Fine dining Archives - Page 2 of 6

When we were in the beautiful city of Prague a few months ago, we had the pleasure of dining at one of their Michelin star restaurants, Alcron. There are only two Michellin star restaurants in Prague, both having been awarded a Michellin star each so we felt really lucky to be able to secure a booking at one of them.

Alcron is located in the Radisson Blu Alcron Hotel and is furnished beautifully with art decor and a fireplace from the 1930s. There are only 24 seats so not only did we feel lucky to get a booking, but as soon as you walk in, there is a real intimate and personal feel to the whole place.

The staff were very welcoming, warm and friendly. They provided us with menus and explained that we were able to choose and create our own set menu ranging from 3 courses, 4 courses or 5 courses from their a la carte selection. They were so flexible and were happy for us to choose whatever dishes we wanted to make up our courses and also suggested that we could order a few dishes first before we decided on the next dishes, or even stop if we were feeling too full. They were also very open to talking through the menu. Of course we decided to go all out and went with their 5 courses!

The food that came out absolutely blew us away. The restaurant aims to use the freshest ingredients and to perfect all their dishes. We were in awe of not only the quality of the food and combination of ingredients but the presentation of each dish, which were all like pieces of artwork.

Some of the highlighted dishes captured above include the tuna sashmi with tapioca, daikon and parsley mayonaise, the organic goats’ cheese with baked leeks and beets which tasted so heavenly, the marinated Scottish salmon in dark rum with tabouleh and ginger infusion, and the lobster bisque with sweet corn and poached egg yolk. The lobster bisque was rich in lobster flavour, and the poached egg yolk gave it a creamy dimension. It was definitely one of the highlight dishes of the night.

The US-prime beef fillet and shoulder was complimented with a miso glaze and jasmine tea smoked potato puree. This was also a dish we really enjoyed as we found that the smoked potato puree went really well with the beef fillet. The combination of ingredients was exceptional.

Oh and have I mentioned the bread and butter? We had never come across a restaurant that offered such an extensive array of flavours. We had 9 different varieties of bread and 4 different kinds of butter to choose from. Some of the bread choices include pumpkin seed, green olive, black olive, onion, tomato, and the list goes on. Had we not been served their other dishes, we would have been happy eating just the bread and butter for dinner because it was so good!

We were so full from all the dishes that we had to settle for a very light dessert. We were really disappointed that we couldn’t fit their special ‘dessert painting’, which we could see another table thoroughly enjoying. This dessert painting was prepared right in front of them and the end result looked like something from an art gallery.

After trying numerous restaurants around the world, we came to the conclusion that this was the best 1 Michelin star restaurant we had dined at. The quality of the food in comparison to the price was unmatched. The dishes showed amazing cooking techniques and the presentation really wowed us from all aspects. We were also really impressed with the attentive and personalised service. I highly recommend Alcron to anyone visiting Prague!

Alcron Restaurant
Approx 1500 CZK / $85 AUD per person (excluding wine)
Website: www.alcron.cz/en
Radisson Blu Alcron Hotel, Štěpánská 40,, Nové Město, Nové Město, Praha 1
Phone: +420 222820000

Last September for my birthday we took a trip to Hobart over a long weekend to celebrate and just get away. I had never been to Tasmania before but instantly fell in love with the beauty and quietness of the city. I loved the crisp air, the slow pace and the picturesque views, laneways and buildings. What I especially loved about it was the amazing food it had to offer. As usual we had done a bit of research before we left and had a rough idea of the restaurants we were going to visit. Frogmore Creek Winery was one we were quite keen on as we discovered that it was a one hat restaurant and it actually ended up more than exceeding our expectations. I can’t stress this enough but It. Was. Amazing!

The winery is located in Cambridge which was less than a 20 minute drive from the city centre so we hopped into our rental car and got there in no time for our lunch reservation. On arrival the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. The winery was set upon beautiful lush greenery surroundings with an abundance of growing grape wines and a lake in the distance with houses dotted along the water. Inside, the restaurant was clean and modern with wooden furnishings and wide windows allowing natural light in. Wine barrels were used as decorations inside and outside, to hold plants and as tables in the outdoor seating area.

Pulled pork lollipop entree — Pulled pork lollipop with brocolli jelly

Now onto the most important part! An a la carte menu was available but we decided on the chef’s choice set menu which is $85 per head and was happy to be surprised by whatever they had to offer. You must allow a good few hours to enjoy this degustation experience. The presentation and quality of the food was spectacular. Each dish was assembled with such detail and care like a work of art, it was too pretty to eat so of course I had to snap lots of photos before I ate! When I finally got around to the food, I was blown away… all the ingredients were fresh based on its changing produce and combined in its complexity worked so well, it’s obvious that the chef has put so much thought into the creation of each dish. I could talk about how great the food was all day as every dish was so good but some of our highlights was the 42 degree ocean trout with potato salad, poached egg, mizuna lettuce, seaweed cracker and miso dressing, the pulled pork lollipop with brocolli jelly which came out looking like a dessert so it really surprised our palates! And the the lemon lego dessert with basil ice cream and lemon pana cotta, it was divine and I felt like I was in food heaven!

Ocean trout — 42 degree ocean trout with potato salad, poached egg, mizuna lettuce, seaweed cracker and miso dressing

Lego lemon dessert — Lemon lego dessert with basil ice cream and lemon pana cotta

The service was exceptional too and was as expected from a fine dining restaurant. They were friendly, efficient and very switched on. Overall it was the best winery restaurant we have been to so far and we were very impressed. I highly, highly recommended if you’re ever in Tassie to check it out!