spinach was just fine . . . cooked perfectly . . .

Versailles

what can one say about versailles . . .

our disappointment was acute, however, the grueling wait in the sun, the way the rooms are mostly re-done modernly, with video presentations for slack-jawed seppos  . . . it was uninspiring to wend our way thru the throngs of tour groups elbowing their way thru the crowds . . . we could hardly see the ceilings and walls that had not been modernized. We've been thru chateaus and castles all over europe that were more interesting . . .

 

I did like the busts of voltaire, racine, descartes, et al . . .

Le Cape Rouge, Bougival, France

300 yds down along the river from the HI, next door to the Michelin Rated Camellia, is Le Cape Rouge . . . we walked down, trying to time our arrival to the earliest they would serve .  . . we got there early, anyway, but they cheerfully bore the burden . . . we were the first, but other people started arriving soon after . . . so we were first in the queue for everything which was fine for us . . .

an outstanding amuse bouche, some sort of foie gras creme. . .  it went very well with our champagne apertif . . .

later with dinner, mrs had the droll Elixir de Joy Molleux, while i "settled" for the Serius Bordeax, a serious wine, as it turns out . . . 8^D . . .

my starter was guacamole with citrus fruits -- French Guacamole! -- totally different, no garlic, no salt, some creamy filler . . . Excellent! with a capital E . . .

Mrs had a melon soup that was fine, but did not meet her now very high expectations . . .

Mrs' main was Saumon d'Ecosse . . . which did meet her expectations . .  . she did enjoy this melon foam it was served with.

I had the Selle d'agnew (saddle of lamb) . . . a great presentation, perfect execution.

Mrs' dessert is one of the most amusing presentations we have seen, the Sable' breton with framboises.

My rather mundane chocolate fondant was equally good, tho' . . . what more can you ask for?

Holiday Inn Bougival / Versailles

there are attractions of France which can only be found in Paris, and so one grits one's teeth and bears the slings and arrows of the French Sophisticate, Versailles would be one of them, without attempting to list the whole pantheon . . . a very popular place for business meetings, apparently, which may make the tourist trade such as ours less important, but it doesn't make us feel any better about it, that we may have been out-of-place . . .

our room was not quite ready when we arrived . . . it was before check-in time . . . not an issue . . . we will wait in the restaurant and have lunch . . . we're good!

the sandwiches were, uh, uninspired, but entirely satisfactory . . .

my vegetable cream soup was good, of largely celery and something sweeter, like corn? . . . with the crust-with-cheese . . . I can't deny I enjoyed it . . .

our wine was a pouilly fume . . . the first two glasses each we had were fine, very good, but somehow when we ordered a 3rd, when Our Room Was Still Not Ready, we felt they swapped out on us and gave us some lesser varietal . . . that is, in our paranoia americain in the face of le sophistication francaise, they may take advantage of us . . . they feel we don't know in the first place and can't tell . . .

finally, our room was ready -- we left a half glass of wine and went to move in . . . it was sweltering, the ac, the tv, and the phone did not work in the new wing they were trying to put us in . . . I mean, the room was brand new, still smelt of paint, very clean, but not ready . . . after fiddling about for a half hour with everything, I hadda go downstairs, thru miles of hallways, and across the parking lot to the office. after waiting patiently for yet another gaggle of business travellers to clear, I made my case: HEY! I waited 2 hours for this room and it's not ready for occupancy . . . I don't see HOW you tho't it was ready, and so I hadda come down here since the phone didn't work, and I am a little put out . . . how it is with those people who fart higher than their asshole, when you catch them up they go all to pieces. . . oh' sorry, sorry, sorry, some asst mgr sweating profusely as he shuffledpapers on the front desk . . . gave us free drink coupons, and a different room, and came with us to make sure the room was good . . . still as new, fresh paint smelling, but the ac worked, the tv came on, and the phone had a dial tone . . . so ok...

after a fantastic dinner at Le Cape Rouge down the street, we settled in at the bar for a champagne and an armagnac, a 25 year old LaBaude, and what do they tell us, but that the coupon was good only for "bar" drinks, not for name brands . . . OMG . . . what cheap pseudo-sophisticates . . . to charge $190 euros a night for a room that is barely habitable, and then to skimp on the make-you-feel-better-about-getting-the bums-rush . . . since i am not french, words fail me here. . . . during our visite, some menial came around replacing coffee pots, installing coat hangars. . . WTF? . . . the light switches were an array of 8 unmarked switches that only trial-&-error could get to the right combination . . .

I don't want to be anymore unfair . . . the menials ofthe hotel and restaurant seemd friendly enough, but the managment lacks a je nais sans quois

 

 

L' Ilustrere, Troyes, France

I think -- we think -- L'Illustre did just fine for us at lunch, as a substitute for the Michelin place not open . . . my foie gras with warm bread and cherry compote was excellent . . . Mrs' Summer Salade with salmon, haddock, fruits, avocados, etc was tres bien . . . champagne drappier was so good we upgraded to a bottle to go with lunch after our apertif . . . 8^) . . . I enjoyed my mussels meneuir quite a lot, but I love food I can eat with my fingers . . . 8^D . . . troyes has not much of the redeveloped old town, but what they have is very nice . . .

Troyes Walkabout

somehow, someone may say that they take preservation too far, in Troyes . . . 8^D . . .

the requisite cathedral / church . . .

Oreste refuge a'lautel de Pallas . . .

several different views of the statue in Liberation Park . . . um-hum . . .

a rather comical installation at a Michelin restaurant we will not get to enjoy, sigh . . .