Rock 'n' roll dining

Since this is a restaurant and food review, not a music story, we need not go into great detail about the nine-minute epic rock song that restaurant and music venue Kuře v Hodinkách (Chicken in the Clock) takes its name from. Suffice it to say that it's long and deadly serious about rocking. So taking on that name means you have a lot to live up to.

Kuře v Hodinkách is the Czech Hard Rock Café, but, rather than ripping off the global chain with a slew of Western rock references, this one keeps it original with well-known Czech rock bands of yesteryear. Upon entering the record-plastered space off of Seifertova street in Prague 3, one of the first things you notice is an elaborately framed record of The Plastic People of the Universe, the standard-bearers of dissident rock under communism. The Hard Rock similarities come into play when you look up at the ceiling, where an enormous red guitar sculpture hangs.

The menu is a broad mix of Czech specialties and international crowd-pleasers like pastas, hamburgers and sandwiches. One item worth mentioning is the regular Sunday schnitzel special, which allows diners to choose from cuts of fish, turkey, chicken, venison and wild boar, topped by five different coatings.

As a starter, marinated salmon was an interesting departure from the usual local salmon dishes, which are typically smoked, overcooked or diced into tartare. This was sashimi in cut but Mediterranean in flavor, with olive oil, lemon juice, fresh dill, diced fresh tomatoes, drops of balsamic vinegar and baguette slices. The slices of salmon were refreshing, though slightly bland from underseasoning and an unremarkable fish.

Warm goat cheese came presented in what has become a pattern in Prague, a centimeter-thick round slice of Bucheron plopped into a pan so it forms a golden crust. It's satisfying but at this point lacks imagination. Also a pattern, unfortunately: toasted slices of white bread as accompaniment. The other details were right - a crisp spring mix, a tomato dice that was strangely decent for this time of year and balsamic vinegar to brighten the whole dish.

Wild boar ragout (goulash) would have been a decent meal without the wild boar, small chunks of meat that weren't stringy or fatty but came from an animal that lived hard and suffered a lengthy overcooking in the afterlife. The gravy was done right, not too greasy, though a little too redolent of boullion cube. Mushrooms were fresh, quartered and sautéed perfectly; the dish was ringed with generous portions of wonderful bacon dumplings studded with leeks; and, in the center, a dollop of sour cream.

Thick, generous slices of flank steak were cooked perfectly to order, medium rare, and came with a healthy amount of freshly grilled zucchini, peppers and onions with fried potato wedges. Peppercorns dotted the thin salty sauce underneath, which was unremarkable bordering on unpleasant. The beef was largely tasteless, a complaint that can border on cliché when it comes to red meat at local midrange restaurants. But, at these prices, no one is going to be serving Argentine or U.S. Prime.

More casual fare fits the setting and seems to be a better bet. The hamburger was decent, a large patty that was a bit dense and dry, a problem easily avoided with less time on the grill. Bacon, white cheese and crunchy pickles sat on the bun, and the side of crinkle-cut french fries was impressive.

A chicken club took liberty with the formula by adding a fried egg, which didn't add all that much in flavor. The chicken was also dense and a little too uniform in size. But altogether the towering sandwich pulled together well, and was accompanied by the same french fries.

Desserts, beyond ice cream scoops, are Czech. An apricot dumpling held a real version of the fruit inside, surrounded by a sweet but tart apricot sauce and cheese curds and sour cream. It was pleasant, though not an answer to a sweet tooth.

Service is quite good, even with a dining room that was busy on both visits. For once, the restaurant is staffed adequately, and the servers are pleasant and unobtrusive.

Downstairs, there's a lot more seating as well as a concert venue that hosts veteran Czech rockers. In the restaurant's online gallery, Vladimír Mišík, the lead singer of Flamengo, the band that released "Kuře v Hodinkách" in 1972, is pictured in a recent set. Michal Prokop, the rock-star-turned-politician, is also featured.

Characterizing Kuře v Hodinkách as the Czech Hard Rock Café isn't meant as a slight. As a café and restaurant devoted to highlighting and preserving the legacy of Czech rock 'n' roll, it's actually pretty cool.

Claire Compton can be reached at
ccompton@praguepost.com