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July 5th, 2008
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Chain of confusion

Far Eastern fare loses something in translation
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By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
March 26th, 2008 issue

Sphinx

Na Příkopě 24
Prague 1-New Town
Tel. 222 222 703
Open daily 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Food 0
Service **
Atmosphere **
Overall *

A touch of Egypt ... no, make that Poland ... um, really just a casual sit-down of diverse origin in New Town.
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FROM THE MENU



Cabbage soup 40 Kč
Onion rings 67 Kč
Fried camembert 98 Kč
Rolled chicken fillet 197 Kč
Spicy kebabs 167 Kč
Shoarma 117 Kč
Black steak 277 Kč

A guy by the name of Tom Maltom, labeled “mysterious traveler” by no less an expert than his restaurant’s menu writer, allegedly wandered the globe, picking up a few recipes along the way. Eventually, he decided to create a casual dining chain in Poland named Sphinx that serves Oriental “shoarma” dishes.
It all adds up, right? World traveler Tom selects Poland as a base for his “Asian” food concept, which he then names after an Egyptian icon.
Makes about as much sense as Olive Garden, an American chain restaurant, touting its Tuscan cooking skills, or Applebee’s adding a selection of global fusion skillet dishes.
Entrepreneurs long ago realized that exploiting the yawning gap in the market between cheap, sloppy pub fare and the well-honed audacity of chef-driven menus was the next best thing to franchising fast-food brands. Not everyone can afford (or even fully understand) froufrou cuisine, after all, but most diners seek at least a gloss of sophistication.
As a result, we are now in an era of mandarin chicken being served as a substitute for exotic Chinese cuisine, and a little barbecue sauce transforming any dish into rustic Southwestern fare.
Success, in this segment, depends upon how well chains manage to blur the line between the safe (mandarin chicken in a skillet served by beaming wait staff) and the daring (100-year eggs), appeasing the desires of customers who back away in horror from, say, sea urchin roe, but want a taste of Japan — as long as that taste remains within certain bounds.
So Sphinx drenches a piece of red meat with dried spices and labels it “black steak.” The vaguely intriguing title gives way to a much less interesting reality: a slab of tough, chewy beef, singularly lacking in character.
“Rolled fillet” is a more colorful way of saying bland commercial chicken breast stuffed with tinned mushrooms and deep-fried. The spicy kebab delivers on its most obvious promise, as parched meat of uncertain origin, gritty in texture like a pile of weathered chat, smolders under an excess of paprika.
A dollop of blueberry jam makes for the “wow” factor (and the dominant flavor) on an otherwise mundane plate of camembert fried in a perfectly even, perfectly dull crust. Churrasco steak turns out to be pork laced with spices. Other nods to Maltom’s travels include chicken skewers (called Balkan shashlik), American ribs and something called “Oriental delicacy” (a plate of chicken strips), all served with fries.
The famous shoarma features strips of pork, a tad overcooked, drenched in five-spice powder — presumably. Whatever it was, the seasoning carried an encompassing earthy-sweet-pungent flavor. When slathered in shredded cheese (as those in the Orient are wont to do, apparently), the dish takes on a mellow, smoky note.
If Prague were, say, Columbus, Nebraska, Sphinx would be the place to go for a Saturday evening meal.
Yet, in a sense, Sphinx owns the heartland of Europe. The mysterious traveler’s organization reportedly operates 107 establishments in Poland alone, as well as new branches in Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic. If the new restaurant in Prague is any indication, they offer the unmistakably cheery, yet somehow sterile feel of a chain — right down to the place mats-cum-advertising placards.
At least the shabby remnants of the room’s former tenant have been cleared away.
Until recently, the short-lived 120 Days — a concept more than a restaurant — occupied this space. Originally planned as a kind of ongoing project, refreshed every four months with a facelift, the place was instead allowed to stagnate.
Sphinx brought in marble-look window ledges to replace the ratty moss welcoming guests to 120 Days in its latter, languid stages. Colorful lighting and an indoor forest now festoon the interior, offering a dramatic change from the old, smoke-stained fabric.
In short, Sphinx has come in with a successful concept to replace one that fell flat, splashing a new coast of paint over tired walls and trading one mediocre menu for another.
It will, in all likelihood, add up to another success.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


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