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Southern comfort

Louka Lu brings Balkan home cooking to Malá Strana
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By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
August 22nd, 2007 issue

Louka Lu

Újezd 33
Prague 1–Malá Strana
Tel. 257 212 388
Open daily 11 a.m.–midnight


Food **
Service **
Atmosphere ***
Overall **

VLADIMÍR WEISS/THE PRAGUE POST
The restaurant's quirky decor is a perfect complement to its home-style cooking.
VLADIMÍR WEISS/THE PRAGUE POST
Outside, a flowery respite from the tourist crowds.
FROM THE MENU

Peppers stuffed with cheese 120 Kč
Burata salad 180 Kč
Orange-fig salad 100 Kč
Fish soup 90 Kč
Čevapčiči 150 Kč
Lamb sausage 150 Kč
Pljeskavica filled with kajmak 185 Kč
Baked salmon 220 Kč
Sea bass 360 Kč
Lamb ribs 300 Kš
Veal 270 Kč

Louka Lu is — how should I say this? — an unconventional place.
Not just because there are sloppy tables nailed to the ceiling. And not because management sometimes seems more concerned with the health of potted plants stacked on the sidewalk than anything else. Both are quirky endearments.
Wait staff at times bungle orders, trotting out skewered shrimp instead of salmon tartare, for instance (though that’s hardly strange for restaurants in this city).
But sit down and select a couple of dishes and you’ll understand what I mean. Stuffed peppers earn a nutty flavor from the grill which eventually gives way to feeble flickers of vegetal fire, until surrounded by the unique, milky tartness of kajmak. A salad built around burata cheese culls natural peppery tastes from fresh rucola, countered by the rich, salty character of pesto, heavy on the anchovies. The centerpiece features a nicely developed rind and oozing, creamy center. Considering the price, it’s a beautiful rendition of this mozzarella relative.
Bits of orange, a few ripe, earthy-sweet figs and a range of greens make up another salad. Surly leaves expand on hints of bitter acidity within the citrus, creating a prickly sweet sensation before fading into an afterthought almost like spearmint. Below this intriguing tangle rests the inscrutable alluvial sweetness of figs, along with a scattering of dates so rich and musty that they resemble port wine of ancient vintage.
Now, if all of this seems like relatively easy stuff — well, that’s the point. The kitchen staff at Louka Lu demonstrate remarkable faith in commonplace items.
Oh, they are capable of stumbling. Humble fish soup contains a variety of shellfish, including razor clams, soaked in a strikingly fishy broth, so everything — from mussels to langoustines — sinks to the same depth. Veal “on sac” is pleasantly demure in flavor, but can also be overcooked and dry. Stale greens turn the aforementioned orange-fig salad into a plodding course.
For the most part, however, simple Balkan favorites are prepared with the skill of a proud home cook.
Pljeskavica supports the musty flavor of lamb with rich caramelized notes and bitter reminders of onion. The meat is molded around a filling of tart, milky kajmak — like a cheeseburger, only more intense. Pale lamb sausage starts off as expected. But an intriguing declension of earthy seasoning follows, wrapped by a comforting coat of oil. Minced meat čevapčiči is grilled to a charcoal crust without denting its deep pink interior. Although the waitress left me only a dull butter knife to deal with lamb ribs, no matter. They are marginally tender with a grassy taste — straightforward, enhanced only by a quick roll in herbs.
Masculine helpings of densely flavored beef and lamb are enough to induce a meat coma. But the kitchen offers more elaborate presentations, including a range of native seafood dishes.
These include firm slices of roasted salmon, mild in temperament, finished with a salty herbal sheen. Companion to this is an infused olive oil, equally gentle, making the sometimes haughty fish into an easy, everyman plate. Whole sea bass turns out flaky and clean, touched only by a soothing waft of thyme.
Louka Lu thrives on home-style comfort. Even vegetables fired on the grill show off blackened, serrated scars, familiar from so many backyard barbecues. For dessert, apples stuffed with nuts or strawberries doused in balsamic suffice. On one occasion, robust, green-lipped mussels were brought out as an amuse bouche. Another time, instead of returning with the dessert menu, our waiter placed complimentary watermelon salad on the table. Oftentimes meals begin with a basket of homemade bread and bowls of soft brynza.
It’s a hospitable place.
Maybe that’s what makes this restaurant stand out. There are quirks, but no posturing. Simple meat and fish recipes are prepared to an unassuming standard. Pleasant service falters on occasion, but never sours. That such a joint exists on an avenue of transients not far from Malá Strana’s strip of overpriced, underwhelming “typical Czech meal” stops — well, that’s the most unconventional thing of all.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


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