starry night

Our dining out expeditions have waned of late in conjunction with my ever growing belly. As my unborn child fights for what limited space there is inside me, my appetite loses its downhill battle as my stomach gradually moves up towards my throat.

Mr GluttonousGoat turned 35 last week and with our days of freedom slowly slipping from our grasps, we decided to celebrate the occasion with a meal out. God only knows when we'd be able to see any semblance of sleep again, let alone indulge in the luxury of a meal out in town. We took the opportunity with both hands and ran for the food hills.

The Alcron, located inside the Radisson Blu Hotel in the New Town recently acquired its first michelin star in 2012 alongside La Degustation Boheme Bourgeoise. We've dined numerous times at the latter and have had great experiences each time, so the fact that both had acquired the same accolades left us to also expect great things from The Alcron.

The Alcron is an intimate 7 table arrangement seating around 24. When we arrived for our 19:30 reservation, the first thing we noticed was the lack of greeting staff at front of house. We were left standing around for several minutes wondering where everyone was before the only 2 serving staff noticed us and motioned us to our seats - not a good start for a michelin starred restaurant!

After the slight hiccup on entry, everything after that was smooth sailing. The service was friendly and attentive without being overbearing as can be of some fine dining establishments.

You can select from 3 courses for 900kc (roughly translates to £30) up to 7 courses for 1700kc (£58) with matching wines at the same price.
You also have the option to select the dessert painting at a surcharge of 150kc per person which we did. The sous chef appeared with a large piece of glass which he "paints" and decorates and creates your final dessert tasting plate.

l-r: assortment of butters - yuzu, chilli, smoked salt & seaweed

amuse bouche: foie gras crème brûlée

ceviche of scallops, cucumber, chilli powder and hazelnuts

imperial oyster salad with beef carpaccio

roasted norwegian langoustine with artichokes, cauliflower foam, 

fish roe

tuna sashimi, pickled cucumber

lobster bisque with popcorn

scallops with caramelised cauliflower puree 

foie gras escalope, smoked eel & pickled beets

beef flank with miso essence, smoked jasmin potato 

mash, parsnip crisps

sous chef creating the dessert plate

art in progress

the finished product: crème brûlée, coffee nougat, 

orange macarons, tequila & lime granita, mixed berries, 

mango & raspberry puree

Roman Paulus, the head chef of Alcron and the Radisson Blu Hotel pops out for a quick chat towards the end of our meals to make sure that everyone had enjoyed their food and to accept any feedback. We thought this was a nice touch seeing nowadays, most head chefs do not have the time nor are they in the restaurant to actually see through this small, but distinctive point.

Would we be returning? Most definitely. Once we can find a babysitter that is.


the alcron
radisson blu hotel
štěpánská 40, praha 1,czech republic
tel: +420 222 820 000
www.alcron.cz

beer o'clock

It's no secret that the Czechs are the highest consumers of beer on this planet (according to data collated in 2010) even knocking out super drinkers such as the Irish and Germans. When you enter any supermarket in the Czech Republic, there are aisles and aisles of alcoholic beverages that will literally make your head spin. The choices for beer are endless. I think if I had to stand there and count the number of beer offerings, I will be there til next week. I kid you not.

I've begun my count down til D-DAY - 26 days if he is on time. If not, then its anyone's guess. One of my greatest concern as a would be mum (and I'm sure a lot of mums out there have shared my sleepless nights) is whether my body will produce enough food for the little nugget. I've been told by my midwife and my landlord (who also happens to be a GP) that many Czech women drink beer to increase their milk supply (tune out now if this grosses you out!) Apparently the polysaccharide in the barley used to produce beer stimulates prolactin which helps mums make more milk!

I've never been a huge fan of beer until I moved to Prague. I guess I've been exposed to the over marketed and over commercialised big name beers (we all know the ones so I won't name names) and never thought much of them. Once you've tasted the beer here, you can't really go back to the watered down crap that you find in most places across the world. I also find that the check out chicks tend to crack a small smile if they see beer in your shopping basket (and we all know how surly they can be!). You aren't really Czech unless you have beer for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

This dark beer came highly recommended by my midwife. I bought a bottle and sampled some last night (some of the more righteous individuals out there are probably tsk'ing my irresponsible actions as they read this). It was only a tiny nip (ok, maybe nips) and it was super tasty (god I missed the taste of alcohol!). I will be stock-piling but making sure I leave a good 2-3 hours in between beer and feeds to make sure Bean doesn't suffer the after effects of my ill actions. 

Mums out there - please rest assured that there is light after a 9 month long tunnel!

ramen manic

I'm sorry I've been AWOL for so long. To be honest, I haven't felt like doing much lately. I'm in the final weeks of my pregnancy and have been feeling awfully tired, hormonal and emotional. My appetite for food hasn't increased all that much either. Nothing has been calling to me, tickling my culinary tastebuds although I am craving fresh noodles - bánh canh, ramen, udon - you name it, I want it. But that's about all I want to eat nowadays and isn't it ironic I can't even get any of that stuff fresh in Prague. Anyways I digress...

I was back in my home town of Sydney over Christmas and New Years and it was a refreshing change  (albeit stinking hot - the heat I definitely do not miss!).
My goal was to pretty much eat at all my usual haunts in addition to trying a few new places. Bourke Street Bakery, Hai Au, Bau Truong - I still adore you all and glad you're still going strong for when we eventually return back home. But as you all know, I am a bit of a maniac for a good bowl of ramen.
I've tried ramen all over the world and nothing beats the ones back in Sydney (except for those ramen stands in Tokyo but seriously, nothing can hold a candle to the food in Japan. Period.)

My all time favourite ramen place has got to be Menya Noodle Bar in Chinatown (the original and not the offshoot they have since opened up on Market Street). Mr GluttonousGoat and I have been coming here since it opened back in 2005 and used to go at least once a week when we lived in Sydney. Days before ramen became all the rage in Sydney and started popping up everywhere like the dreaded weed.

Menya: kogashi-ninniku ramen

I would usually order the ni-tamago ramen without fail, however because the yolk is semi runny and not ideal for pregnant women I opted for the kogashi ninniku ramen (or black garlic ramen in plain English) this time around. 

The stock was as I remembered it and the noodles firm to the bite. I would have liked some ni-tamago because they make really good ones here, but anyways better to err on the side of safety.

Curious about the other ramen offerings that have since opened during our time away from Sydney, I dragged Mr GluttonousGoat to the various ramen joints that have had great write-ups - Ippudo (the ever popular Japanese and New York ramen eatery) located inside the swanky new Westfield's on Pitt Street had a lovely ramen offering and their ever famous steamed pork bun (yum!), Gumshara, at Eating World in Haymarket was pork/gelatin overload. We could barely finish the bowl (shared amongst four people I might add), but that could also be due to the fact that we had just finished a meal up the road at Mamak in addition to a bubble tea (yes, we're gluttons and gluttons stick together!).

Gumshara: black garlic ramen 

Ippudo: akamaru shinaji

Prior to our ramen-athon in Sydney we had spent a couple days in London visiting friends and also indulging in food that we can't find in our adoptive city.

Once again, ramen was the theme and it so happened that two new ramen bars had opened up in the Soho/Piccadilly area. Bone Daddies, a highly anticipated opening and one that scored rave reviews was a total let down. The portions were measly and the stock lacked the usual umami factor that is highly present in Menya's stock. So disappointed I was that I persuaded my companions to head down to Shoryu to compare their version with Bone Daddies. Alas, the line was too long and I had to return myself the following day...

Bone Daddies: tonkotsu ramen

Shoryu: yuzu tonkotsu ramen

The tonkotsu ramen stock at Shoryu had a greater depth than the one at Bone Daddies and the yuzu paste added a nice dimension to an otherwise stock standard pork broth. I also tend to judge a Japanese eatery by its wait staff. Shoryu has only Japanese wait staff whereas the servers at Bone Daddies were wannabe grungy looking student traveller types who were more interested in looking "cool" then understanding the complexity behind a ramen stock. Hmm...

After 5 bowls of ramen in 2 different countries in a matter of weeks, I still gravitate towards my first love - Menya. 
As they say, "there's no love like the first".

[sydney]

menya
shop tg8, 8 quay street, haymarket, nsw, 2000
http://www.menya.com.au/

ippudo sydney
westfield sydney, level 5, 188 pitt street, sydney, nsw, 2000
http://www.ippudo.com.au/

gumshara
shop 211, 25-29 dixon street, haymarket, nsw, 2000
no website


[london]

bone daddies
31 peter street, london, w1f 0ar
http://bonedaddiesramen.com/

shoryu
9 regent street, london, sw1y 4lr
http://www.shoryuramen.com/