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Friday, May 28, 2010

Prague Food Festival 2010

Happily to say, I am writing this entry in the heady afterglow of an idyllic afternoon of fine wine, gourmet food and balmy sunshine at the Prague Food Festival 2010, this year held in the Southern Gardens of Prague Castle. Despite being an a) self-confessed foodie and b) a Prague resident for nearly four years now, I have to admit that I have never actually made it to this event in previous years, mainly because I tend not to notice it’s ever actually on until I see it written up on other people’s blogs... In fact, I wouldn’t have even known it was on this time round if not for a very well-timed suggestion from my colleague just a couple of days before - thanks Misa!

Luckily for us Mr K and I both had the Friday off work, and in our keenness to finally attend must have been two of the first few people at the gate – a good decision as it later turned out, as on a weekday there were virtually no queues, fewer crowds, and more welcoming staff. Entrance was 400kč a head, but of that 250kč was given back in "grand" tokens, which could then be exchanged for the dishes on offer within the festival grounds. We also ended up topping up at one of the "grand" banks dotted around the Castle gardens, so that we could sample a few more options on top of the standard ticket allowance as well.

Usually it is Mr K who on such occasions lapses into a state of adult ADHD, but this time round I must confess to being the one who rather lost their head, as I ran round photographing like a mad woman and trying to decide what out of all the delicious displays on offer I would most like to eat. In the excitement, at one point we lost each other in Hartigovská Zahrada (needless to say, this time all Mr K’s fault), with cross words being exchanged on eventual reunion. But we soon made up again over glasses of cold, crisp Italian Lugana (at 2 grands a glass) from one of the many Bacchus stalls scattered round the gardens. See, all smiles here...


We also sampled a glass of pink Brut Nature (also 2 grand), which likewise went down very well.


After initial reconnaissance of all the stalls and the calming influence of alcohol to temper initial over-excitement, it was finally time to get down to the serious business of extended degustation.

First stop was the Hergetová Cihelna stand, where Mr K and I shared a mini Cihelna burger with duck foie gras, home-made fries and truffle mayonnaise, priced at 5 grands.


This was a big favourite with both of us, made as it was with lovely medium-rare beef that left delicious juices running down your fingers. Would have preferred some good old fashioned mustard and ketchup to the truffle mayonnaise though, which I have to say didn't quite convince me, but Mr K by contrast professed to rather like.


Next stop on the tour was the Rybí Trh stand, where we shared a dish of black tiger prawns with piquant sauce and spicy cous-cous. I seriously loved the light barbeque tinge to their large fresh, juicy prawns, and could have easily put away another round right there and then.


From Rybí Trh, we then moved onto the Kempinski Hybernská stand, where we were both bowled over by their grilled flank steak on sweet batata potato purée with creamy white asparagus and pumpkin oil (5 grands). Suffice to say, it tasted as good as it looked.


Less successful here, however, was the Kempinski's rendition of scallops ceviche on vegetable brunoise salad with mascarpone and sorrel (5 grands). The scallops in our opinion were slightly on the bland side, while the brunoise salad didn't taste all that much different from your bog-standard Albert potato salad. In short, not all that impressive really.


At this point Mr K insisted on stopping by the children’s corner run by Radisson Blu / La Rotunde for a blueberry milkshake and mini chocolate and raspberry mousse (each 2 grands). I wasn't a particular fan of the blueberry milkshake, but loved the mousse, which had a really lovely deep, dark, velvety chocolate taste.


Mr K also particularly liked the trainset here.


Finally, we rounded off with a truly to-die-for three-chocolate mousse at the Hilton stand, which Mr K and I agreed was the absolutely perfect sweet end to an already extremely enjoyable culinary experience.


Other dishes that I didn’t taste myself, but definitely looked tempting at least were the stuffed veal chest served with mashed potatoes, glazed carrots and sage sauce from the Como stand (4 grands);


the Norwegian salmon tartar with marinated fennel and herb baguette from Rybí Trh (3 grands);


the basil panna cotta with marinated stawberries, also from Como (2 grands);


the Thai chicken salad from the Buddha Bar stall (4 grands);


the sashimi pizza with slices of tuna, wasabi cream and scallions from Hergetová Cihelna (3 grands);


the teriyaki salmon with wasabi potato purée and enoki mushrooms, also from Hergetová Cihelna (3 grands);


and last but not least, the sushi platters from Sakura (2 - 3 grand a plate),


Others I preferred to pass on were the pork from Lví Dvůr (8 grands);


and the oysters (my personal pet hate) from Nowado.


Food and drink aside, it was also really lovely to roam the castle grounds in such sunny weather and take in the lovely views from the Castle gardens.



That said, I certainly didn’t envy the cooks slaving over a hot stove on such a balmy summer day!



Which just about wraps it up for my experience of the first day of Prague Food Festival 2010 really. Like I say, it was the first time I’ve ever been to this event, so obviously I can’t compare to previous years - however, I for one thoroughly enjoyed the occasion, and next time will be sure not to miss out on Prague Food Festival 2011!!!!!!! :-)))))


3 comments:

  1. Great work you did :)Really nice... You made me feel there ;)

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  2. I can't believe I've missed out on this! Work has kept me tied to my computer all day. The post really does bring it all to life though: nice one!

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  3. I love your article, although I was very disappointed with the food festival myself.
    We had cold food, horrible scallops, boring plates etc. But I agree about the burger. Our winner. Which is actually a bit strange when you think about the famed restaurants present there.

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