Review: Chopine Restaurant

Is there a better summer-time cuisine than Mediterranean? The food is sun-drenched, sun-dried and salty like the sea. The same herbs that perfume the air in the region and grow among the rocks - thyme, oregano, rosemary and mint - season Mediterranean dishes.

The season and the food are so complementary, in fact, that the same dish of grilled calamari tastes better on the patio than it did previously indoors at Chopine, a small corner restaurant across from Riegrovy sady.

On the terrace, fresh squid sparkled with olive oil in the bright sun, allowing a diner to indulge a fantasy of eating in, say, Croatia, rather than Vinohrady. The squid were tender and dressed well, the size of a couple of bites and separated from their tiny tentacles. Toast points were handy to soak up the dressing, but the squid themselves were so wonderful they were better on their own. The salad on the side was more than decoration with bright vinaigrette that would make anyone eat their vegetables.

Chopine's interior isn't without its charm, either. Wrought iron, weathered wood and candles give the place the atmosphere of a small country restaurant, especially with the friendly, easy service. On a recent night, there seemed to be one drawback: a lack of ventilation. The problem wasn't from cigarette smoke - the restaurant is nonsmoking - but the strong smell of cooking fish, especially noticeable to someone ducking inside from the patio to use the restroom.

With the kitchen so close to the small dining room, the overpowering scent would be hard to avoid without a powerful ventilation system. For now, one can sidestep the whole problem by dining outside, which is what you'll want to do this time of year, anyway. Instead of car noise and air pollution, Chopine's location, a quiet side street, lets you gaze across to the leafy green expanse of the park.

The Prkenko Chopine platter is a steal at only 105 Kč, and comes laden with a nice array of cured meats: two types of salami, one spicy; dark cured pork belly slices; and a fourth that resembled Spanish jamon Iberico. The cheeses that came with it were unremarkable - Balkan cheese and blocks of what tasted like eidam - and unfortunately the olives were the pitted, processed and slightly bland variety that go better on top of pizzas or in a cocktail.

The cheese on a goat cheese bruschetta was of higher caliber, however. What was probably a boucheron had been baked on top of white baguette toasts with fresh green herbs, garlic and olive oil. A balsamic reduction added a nice balance of tartness, and the same fresh salad from the calamari came on the side.

If you order the beefsteak, you have several options. How would you like it cooked? The sauce? Mushroom, cheese or pepper. And finally, would you like that wrapped in bacon? Within those options, a steak cooked medium rare, wrapped in bacon with a mushroom sauce, is fantastic. One note, however, the beef itself was of such a color that it seemed closer to veal. In any case, it was tender, flavorful and of generous proportions.

On a recent visit, a whole grilled sea bass was on special, with a side of grilled vegetables, for only 259 Kč, a deal considering how fresh and perfectly cooked it was. The skin was crispy and salty and the flesh slid off the bone moist and sweet. The presentation for both the steak and fish were thoughtful. The steak comes with a sharp steak knife and the sea bass with a fish knife that helps you pull the flesh back from the bones. A lemon half is wrapped in foil with slits to prevent seeds from being squeezed into the food.

Desserts were simple and familiar. A tall parfait glass with sweetened mascarpone and saucy, tart berries would have been better with the biscuit it was supposed to include, but tried-and-true berries and cream is good on its own.

For those of us who won't be sunning and stuffing themselves on the Mediterranean this summer, Chopine's fresh, sunny food and terrace next to a beautiful Prague park is a nice consolation.

Claire Compton can be reached at
ccompton@praguepost.com