Seafood dinners at Rybí Trh restaurant, Prague

This post and the two to follow will summarise some of my best dining experiences on my recent family holiday to Prague. Czech cuisine is typically very meaty and heavy (very similar to South German cuisine), so after days of roast duck, pork, sausages, sauerkraut and red cabbage etc., we were craving for something fresh and lighter. We spotted Rybí Trh (literally 'fish market' in Czech) in a little courtyard just behind the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn on the old town square. Upon seeing its endorsements from the New York Times and Michelin as one of the best fish restaurants in town, we decided to give it a try (very importantly for me too, it didn't look too touristy). We ended up having two dinners there during our stay in Prague, and this review summarises the dishes that we tried.

Freshest catch of the day... yum!

The staff speak good English and are very helpful in recommending items (both on and off the menu, depending on the day's catch) as well as describing the dishes. Also, menus are available in several languages, so you know exactly what you'll be getting.

The seafood experience starts from the very beginning, with a good variety of breads accompanied by lobster and smoked fish butters, and a dip of olive oil with chunks of crushed black olives. Both butters were surprisingly light and flavourful, and the olive dip was fresh and pure delight.

Amuse-bouches: halibut and scallop in a cold tomato and peach soup. These were truly promising appetisers, with the fresh seafood well complemented by the sweet-and-sour-soup. The halibut had a firm and succulent texture, while the scallop was incredibly tender, sweet and juicy.

Starter 1: fish consommé with a shrimp roll, vegetables and dill oil. This warm clear soup was indeed very intense and concentrated in flavour, well paired with the shrimp roll (we weren't quite expecting a shrimp-flavoured bread roll but it still tasted good anyway), and enhanced with the refreshing aroma of dill. Light and wholesome.

Starter 2: lobster cream soup with a black tiger shrimp skewer and Hennessy cognac foam. Another intense soup chock-full of lobster flavours, and surprisingly light - we were expecting a typical creamy bisque but this wasn't too different from a consommé apart from the surface foam. The shrimp was fresh & juicy and had a really good firm & springy texture. The cognac foam gave the soup further aromatic depth. Very indulgent and satisfying.

Starter 3: light octopus salad with fennel purée, shallots and garlic. I followed the waitress' recommendation on this dish and it was indeed the best starter in my opinion. The texture of the octopus was excellent, second in my memory bank only to those served at top kaiseki restaurants in Japan - fresh and precisely cooked such that it was completely tender and not in the least rubbery. I was amazed at how effortlessly I managed to chew through each piece. The salad itself also contained cherry tomatoes, black olives, cooked fennel, shallots and garlic - a delightfully juicy and aromatic mix which I could eat all day.

Palate cleanser: lemon sorbet, very smooth and consistent in texture, with just the right balance of acidity and sweetness.

Main course 1: wild Sicilian sea bass with crispy skin and Barbera olive oil, with baked La Ratte potatoes, mushrooms and baby brussel sprouts. As usual, the fish was extremely fresh and moist, and the light accompaniments were a perfect complement to the wholesome nature of this dish. Simple and delightful.

Main course 2: homemade smoked eel (centre) on a warm salad of Czech lentils with fried onion (left), pork flank cooked in a vacuum flask (right), roasted garlic with thyme and horseradish foam. This was a rather heavy course with large portions of each component, and intense aromas from the garlic and smoked eel. The eel was disappointingly dry and tough, but well-matched in flavour with the pork flank, which was thankfully very tender and succulent (having been cooked sous vide). The mash of lentils with onion and garlic was very aromatic but also somewhat dry and sticky (like glutinous rice). A bit of a hit-and-miss in my humble opinion.

Main course 3: roasted South Bohemian pike perch topped with grated apple, with a purée of potato and chervil, and a velouté of smoked onions. The pike perch itself was very nice and fresh but my dining experience was marred by the constant presence of small bones - of course I understand that the fish is bony in nature but it is the duty of the kitchen to ensure that such distractions are removed, especially for the high prices charged. The portion was huge - the description says potato purée but it was actually more like a mountain of mashed potato. The smoked onion velouté was very good on its own but threatened somewhat to overwhelm the light flavour of the fish when taken together. The grated apple was the nicest touch in my opinion - sweet, crunchy and a good complement to the natural sweetness of fresh fish. If any improvements could be made to this dish, the kitchen should consider reducing the amount of potato and velouté so that it is not too heavy on the stomach and the palette. And please, ensure that the numerous small bones are completely removed.

Main course 4: grilled tiger prawns on a bed of spinach. The simplest things in life are sometimes the best - here the prawns were incredibly fresh, sweet and juicy, with an amazingly springy texture. I was in seafood heaven - the picture will speak for itself.

Main course 5: baked Alaskan cod with almond purée and amaretto, homemade ravioli stuffed with morel and ricotta confit. The fish was succulent and flaked effortlessly. Its velvety texture and rich taste were wonderfully complemented by the strong presence of almond in purée and liqueur forms. The ravioli completed this picture of understated luxury with their rich and fragrant stuffing.

Main course 6: grilled monkfish with mushroom risotto and a truffle, topped with a poached quail egg and pecorino cheese shavings. My first thoughts were: where is the truffle? Nowhere was its characteristic aroma or form present in this dish. That aside, this was a really good dish with well-cooked fillets of monkfish that remained juicy and succulent (still not as amazing as at The Waterside Inn but it'd be unfair to make such a comparison), on a aromatic bed of risotto with generous bits of mushroom (but no truffle, I am sure - that is in a different class altogether), and grains that maintained a nice firm bite. The poached quail egg was also very well done, with a runny yolk that blended nicely with the creamy risotto.

Dessert 1: chocolate ball with vanilla ice-cream filling, in a pool of flaming brandy. This was dramatically presented, with the waiter setting a small pot of brandy alight before pouring it into the dish. The chocolate ball melts beneath the heat to reveal the ice cream filling. Nice visual effect, even if it was a touch gimmicky. The dessert itself was solid but pretty conventional - not much to add really.

Dessert 2: classic homemade Czech sweet buns with nougat blancmange and quark cheese. This was a simple but delightfully indulgent dessert, with pieces of warm fluffy buns sitting in a huge pool of warm & runny nougat cream which tasted exactly like Nutella. I'm not sure why the restaurant calls it a blancmange, which is actually a cold vanilla pudding set in a mould, similar to panna cotta; anyway I wasn't going to complain. A generous amount of creamy dessert cheese on the buns tops off this rich dish.

Dessert 3: nougat cake with marinated kumquats and a warm mocha drink. Another great dessert with rich layers of nougat cream and mousse on a bed of light sponge, paired with a warm coffee drink - perfect for the chilly weather outside and perking up after a long day of walking. The dessert did not feel as heavy as it looked - the cake was not cloyingly sweet and the marinated kumquats (arranged nicely like flower petals) with a raspberry provided a good balance with their mild acidity.

On the whole, it had been two satisfying dinners at this restaurant, despite the isolated hits and misses. Admittedly it is not the cheapest place to eat at compared to all the touristy places just a stone's throw away on the main square, but the service is friendly, the ambience is elegant and understated, the seafood is incredibly fresh, and the location is as central as any new visitor to Prague could hope for. Go for a treat - you'll not be disappointed.

Dinner at Bellevue, Prague

Our very first fine-dining experience in Prague was dinner at Bellevue, one of the most highly regarded culinary institutions in town (according to Tripadvisor and other websites on Prague) with a great view of the famous Charles Bridge. The restaurant is housed in an imposing fin-de-siècle building with Art Nouveau features, a very common architectural style found throughout newer parts of this beautiful ancient city. It was more difficult to locate than we thought; the website map puts it right beside the Charles Bridge, along the bank of the main Vltava river (Old Town side), but is in fact quite a distance away.

So we were late for the dinner reservation, and not exactly the most well-dressed, but still received a warm, professional welcome from the staff. We were shown to our table by a very friendly and courteous waiter who spoke excellent English and would be taking care of us for most of the evening. It was a good start, I must say.

Bellevue has a rather unique menu: it allows diners to make their own multicourse combination by selecting a total of 2 to 5 dishes from any of the sections (so if you were taking 5 courses you could have 2 starters, 2 mains and 1 desserts, or 1 starter, 2 mains and 2 desserts, or indeed any other imaginable permutation). Not everyone at the table has to take the same number of courses, so if you were a small eater you could just go for 3 courses, while your partner could be having 5, for example. This flexibility is great for diners but surely a challenge for the kitchen in terms of timing between the courses, and I was keen to see what would be done throughout the course of the evening. For the record, two of us had four courses each, while my mother went for three, and we had bits of one another's dishes.

Selection of breads: nothing to shout about really. Most of them were rather dry and tough, with the exception of the dark sunflower seed bread which was quite moist and had a nice crunchy texture.

An equally lacklustre amuse-bouche followed: plain salad with balsamic vinegar dressing. I wondered if I couldn't do better myself. I really hoped that the actual dinner would be more promising than this.

Starter 1: grilled scallops, traditional barley kuba with porcini (a Czech barley and mushroom casserole traditionally served on Christmas Eve), mild sauce from Czech sweet garlic.

This was pretty good; the scallops were well-cooked, with adequate moisture and a nice spring to the texture. The earthy flavour of the porcini mushrooms, combined with the aroma and subtle sweetness of the sauce, was in itself truly intoxicating, but threatened ever so slightly to overwhelm the delicate flavours of the scallops.

Starter 2: seared foie gras, homemade brioche (not pictured), date-vanilla marmelade and Xerez-citrus sauce.

This was an excellent dish! The generous portion of rich and succulent foie gras, with a delightfully charred outer layer, was aptly matched with accompaniments that brought out the best in its taste: a sweet and velvety date marmelade (with real pieces of dates for garnishing), infused with vanilla for an even more luxurious mouthfeel, and a dessert wine sauce that had the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity. The flavours of this dish were as bold as its striking presentation.

Starter 3: Bellevue sea dégustation of (from left to right) fried sardines with white onion, sweet and sour dressing; grilled tiger prawns, salad of yoghurt and cucumber with mint; yellowfin tuna tartare.

This dish is supposedly a signature of the restaurant. It was rather well presented, but failed to match up taste-wise. Let me start with the positives: I thought the mound of sardines was very good indeed, with its strong natural flavours complemented by powerfully aromatic onions in the mix, and a dressing that balanced the all-round intense flavours with a cleaner taste. The tuna tartare was very fresh, but I thought its sweet fruity accompaniments (orange slices and apricot purée) were ill-judged and had no real complementary function in taste. The prawn centrepiece was slightly overcooked, and again the combination with yoghurt, cucumber and mint (somewhat peppery and acidic when taken together) was not convincing.

Main 1: grilled monkfish in a Dijon mustard crust, tri-coloured lentils, curry ragout scented with martini. The purple garnishing strips are vegetable crisps, although I've forgotten exactly what they are made of.

This was quite disappointing, to be perfectly honest - the monkfish was slightly overcooked and rubbery, and the rather indiscriminate use of spicy accompaniments completely overwhelmed its naturally delicate flavour.

Main 2: black pepper roasted seabass, fregola sarda (traditional toasted semolina pasta balls from Sardinia, Italy) and lime-honey emulsion.

This was the major disappointment of the evening - the fish was again overcooked (even worse than the previous monkfish) and ended up being quite dry and unpalatable. The little pasta balls were tasteless and their rubbery texture merely brought more unwanted attention to the dryness of the fish, while the emulsion was overly acidic (definitely more lime than honey - and these two ingredients do not go well with fish in any case). I finished it in order not to waste food, but would definitely not recommend it!

Main 3: crispy roasted duck leg, honey-lavender sauce, homemade sunflower seed dumplings, red and white cabbage.

The only traditional Czech item on the list of mains, this was pretty decent and authentic; whether it belongs to a fine-dining menu is arguable. Its seemingly unsophisticated appearance concealed some subtle tweaks in the use of ingredients (honey and lavender in the sauce, and sunflower seeds in the dumplings, for example) that slightly elevated this humble dish. The execution was very good indeed - with nice crispy skin, fork-tender meat, fragrant sauce with a good sweet-savoury balance, and dumplings with an appealing bite - but still, I wished that a restaurant of this level would surprise me with even more creativity in creating (or should I say, re-creating) this modest dish. Perhaps, that's just me.

Main 4: herb-crusted rack of lamb, fine pink garlic purée, fried artichoke with mint and lamb jus.

This was a very good dish. The lamb was moist, tender and succulent, and its rich flavour was well matched by the aromatic herb crust and garlic purée. The fried artichoke was wonderfully light, sweet and crunchy, and the mint wrapped within imparted a whiff of freshness amidst all this indulgence on the plate. The side of fava beans with bits of bacon (background) provided both wholesome balance and a savoury touch to this dish, alongside the tasty lamb jus.

Main 5: grilled suckling pig chops with honey orange sauce, crispy sauerkraut and red onion.

This was my mother's dish and it caused rather divided opinions within our party; she didn't like it because she found it too tough, but I thought it was bearable (though certainly not the juiciest pork chops around, I must say). What did strike me was the breadcrumb coating, which I found strangely soggy and unevenly spread. The dish as a whole gave the impression that it had been a somewhat rushed job, for reasons that I will explain in my summary notes on service. To the kitchen's credit though, the accompaniments worked very well - the honey orange sauce had a delightful sweet-savoury balance (much more could have been given for that enormous chunk of meat!), and the sprinkling of crispy sauerkraut was a rather unusual yet effective touch.

Dessert 1: homemade apple strudel with caramel foam and walnut ice cream.

The presentation of this dish was exquisite - a truly sophisticated take on a classic dessert. I was particularly impressed by the layered design, topped by an incredibly thin slice of apple encased in a sugar disc, and sitting in a dramatic pool of foam. More importantly, it tasted every bit as good as it looked! The juicy and soft apple compote with a hint of cinnamon (bottom layer) and the smooth and richly flavoured walnut ice cream were a lethal combination. For some people the huge pool of caramel foam might have made the whole thing too sweet, but I love my desserts to be on the indulgent side (as I think they should be!) so I wasn't complaining.

Dessert 2: homemade mascarpone tiramisu.

Another morsel of delight, served in a futuristic-looking glass vessel. Layers of smooth and velvety mascarpone cheese alternated with moist and intense coffee sponge, with an obvious hint of liqueur (most likely Bailey's). Chocolate and mint garnishings on top completed this very satisfying dessert.

Dessert 3: vanilla bean crème brûlée, Carolans whiskey cream, cigar stuffed with Valrhona chocolate mousse.

This dessert looked rather dull in comparison to the other two, but actually tasted pretty good. The crème brûlée had a very nice velvety texture, and the intensity of the vanilla flavour was aptly complemented by the full-bodied and slightly bitter layer of whiskey cream under the burnt glaze. The chocolate cigar was rather underwhelming for my taste and I would have expected deeper cocoa flavours and a richer mouthfeel from the cream, given the quality of the chocolate that the kitchen was using.

Summary notes: food was generally acceptable for a restaurant at this price point, but with the exception of the foie gras and apple strudel dishes, lacked any wow factor. Some dishes, particularly fish and seafood, were downright disappointing (I really think the kitchen needs to go through retraining in handling and designing such dishes!). 

For service, we had a very friendly waiter who was with us most of the evening, and other staff who came by sporadically were nice too. They all spoke excellent, if rather heavily-accented, English. A major blooper occured during our meat courses, when two lamb dishes were brought out - our friendly waiter had registered the wrong order, and my mother had to wait for a further 15 minutes while the kitchen scrambled to make her the correct suckling pig dish - and of course by the time her dish arrived we were already done with ours and had to wait for her; the timing between courses was far from ideal. We were offered some more water, for which we were duly charged (it should have been on the house as part of service recovery!). To the credit of our waiter, he was extremely apologetic for his mistake, and sensing our slight annoyance, showed genuine concern over whether everything was alright. He also offered to charge my mother for 2 courses intead of 3 (though the rather expensive extra bottle of water had already offset the price difference). 

With regards to the ambience of the restaurant, I found it quite disruptive that loud 'Happy Birthday' music was blasted over the speakers throughout the course of the evening, complete with huge sparklers, for people who were celebrating their birthdays (there were at least 4 tables doing so while we were there). While I can appreciate the nice gesture and have no intention to wreck any joyous occasion, I also believe that a restaurant at this level needs to exercise utmost discretion and maintain an elegant, sophisticated image. Just look at what their Michelin counterparts are doing; a nice piece of cake or pastry with a candle and a genuine smile from servers usually suffices. There is no need for an ostentatious fanfare whatsoever, and fellow diners may continue to savour their dishes undisturbed. 

Based on this experience alone, I would say that it is one famous restaurant ticked off my to-do list, but I am unlikely to return. Keeping in mind that Bellevue pitches itself as a premium fine-dining destination in Prague, there is still quite a lot of room for improvement in various aspects of style and substance.

Tasting menu at The Ledbury

I returned to The Ledbury today during lunchtime, eager to try their tasting menu. I noticed that a few items had been changed on the website to reflect the seasonality of their dishes, and I was really looking forward to another great dining experience.

Canapés: squid ink biscuit with turbot mousse and turbot roe; ham biscuit with foie gras parfait and kumquat purée. The first item has been described in my first review of this restaurant; as for the second, I found the biscuit rather ordinary, but the very creamy foie gras topping paired with kumquat was an excellent touch - the richness and saltiness of the former well balanced by the fruitiness and mild acidity of the latter.

Amuse-bouche: poached quail egg coated with kanafeh (a vermicelli-like filo pastry of Arab origin), on a bed of artichoke purée and truffle shavings.

Considering the apparent amount of truffle shavings, its characteristic aroma was surprisingly weak here - either the seasonal best for this luxury item has passed, or this is from a cheaper burgundy/summer truffle variety with less pronounced aromas. This was otherwise an excellent start to the meal - the egg perfectly poached with a firm white area and completely runny yolk, which blended in very nicely with the creamy and subtly sweet artichoke purée. The outer pastry covering, like a nest protecting the egg, provided a nice crunch and a novel twist to the presentation.

First course: in the martini glass, layers of Cornish oyster Chantilly and tartare, with herring roe, diced cucumber, frozen horseradish, and fresh dill; in the shorter glass, an oyster beignet with caper topping and a potato strip.

Freshness is paramount when dealing with raw seafood, and this martini glass didn't disappoint. I am not usually a fan of raw oysters (the slimy texture and heavy fishy smell put me off) but this was quite exceptional, due to their combination with other ingredients that brought out the best in their flavour: rich Chantilly cream with a subtle sweetness and  which masked the slimy texture; crunchy, juicy and mildly sweet cucumbers; salty herring roe; spicy horseradish (the freezing concentrates its flavour) and aromatic dill to enhance the aromas and mask the fishy smell. A dash of champagne was also added to the mix for a touch of crispness and freshness to the mouthfeel. Of course, it also helped that the oysters themselves were extremely fresh and juicy, and in good proportion to their accompaniments.

This relatively straightforward half of the course was no less stellar: striking presentation of an oyster fritter in its shell, sitting on the rims of a glass filled with wild uncooked rice grains (not edible, obviously), accompanied by a long potato strip. A thin crispy layer covers one of the juiciest whole oysters I've eaten. Its subtly saltish flavour was very well complemented by the caper topping and the seaweed-flavoured potato strip.

Second course: hand-dived roasted Scottish scallops with cauliflower (both sliced and puréed), Jersey Royal potatoes and a seaweed emulsion. The interesting vegetable on the bottom right is a Romanesco broccoli - first time I've seen a broccoli variety with such beautiful fractal patterns.

This was an amazing dish in both taste and presentation, with the scallops perfectly cooked such that they were tender, juicy and sweet - and who'd have expected the little pieces of dried seaweed to go into each groove to enhance their subtle savoury nature? More savoury depth was provided by the wonderful seaweed emulsion, while the sweetish cauliflower pairing expectedly worked as it should. The thick purée in particular imparted a certain luxury and richness to the mouthfeel of each bite of scallop. Simply divine.

Third course: roasted fillet of turbot on a bed of shredded crab and diced asparagus, topped with blood orange, pinenuts and broccoli florets; garnish of whole asparagus stem, blood orange purée, and shellfish emulsion.

Another piece of seafood heaven and a picture of understated luxury. The turbot was succulent, velvety and moist, and each bite accompanied by small pieces of blood orange and pinenuts provided further juiciness and crunch - delightful. The shredded crab was fresh and sweet, while the incredibly tender asparagus (in season at the moment) provided a wholesome touch to the dish. The shellfish emulsion was a concentration of complex flavours of the sea and provided an appealing savoury depth, while the mild acidity of the blood orange was an unusual but essential balance for this abundant dish.

Fourth course: Hampshire buffalo milk curd with Saint-Nectaire cheese, truffle toast, and a broth of grilled onions.

Leaving the seafood behind, I was now presented with another dish in two parts. The above was an incredibly aromatic bowl containing buffalo milk curd, diced oyster and chanterelle (girolle?) mushroom, truffle shavings with deep-fried onion shreds, a piece of grilled onion, and onion broth. The milk curd was very light in flavour and naturally took on the much stronger flavours of onion and mushroom. It was extremely smooth and silky in texture, like a very good tofu. Other textures were provided by the firm mushroom dice (the meatiness of the oyster mushroom gave a real sense of substance to the bowl), and the crispy fried onion. Very comforting. 

This second part was a posh take of cheese on toast, with a béchamel & Saint-Nectaire mix (like a thick Mornay sauce) spread on an incredibly light, fluffy and crispy toast, topped with small dollops of truffle mayonnaise, a generous portion of truffle shavings, and chopped chives. Served on a rustic-looking plate of wood and pine leaves. The Saint-Nectaire, with notes of mushroom and nuts, was the perfect foil for the truffle toppings - and I'm pretty sure truffle oil was infused into the toast as well. The depth of flavours and aromas has to be experienced personally to be believed. This was probably the most incredible thing one could ever do to toast!

Fifth course: lasagne of rabbit and chanterelles, with morels, wild mushroom butter, truffle and toasted hay purée (background), and a velouté of toasted hay.

An incredibly aromatic and intoxicating mix of mushrooms including seasonal morels, this was definitely one of my favourites in the meal. The whole chunks of morels had a firm meaty texture which went well with the tender and well-seasoned rabbit filling. The hay was a curious addition to this dish but complemented the earthy mushroom theme very well with a refreshing grassy and smoky flavour.

Sixth course: loin of roe deer with white beetroot (both fresh and puréed), red wine lees (the dark red lashings), venison sausage and potato crisp galette.

A substantial course full of gamey flavours, the meat was tender, succulent and well-seasoned. The bone marrow was a first for me and tasted very rich with a creamy and velvety texture (think combination of foie gras and collagen). The subtly sweet beetroot and tart & bitter red wine lees (a sauce made of barrel residue containing grape skin) provided an essential balance to this rather heavy dish.

Pre-dessert: blood orange and passionfruit jelly with Sauternes cream. This was a delightful palate cleanser with a good proportion of refreshing acidity to luxurious velvety sweetness.

Dessert: brown sugar tart with poached grapes and stem ginger ice-cream.

Apart from the half-melted mess of ice-cream which really marred the presentation when it was being served, this was a most indulgent and enjoyable dessert. Both the ice-cream and brown sugar tart were excellent: smooth, velvety and extremely rich. The tart reminded me of gula melaka, normally used as a dressing for coconut-based desserts back home, but here I had a whole concentrated block of it - almost too good to be true! The tart grapes and drops of balsamic vinegar provided good balance.

Dessert: violet parfait with French wild strawberries & white chocolate snow, and warm tapioca with vanilla (left background). 

I should state that both desserts were served together (again) which left me shuttling between plates to finish the frozen parts before they melted. Does anyone ever say anything to the restaurant about this, I wonder? Perhaps customers feel embarrassed to complain because one of the dessserts is on the house, but surely the restaurant could allow them to focus on enjoying one item at a time?

My heart sank initially when I saw this plate - yet another melting gloopy mess - but trust me that it tasted much better than it looked. This was a refreshing contrast to the previous dessert, full of fruity flavours and a good balance of acidity and sweetness. The rare wild strawberries (very different from their supermarket counterparts in size) had a nice firm texture and a delicate acidity. The accompaniment of warm tapioca sago with vanilla cream provided a more luxurious mouthfeel with its thick and silky texture.

The usual petit fours to end an excellent meal: earl grey biscuit, dark chocolate with cognac ganache, blood orange jelly. (reviewed in my first post on this restaurant)

This was on the whole a very satisfying meal. Service was good, particularly from restaurant manager Stephen Quinn, who received me at the beginning and also returned periodically to check on the meal and chat, and a young Czech waitress who was extremely jovial and chatty (especially when I mentioned my recent holiday to the Czech Republic), though she left halfway through my meal for a break, to be replaced by her supervisor who was much more distant, and might I say, even a tad patronising. The seat I was given this time, with a good view of the whole restaurant but directly facing a pillar, was not entirely ideal. Being directly behind the counter, I could also hear the occasional gossip between servers about the diners.

As for the food, no complaints at all about the taste, but certainly much more room for improvement in the presentation of frozen desserts - surely one can expect nothing less than perfection from a restaurant of this standard. I let the desserts go this time because I didn't want to waste food and they tasted really good, but the next time the same melting gloop arrives at my table I'll be sure to send it back (for the sake of my photos as well as the restaurant's reputation on a public blog!).

Feedback was given to Stephen, who acknowledged it genuinely and gave me his card if I should need any help from him in the future. I will be back!