Word of mouth

By the time we happened upon Resto Café Patio, we were hungry and a bit angry, what is known to nearly nobody as being "hangry." The first restaurant we tried, in Anděl, had darkened dining rooms, and the management informed us they had only been able to open the bar portion of the new establishment. We trekked back over the bridge, past a new Pilsner Urquell restaurant. Inviting - but Fiona Gaze had just reviewed another Pilsner restaurant, Hybernia. A third possibility, a new Italian restaurant behind the National Theater, is closed Mondays.

Finally, the twinkling lights of Resto Café Patio appeared before us. Enticing menu items on a blackboard outside filled us with hope, and our decision was cemented by the recollection of the restaurant's praises by two local food bloggers. The English-language restaurant review scene has waned in recent years, but anonymous bloggers "Brewsta" and "Knedlikova" have become regular Wednesday morning reads.

In this instance, I was completely following in the footsteps of both writers, who both had favorable things to say about their experiences and meals at Resto. The restaurant itself is not a new one, but it's easy to overlook if you typically avoid dining on heavily trafficked Národní street.

Step inside Resto and you might feel like you've entered the Disney version of a cocktail bar. Moroccan lanterns hang in bunches from the ceiling; the furniture is big, loud and mixed; and most importantly, there's a ship's prow coming off one wall, headed toward the bar. Walk up the back stairs, and you find dining rooms that are quieter, but still offer the same Pier-1 ideal of exotic decoration. The restaurant is a clever conception; below, the ground floor is a home furnishings store that sells variants on the same theme.

Thankfully, service on both visits wasn't quite so over the top. Servers were kind, helpful and quick to clear away dishes.

Since others had gone before me, I had a few dishes in mind I was hoping to try. One was a "pink tuna" salad, which proved to be a great choice. The amount of seared tuna was generous, and it was thankfully raw in the center. The greens were a fresh, quality mix, and sliced avocado was perfect, in a "great for Prague" way.

My companion enjoyed a less than traditional French onion soup. Two tiny croutons floated in his bowl, the melted cheese clinging to those islands rather than creating a bubbling seal. The broth itself was rich but was a bit overdone, and the flavors were overwhelmingly just sweet and salty rather than beefy.

Both of us were in the mood for red meat, or something like it, so we ordered lamb chops cooked rare and a seared duck breast. They were cooked as ordered, always a welcome job well done, but there seemed to be something slightly lacking in both. The texture of the lamb chops was decent, but lacked the buttery tenderness and depth of flavor encountered in the ideal chop. The duck breast, too, could have benefited from a bit more fat, as the layer it had was thinner than most versions.

The pistachio crust on the lamb chops was a nice touch, but unfortunately the demi-glace on the plate threatened to overwhelm both the meat and the perfectly cooked sugar snaps: Too much salt and sugar in a sauce that felt more like a meat syrup.

Next to the lamb, a spring-roll wrapper encased a tube of mashed potatoes, which was fried and sliced diagonally. Inventive, but it didn't add much in terms of flavor.

The duck came with Karlovarský dumplings, which failed to change my impression of these, which is to say I would have been perfectly happy if they'd rolled off the table, over the ledge and landed on someone else's dinner below. While the duck's sauce was just as cloying as the lamb's, a side of balsamic-spiked red cabbage was superb and a perfect complement.

A chocolate fondant and tiramisu were excellent and good, respectively. The cake, larger than most versions, had an oozing center, vanilla ice cream and candied orange that added another layer of taste. The tiramisu was tasty, for sure, but the cream felt a little too light to be mascarpone, and tasted more like whipped cream.

The menu also had a breakfast section, which we sampled several days later. This is where the restaurant's sometimes steep prices really made themselves known. An "American breakfast," which included low-quality ham cold cuts and cheese, one soft-boiled egg, bread, coffee and orange juice, totaled 230 Kč. A stale bagel, egg, ham and cheese sandwich, grapefruit juice and water pushed the total bill to 455 Kč, an exorbitant amount for a mediocre breakfast for two.

Resto Café Patio is decent overall and certainly worth a visit, if only for the interior. But for the price, it's hard to see why you would choose it over restaurants with similar bills and better quality, unless you happen upon the place and it's the best choice you've got.

Claire Compton can be reached at
ccompton@praguepost.com