It might be cucumber season for hard news in Bohemia, but the restaurant stories are coming hard and fast. Word on the street is that one of Vršovice's best restaurants might be up for sale, that the owners from a mass-market clothing company bought the old Bistrot de Marlene near Vytoň, and that Marlene herself has moved out to Prague 6's Hotel Schwaiger.

At least the last of those is true: Le Bistrot de Marlene is now located in the swanky Bubeneč hotel with the great backyard and legendary parties. It's still the same old bistro, however, with most of the same menu items diners will remember from years past.

Particularly good is the tuna carpaccio, served with a translucent tartare of crayfish. It's dressed with a dash of bright, bold lime oil and whole coriander seeds, which add a depth of flavor to an otherwise standard, and somewhat plain, recipe. The tartare is served separately, corralled off in a crunchy, semi-sweet, wontonlike cone, so it's easy to share as a single appetizer for two.

Among main courses, Marlene still serves the classic duck confit, a peasant recipe that has, over time, been elevated to something substantially less rustic. Cooked with a lot of fat over low heat for a long time, it was originally a way to store duck legs for the winter. Now it's a stellar main course, extremely tender, with the fat parts still slightly gooey, accompanied by back-to-the-rustic chipped potatoes.

More upscale is the roast dorada fillet, a top-shelf fish served with vegetables "bohemienne," which appear to be small pieces of zucchini, eggplant and red bell peppers, scented with saffron. It's better than good, slightly less than outstanding.

Desserts at Marlene's have a single price, so your choice is less than likely to be based on economics. A good choice is the strawberry millefeuille with pistachio cream, accompanied by a citruslike raspberry granita. There are only three pieces of crunchy pastry, not the thousand promised by the name, but the fresh sliced strawberries and thick pistachio cream make an excellent combination.

Marlene's wine list contains some stellar numbers, though this is where the wheels start to come off the wagon: The prices are high. Among wines by the carafe, there's a half-liter of Müller-Thurgau from the well-regarded local producer Mádl, priced at 350 Kč ($14.80). Isn't this the same wine that costs 180 Kč at other restaurants — for a full bottle? In fact, I asked one of the city's best sommeliers about the wine, and he estimated the markup at somewhere around six times what the restaurant paid for it, a margin he described as "crazy."

It's not crazy to charge that much, nor is it crazy to pay that much, if the entire experience — the combination of food, service and atmosphere — makes you feel like it was worth it. Unfortunately, I didn't get that feeling at Marlene. Instead, I felt that 2,500 Kč-plus is a lot of money to pay for four dishes and a half-carafe of wine, with tip. Not so long ago I spent about the same amount at Alice Waters' Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California — and that was for six plates and a full bottle of a lovely pinot noir from Oregon. And that was Chez Panisse.

The end result? Yes, the food and service are excellent, but the place seems to be riding on past glory and snobbery — that is, it's French, so it's okay that the prices are sky high. The atmosphere is fine, though you might be listening to Elton John while you eat, which may or may not cause problems. And the paper-covered lamps might be the same ones you bought at Ikea.