Prague - Cafe de Paris

Sometimes I feel like I'll never get caught up blogging about my travels. I love being able to share my photos and experiences, especially as processing the images and writing about what I did allows me live it all over again. Still, I have never been a fast writer, putting words to paper (or web page) will probably always be slow going for me. What I'm trying to say is that the events pictured here happened a while ago. I was in Prague last fall and I'm just now back from 12 days in Paris. I ate and enjoyed steak frites in both cities. First at Cafe de Paris in Prague, then at Le Relais de l'Entrecôte in Paris.

At Cafe de Paris there's only one thing to order, Steak Entrecôte. You can start with some foie gras or onion soup, but the set menu of salad, bread, steak, and fries is more than enough for the average human. Out first is a generous salad, nicely dressed in a mustard-y vinaigrette, a small plate of sliced baguette on the side. Then, in no time at all, two platters arrive. Steak and fries served in abundance. Your waiter will portion both precisely onto your plate.

Periodically he'll swing by to refill your plate with more steak, more fries, and most importantly, more sauce. It's a lot of food. The beef and fries are good, not great-the beef just a touch chewy, the fries a bit too crisp. Their real task is to serve as vehicles for the secret (as my waiter made sure to inform me) sauce. Rich with butter and loaded with shallots and herbs, it could make an old shoe palatable.

It's a comfortable little restaurant. The dining room is intimate yet modern with smartly dressed waiters in waist coats and bow ties. I arrived to an empty restaurant just after opening, around noon, but the small space filled up quickly. By the time I was done every table was full and there was a group waiting. Bring cash! I had read that it was a cash only restaurant during my research, but it completely slipped my mind until I arrived and, thankfully, saw the sign on the door. So I wandered around for a good twenty minutes hunting down an atm to fund my meal.

Stuffed and happy I headed back out into a foggy Prague to check out the view and library at Strahov Monastery. A few photos for now, I'll leave the rest for a future entry.