The Monastery restaurant

If you're on foot, the Augustine Hotel is a bit tricky to enter. The sidewalks are hard to navigate, and pedestrians might feel a touch of anxiety trying to dash across the cobblestones as trams and cars come out of tunnels and from behind corners. But once you've made it safely to the other side, there's a serene courtyard. To the right, the entrance to the Rocco Forte's Augustine Hotel; straight-ahead, a separate entrance for guests who want to eat at The Monastery, Tom's Bar or the Brewery Bar.

Even though rain threatened on a recent visit, the garden beckoned, boasting fountains, climbing ivy and stone archways. We were already relaxed, but we became overjoyed when we first opened the menu. The dishes were exactly the ones listed on the Augustine's website - minus about 100-150 Kč per dish.

An octopus dish that had been listed at an almost prohibitive 610 Kč online, was suddenly 460 Kč, while appetizers dropped from the 370 Kč mark to 275 Kč.

Several monks still inhabit a separate part of the monastery, attached to the St. Thomas Church next door, part of an order that was established there in the 13th century. Perhaps their vows of poverty have had a positive influence on The Augustine's prices. What is certain is that the patron saint of the Augustine order - Augustine of Hippo - has had a positive influence on the beverages at The Monastery and the hotel's other venues. The patron saint of brewers would certainly be pleased with the Brewery Bar, located in the original St. Thomas Brewery, which serves beers brewed at a micro-brewery located outside of Prague.

Up on the ground level, however, we ordered a sauvignon blanc from Mikulov to accompany our meal, which started with violet artichokes, pan-fried duck liver from Vodňany and a chicory salad with gorgonzola dolce and walnuts. A selection of Czech wines are available at around the 500 Kč mark; order wines from abroad, and the prices start around double that.

A chicory salad doesn't sound particularly thrilling, but when it's adorned by great big oozing clumps of creamy, sharp gorgonzola, it becomes decadent and quite filling. Violet artichokes, a smaller variety from Italy, were pared and tasted like the absolute essence of artichoke, a welcome change from the brined, mushy variety more commonly served. They swam around in flowery bright olive oil with slightly roasted cherry tomatoes and black olives.

Duck livers were piled with pungent little wild mushrooms in a demi-glace atop thick slices of country white bread. It was a full, rich meal in itself.

While our expectations were happily wrong when it came to prices, they took a slightly sadder direction with some of the main courses. The roasted octopus with chorizo and red peppers of our dreams came out as a whole tentacle or two, crispy in places and especially where it curled and tapered at the end. In reality, the octopus had been chopped up into little coins in a pile of bright red garlic, tomato and red pepper sauce. The chorizo, uniform circles, was simply mixed in.

Suckling pig, listed under "from the grill," would have borne some of that instrument's char and crust, we had hoped. Instead while the little chops were quite good, they were smoked and didn't seem to be hot off anything. But that didn't stop us from scooping up the soft, fatty meat with sauerkraut, crispy bacon and parsnip puree.

The steak was our biggest disappointment, but the fault may not entirely be the restaurant's. A rogue dining companion disregarded our instructions to order the sirloin as medium-rare, and only became flustered when his host began hissing "medium RARE" after he ordered his dish cooked "medium." Still, a sirloin cooked to medium shouldn't come out as dry and flavorless as this one did. "But it's still pink," the chastened dining companion offered, safe in the knowledge that this was this writer's last restaurant review dinner.

These not-small stumbles may be the result of low turnover. The restaurant is, as mentioned, tucked away, and the dining room during our visit remained empty. That could explain octopus chopped up while meant to be grilled, suckling pig smoked rather than cooked on demand, and a steak that had dried out.

The sides, at 80 Kč each, were only so-so. Homemade fries didn't seem to be as described; they were cooked perfectly, but suspiciously uniform and potato skin-free. Buttered Swiss chard came out as buttered bok-choy, and seasonal vegetables were boiled and buttered standards like carrots, fennel and more bok-choy.

Our server seemed to genuinely enjoy his job and was curious as to what dishes we liked the best. He was quick, gracious and helped us to move indoors to the dining room when it began to rain.

Valhrona chocolate cake with peppermint sauce came out in a spare and abstract presentation, but the seemingly flourless round cake was unfathomably rich and smooth. Fresh peppermint sauce was injected in a small hole in the cake, leaking bright green and herbal over the chocolate.

The selection of farmhouse cheeses ranged from pungent to creamy and combinations of the two, but beware that it is a large portion and might not be advisable as a third course to yourself.

The garden at The Augustine is perhaps one of the most beautiful and peaceful venues in Prague, and ordering carefully from its now more-affordable menu would be a wonderful evening by anyone's standards. But take care that you don't let your surroundings make you anticipate divine perfection in every dish. They're only human, after all.

Claire Compton can be reached at
ccompton@praguepost.com