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August 28th, 2008
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Food as an afterthought

When Charlie's pays attention, it turns out some tasty fare
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By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
August 6th, 2008 issue

VLADIMÍR WEISS/THE PRAGUE POST
Just off Charles Bridge (hence the name), the enclosed garden at Charlie's may be the restaurant's best feature.
Charlie's


Mostecká 19
Prague 1-Malá Strana
Open daily 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Tel. 257 211 401

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

FROM THE MENU



Mushrooms with Bryndza 95 Kč
Eggplant spread 85 Kč
Tzatziki 65 Kč
Grilled vegetables 95 Kč
Marinated chicken 275 Kč
Entrecote beef 450 Kč
Budvar 50 Kč
It’s all about atmosphere at Charlie’s, the kind with an old-fashioned gloss. The setting is covered-garden comfort, with faux ruins in stone and a few plantings to simulate green surroundings. There’s music, too, with a promise to “feed all your senses” and advertising that depicts performers rather than food.
When the restaurant manages to fit in a little cooking, it sometimes seems like an afterthought.
Marinated chicken features nondescript white meat under a helmet of congealed cheese that insists on sliding to and fro as you cut. In between, shards of very good ham — ruddy and pungent with nutty undertones, like Patanegra — skid with the layer of cheese. This second helping of meat is dry and stringy in texture, a stark contrast to the two pale, tacky masses around it.
Just a plate of the ham would have been a more fulfilling presentation. Throw out all the rest, or use it for staff lunch breaks.
Dressed only in olive oil, Charlie’s entrecote should be a rich, earthy experience. In this case, however, firing up the grill produced not a beautiful, flash-fired cut of caramelized steak, but something pushed past its limits.
It’s a simple equation, really, but one not well-understood in Prague: Overcooking wears steak down, shrivels its flavor and toughens its demeanor. If instead you work the coals into an extreme frenzy, enough to quickly char the outside while leaving the center plush and rare, the rich yet subtle taste of grass-fed beef will rear to its full height.
Charlie’s chef has mastered the art of grilling vegetables, though. Red bell peppers, sliced cucumber and eggplant — each piece takes on a sharper, more rustic veneer, without losing hold of its natural flavors.
Most of the chef’s creative flair, it seems, is reserved for starters and sides.
Order “eggplant spread,” for example, and you would likely expect a plate of babaganouj. But Charlie’s prepares an interesting, pulpy mash colored by fresh paprika chilis — literally churning the eggplant and onion into a spread the color of mesa sand, that dense, muddied red of the Utah deserts. The main ingredient ends up as a base for other elements to romp around.
On this pureed playground, paprika becomes the dominant force, rising on its sweet edges first before revealing a fiery side. Yet none of the other ingredients shrinks completely. It’s a nicely executed spread.
The restaurant lists tzatziki under “side dishes,” but produces a cool and creamy starter laced with fresh cucumber. Without the nagging earthiness of garlic to foil the sweet vegetable and creamy yogurt, it becomes a fresh, rich and somewhat elegant version.
Still, the kitchen finds it difficult to sustain this level of intrigue.
Bread finished over the grill winds up with wonderfully explosive bitter scars — when it’s done right. If the chef turns his back and allows the wedges to blacken evenly, they devolve into charcoal-flavored dough. Mushrooms stuffed with good Slovak Bryndza (sometimes rendered as Brinza), should be compelling, the brine-cured cheese highlighting grounded, musty flavors. The mushroom caps, however, are watery and placid, providing nothing for the Bryndza to expand upon.
They’re not something to avoid, mind you. It’s just that the stuffed mushrooms fail to reach their potential.
Some would characterize this half-hearted effort as the hallmark of a tourist-zone haunt. But many of the city’s best restaurants reside in Prague 1 and 2 — and Charlie’s aspires to something more than gouging. The bill, for example, includes a standard tip of 10 percent, and my waiters did not try to exact more. The musicians the restaurant so proudly advertises drew at least two young American tourists back for a second visit — or at least that was the gist of a conversation overheard one evening. The garden is pleasant, complete with an “outdoor” kitchen. And almost hidden upstairs is a gallery space with wine for sale or tasting.
All things considered, Charlie’s ranks well above most of Prague’s tourist-specific spaces. But there’s plenty of room for improvement.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


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