Critic's Review: Little Prague
For some time now, Moran has been telling me of this restaurant I simply must visit, named "little Prague". It was her birthday last week, so we (read: she) decided to go there with two of her best friends for lunch and camaraderie.
That said, the idea was raised during lunch that I write a critics review about the place (I bugged the waitress with questions and requests, so Raz said "she'll end up thinking you are a food critique", to which I replied, "with this jacket on? I don't think so")
So to put a long story short, here is the
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I'd like to start out with a word about QoS (Quality of Service).
It's customary in Israel to give a 12.5% tip (or 15% in some cases) even if the service was absolutely terrible. This is something I disagree with and strongly and vehemently oppose; And I'm delighted to say that in this case I didn't need to do so. Our waitress arrived within 10 seconds of our arrival and asked us if she can help, and it scarcely took her more to arrive every time we called for her (which is, believe me, a radical improvement relative to other places in Tel Aviv). This fact was reinforced when said waiter valiantly withstood the barrage of questions I rained on her - what kind of meat did they use for the Goulash, etc.
But enough with that, and lets move on to the review.
Little Prague is a spacious restaurant located on Allenby St near King George. It's cozy and well lit (but not too well lit), and is built with a large anterior (and naturally, also interior) space carrying a large street-facing window, and a long bar counter which leads into the inner part.
The chairs were comfortable and the wall-lined sofas were upholstered in what felt like genuine leather, keeping true (?) to the Czech tradition.
Two differing menus awaited us at the table, one featuring Table d'hôte and the other a full menu, including drinks and the 18 (I think) different types of beer served there - if I recall correctly about 14 of these were on tap - and nearly none of these were otherwise broadly available in Israel, even in a city like Tel Aviv; I ordered Edelweiss (a pale Weißbier) which as far as I know isn't really that easy to come by, and had a great sweet taste with a light wheat aftertaste.
For the first course my three companions ordered a Herring, a Herring and another Herring, who arrived with some lightly toasted french bread, sliced onions, olives and pickles; Salted well, the herrings had a prominent taste which (quite remarkably) didn't linger.
I ordered the crispy chicken wings, which arrived quick and hot on a wooden plate along with a green salad and two terrific sauces; One a sweet gypsy sauce and the other a white, mayonnaise-based hot sauce with horseradish. Both were exquisite and left me wishing for the recipe.
As a proud semi-Hungarian, I immediately inquired about the Lángos (A type of Hungarian bread, cooked and served with garlic), and was disappointed to discover they baked it flat (in contrast to the huge mound of Lángos I remember from my sojourns in Hungary).
On a similarly sad note, I must report that the reason for our non-innovative selection was the less than exciting variety for a first dish; When the choice was Czech cheese with ham, or Brambora'k - salty pancakes with Emmental cheese, both intriguing but less than inviting, and the fact that today's soup was beef - and considering the amount of cholesterol we expected in the main dish - we all chose leaner firsts; Looking at the full menu, however, offered other choices that were out of wallet's range, such as Liver pate, beef, turkey or ham sausages, and the ever curious Smazeny Hermelin - a slice of Camembert cheese breaded and deep-fried, served with blueberry conserve.
For the main dish (which, I might add, arrived right on-time) we ordered the Mad'arsky Goulash, made of succulent rib and well seasoned; the chernohorsky stake, a chicken escalope rolled and fried in potato dough and topped with grated cheese, and a dish named Old Prague - a marinaded chicken escalope in home-made sauce topped with peaches and sliced smoked cheese.
First - the Goulash, which I was especially impressed with. It arrived decoratively arranged on a plate with a choice of side dish (rice, potato chips or baked potatoes). In color and texture it reminded me of my grandmother's Goulash, and the smell was absolutely fabulous. The beef was tender and juicy, well seasoned and tremendously filling; to an extent that we had near-half of the plate packed to take away, and I can testify that it was (almost) just as good a day later.
The Chernohorsky stake, while brandishing a name neither of us managed to pronounce correctly (the waiter did us a favor of introducing us to the nick name: "Cherno", which was gladly accepted), was (according to Idan) very good.
And last but certainly not least, the Old Prague plate was pleasant to the eye as well as the stomach; While it wasn't an ostentatious dish such as the Veprove Koleno (Marinated and slow-roasted pork knuckle, served with stewed red cabbage, horseradish and Dijon mustard) or the Sekan'a (Slow roasted seasoned minced pork meat, stuffed with egg and topped with home-made Old Prague sauce and with baked potatoes), it definitely made me quite content and full. The marinade was delicate and pleasant, the salad fresh and crisp (and went especially well with the horseradish sauce that was left over from the chicken wings), and the plate size was sufficient even for a picky-yet-hungry eater such as myself.
We did consider eating dessert, especially when I glanced at the menu and discovered the Palacinky (which are a Czech variant of the Hungarian Palacsinta - a sort of thin pancake roll filled with sweet creme), but the meal and hearty discussion that accompanied it left us with little spare time, so we decided to leave the dessert for another time.
Damages all in all was a little over 200 NIS all around, which is very nice for poor students such as ourselves; We left a generous tip for the nice waitress, of course.
Rating on the D scale: 8.5
Lack of non-pork options and lack of variety in first dishes lower the rating somewhat, but overall the place is a success and warmly recommended - especially for the beer (or pork ;)) enthusiast!
Little Prague - Allenby 56, Tel Aviv; HaMenofim 8, Herzelia Pituach; Ben Gurion 83, Bat Yam
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for your pleasure.
That said, the idea was raised during lunch that I write a critics review about the place (I bugged the waitress with questions and requests, so Raz said "she'll end up thinking you are a food critique", to which I replied, "with this jacket on? I don't think so")
So to put a long story short, here is the
-----------
I'd like to start out with a word about QoS (Quality of Service).
It's customary in Israel to give a 12.5% tip (or 15% in some cases) even if the service was absolutely terrible. This is something I disagree with and strongly and vehemently oppose; And I'm delighted to say that in this case I didn't need to do so. Our waitress arrived within 10 seconds of our arrival and asked us if she can help, and it scarcely took her more to arrive every time we called for her (which is, believe me, a radical improvement relative to other places in Tel Aviv). This fact was reinforced when said waiter valiantly withstood the barrage of questions I rained on her - what kind of meat did they use for the Goulash, etc.
But enough with that, and lets move on to the review.
Little Prague is a spacious restaurant located on Allenby St near King George. It's cozy and well lit (but not too well lit), and is built with a large anterior (and naturally, also interior) space carrying a large street-facing window, and a long bar counter which leads into the inner part.
The chairs were comfortable and the wall-lined sofas were upholstered in what felt like genuine leather, keeping true (?) to the Czech tradition.
Two differing menus awaited us at the table, one featuring Table d'hôte and the other a full menu, including drinks and the 18 (I think) different types of beer served there - if I recall correctly about 14 of these were on tap - and nearly none of these were otherwise broadly available in Israel, even in a city like Tel Aviv; I ordered Edelweiss (a pale Weißbier) which as far as I know isn't really that easy to come by, and had a great sweet taste with a light wheat aftertaste.
For the first course my three companions ordered a Herring, a Herring and another Herring, who arrived with some lightly toasted french bread, sliced onions, olives and pickles; Salted well, the herrings had a prominent taste which (quite remarkably) didn't linger.
I ordered the crispy chicken wings, which arrived quick and hot on a wooden plate along with a green salad and two terrific sauces; One a sweet gypsy sauce and the other a white, mayonnaise-based hot sauce with horseradish. Both were exquisite and left me wishing for the recipe.
As a proud semi-Hungarian, I immediately inquired about the Lángos (A type of Hungarian bread, cooked and served with garlic), and was disappointed to discover they baked it flat (in contrast to the huge mound of Lángos I remember from my sojourns in Hungary).
On a similarly sad note, I must report that the reason for our non-innovative selection was the less than exciting variety for a first dish; When the choice was Czech cheese with ham, or Brambora'k - salty pancakes with Emmental cheese, both intriguing but less than inviting, and the fact that today's soup was beef - and considering the amount of cholesterol we expected in the main dish - we all chose leaner firsts; Looking at the full menu, however, offered other choices that were out of wallet's range, such as Liver pate, beef, turkey or ham sausages, and the ever curious Smazeny Hermelin - a slice of Camembert cheese breaded and deep-fried, served with blueberry conserve.
For the main dish (which, I might add, arrived right on-time) we ordered the Mad'arsky Goulash, made of succulent rib and well seasoned; the chernohorsky stake, a chicken escalope rolled and fried in potato dough and topped with grated cheese, and a dish named Old Prague - a marinaded chicken escalope in home-made sauce topped with peaches and sliced smoked cheese.
First - the Goulash, which I was especially impressed with. It arrived decoratively arranged on a plate with a choice of side dish (rice, potato chips or baked potatoes). In color and texture it reminded me of my grandmother's Goulash, and the smell was absolutely fabulous. The beef was tender and juicy, well seasoned and tremendously filling; to an extent that we had near-half of the plate packed to take away, and I can testify that it was (almost) just as good a day later.
The Chernohorsky stake, while brandishing a name neither of us managed to pronounce correctly (the waiter did us a favor of introducing us to the nick name: "Cherno", which was gladly accepted), was (according to Idan) very good.
And last but certainly not least, the Old Prague plate was pleasant to the eye as well as the stomach; While it wasn't an ostentatious dish such as the Veprove Koleno (Marinated and slow-roasted pork knuckle, served with stewed red cabbage, horseradish and Dijon mustard) or the Sekan'a (Slow roasted seasoned minced pork meat, stuffed with egg and topped with home-made Old Prague sauce and with baked potatoes), it definitely made me quite content and full. The marinade was delicate and pleasant, the salad fresh and crisp (and went especially well with the horseradish sauce that was left over from the chicken wings), and the plate size was sufficient even for a picky-yet-hungry eater such as myself.
We did consider eating dessert, especially when I glanced at the menu and discovered the Palacinky (which are a Czech variant of the Hungarian Palacsinta - a sort of thin pancake roll filled with sweet creme), but the meal and hearty discussion that accompanied it left us with little spare time, so we decided to leave the dessert for another time.
Damages all in all was a little over 200 NIS all around, which is very nice for poor students such as ourselves; We left a generous tip for the nice waitress, of course.
Rating on the D scale: 8.5
Lack of non-pork options and lack of variety in first dishes lower the rating somewhat, but overall the place is a success and warmly recommended - especially for the beer (or pork ;)) enthusiast!
Little Prague - Allenby 56, Tel Aviv; HaMenofim 8, Herzelia Pituach; Ben Gurion 83, Bat Yam
-----------------------------
for your pleasure.