Dinner at Terasa U Zlaté Studně, Prague

I had a memorable dinner at Terasa U Zlaté Studně during my family vacation in Prague. This restaurant is located on the top floor of the luxury boutique hotel Golden Well (that's what Zlaté Studně means in Czech), and boasts the best views of the city's skyline on the other side of the Vltava river. It has also garnered a reputation as one of the best fine-dining establishments in the city (No. 1 on TripAdvisor), and reservations are essential. The kitchen is run by Pavel Sapík, one of the top native chefs in the country.

The hotel is located in a small alleyway in the most historic area of Prague (Malá Strana), at the foot of the castle. Definitely not the easiest to find, so if you're visiting, be armed with a reliable map and a good sense of direction!

One of the best boutique hotels in Prague,
housed in a 16th-century building.

Views of the courtyard

Cosy lobby area

Waiting area in the restaurant

Accolades hang proudly on the side walls.

Elegant table setting

We were offered a good selection of breads containing various grains and seeds. My favourites were the dried fruit & nut (left foreground) and dark pumpkin seed (back centre) varieties - good enough to eat on their own!

Amuse-bouche: belly of fallow deer with cranberries and watercress. A posh take on ham, studded with tart fresh cranberries for balance, while the mildly spicy watercress helped to lift the palette for the meal ahead.

Starter: flame-grilled sea scallops on strawberries, with a garnish of watercress and champagne rose jelly.

This was a delicate and delightful starter. The fresh scallops were grilled to tender perfection and maintained all their juices. The artfully sliced pieces of strawberry enhanced the scallops' natural sweetness whilst also providing a mildly tart edge, and the small pieces of jelly imparted a touch of freshness with their subtle flavours.

Starter: trio of tuna - tartare with poached quail egg, tataki with white radish and wasabi, and a skewer with lemongrass and teriyaki sauce.

Freshness is top priority when dealing with raw fish and seafood, and this tuna trio did not disappoint on that front. Surprisingly delicate flavours with no suspicious fishy smell. The tartare was well seasoned with shallots, chives etc. and produced a nice, mildly creamy texture when blended with the poached egg. The sesame-crusted tataki was similarly delightful when paired with the fresh & crisp shredded white radish, while the last lemongrass and teriyaki pairing was both aromatic and savoury. This was an unexpectedly good Westernised take on Japanese raw fish cuisine.

Starter: grilled black tiger prawns served with mango carpaccio, fresh avocado and vanilla dressing. 

This was my favourite starter of the lot, with two of the largest and juiciest prawns I've ever tried sitting atop a generous portion of fresh thinly-sliced mango. The creamy avocado and vanilla dressing imparted further sweetness as well as a luxurious mouthfeel to each juicy bite. This was on the whole a rather sweet dish (perhaps a tad overwhelmingly so for some people) but I certainly wasn't complaining!

Main course: pan fried red snapper served with baked cherry tomatoes and vegetable cous-cous in a saffron beurre blanc sauce.

The texture of this fish was surprisingly meaty and succulent, not quite the flaky delicate type that we have back home (different species perhaps?). In any case, this generous chunk was moist and delicious, with the velvety and aromatic saffron cream sauce imparting a touch of luxury, and the cherry tomatoes and vegetables (spinach I believe) providing a wholesome balance to the dish.

Main course: roasted rack of fallow deer with caramelised peaches, wild oyster mushrooms and Grand Veneur sauce.

The two rather thick pieces of meat were surprisingly tender and succulent, well matched by the meaty texture of oyster mushrooms and savoury Grand Veneur sauce. The dish on the whole felt astonishingly light due to the strong presence of fruits, in particular several types of berries, which provided a mildly acidic balance to this substantial course.

Main course: poached halibut in olive oil 'Lakudia', on cuttlefish & squid ink risotto in lobster bisque.

This was my favourite main course. The halibut with olive oil was amazingly silky, moist and delicate, and reminded me instantly of the one I had as part of the Chef's Menu at MW@The Berkeley in London. Worthy of the highest praise in its own right, it was further augmented by a velvety and intense lobster bisque, and well-cooked risotto with grains that retained a nice firm bite. This was truly the one dish of the evening that met Michelin standards.

Dessert: plum ravioli served with ground caramelised nuts and homemade gingerbread ice cream.

This dessert is a signature of the restaurant and features on its tasting menu. Truth be told, I was a little underwhelmed by its taste. It wasn't bad, just very ordinary. I liked the crunchy bits of nuts though, and the ice cream was stellar - rich, smooth and intense in flavour. What did mar the presentation was the fact that the ice-cream was half-melted and overflowing from the spoon when it was served - a major pet peeve of mine! In restaurants of this quality and price point, every detail that is not taken care of sticks out like a sore thumb.

Dessert: a selection of seasonal sorbets (from front to back) - campari orange, raspberry, lemon.

Thankfully, these appeared in much better form, and tasted as good as they looked. They were all very smooth and consistent in texture. My personal favourite was the campari orange, with a slight hint of bitterness. Very refreshing after all the large courses that we'd had.

Dessert: coconut parfait on a bed of marinated pineapple, with coffee cake and a warm brownie served with sabayon sauce (a light custard made of eggs, sugar and dessert wine, with additional flavourings to taste).

This was full of tropical flavours and very good indeed. Both the creamy parfait and rich brownie were refreshingly complemented by pineapple-based accompaniments (the sabayon was slightly sourish - probably infused with pineapple as well), while the coffee cake, like a good heady tiramisu, held its own on the plate with intense coffee flavours and aromas.

We passed by the terrace area (still too chilly to sit out there, unfortunately) on a trip to the washroom after dinner.

Gorgeous views of Prague's city centre
from the castle side of the river.

To summarise, it had been an enjoyable evening of great food in one of the most charming quarters of Prague. Service was basic, but friendly & professional (though I would tend to give the wait staff the benefit of the doubt, by attributing any minor lapses to cultural differences or language difficulties). It is rather expensive even by West European standards, but the food and ambience do justify the high prices charged. 

I can quite honestly say that this had been the best fine meal that we tried in Prague, so if you only have time/money for one nice restaurant, let this be it!

All good things must come to an end...