Good Bye…!!!

Regular readers of my blog will have by now clocked that my fiancé Mr K lives abroad, and well – to cut a long story short here – one of us eventually had to relent and move countries in order to actually get married at some point, and that someone has in the event turned out to be me…

I hadn’t expected the move to come so soon, but an unexpected job offer in the UK came up via my current company, and after four amazing years in the Czech Republic, with mixed emotions I now find myself at long last homeward bound.

Needless to say, I’m ecstatic about the new job and the chance to finally be with Mr K full time, but will genuinely miss so many things about my truly amazing Prague experience – not least of which this blog, which I’ve really enjoyed writing (and of course “researching” for!) over the last nine months.

My last week in Prague will, needless to say, be spent taking a trip down culinary memory lane with farewell visits to some of my long-standing favourites here – Noodle Bar, Praha Bakeshop, Bohemia Bagel, Paul’s, SaSaZu and of course my beloved V & R Imports, where wine-induced carnage is certain to ensue at my leaving do later this month.

As for now, I am officially rounding off this blog with a final meal of my favourite plněné knedlíky from Old Town Czech joint Kozička – well, had to justify the blog namesake somehow! 🙂

Anyway, my thanks to Brewsta for the inspiration, Prague.tv for the promo, Mr K for his weekly proof-reading and putting up with being the butt of all my jokes, my fantastic friends and colleagues who’ve patiently put up with my incessant photographing at all group dinners since the blog began, and – last but not least – all those of you who have read and commented (even the crazy ones) over the last year.

Until next time then, it’s good bye and “Dobrou Chut’!” from me!!

a

: : : : : : : : : : : : :

Střelecký ostrov

Back in the early days of this blog, I made mention of mine and Mr K’s shared fondness for prosecco and strawberries taken on the summer terrace of Střelecký Ostrov, and our intention to visit the place one day for a proper dinner when we had reason enough to push the boat out here.

Well, what more reason to celebrate than officially reaching post number 100 of this blog – oh yes, and the likewise not insignificant fact that both Mr K and I have just landed promising new jobs within mere weeks of each other as well! 🙂

Alchymist Club

A kind reader of this blog recently passed a huge book of two-for-one restaurant vouchers on to me, so therefore a much appreciative Mr K and I have been eating out on the cheap of late at some much pricier places than we would normally visit wholly on our own dime.

One such recent voucher-assisted sojourn has been to the Alchymist Club at Malá Strana, an upmarket restaurant long at the top of Mr K’s (financially utterly unrealistic) list of pricy Prague restaurants to visit in the course of his monthly trips to the Czech Republic.

I have to say, on walking through the door, I was pretty blown away by the lavish interiors here – aesthetically speaking, Alchymist truly has to be one of the more opulent and ornate restaurants I have ever had the luxury of dining in, and (it being just a day or two after Christmas when we went) one which we virtually had all to ourselves the whole evening on top of it all too. 

Kabul Karolina

What with team dinners at Fosil, office parties at the Hilton, and now a Christmas meal out at Afghan restaurant Kabul Karolina with my colleagues last week, I have to say my company has really been spoiling me food-wise lately… 🙂

Luckily for me and my colleagues, we had substantially more luck at Kabul Karolina this time round than on our decidedly less than impressive recent team dinner at Fosil earlier this month…

Bílý koníček

Yes, I know what you’re thinking… Bílý koníček – Prague 1 tourist trap, silly prices, not worth setting foot though the door etc etc…

I’d normally think the same myself, but I’d been given a Lime & Tonic voucher for Christmas, and when it came to Bílý koníček (or “White Pony” in English) – if you’ll excuse the pun here – didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth… 🙂

I have to admit my initial expectations were low here, but apparently the place has come under new management lately, with a focus on transforming the reputation of the place from Old Town tourist trap to local jazz and blues joint drawing in both tourists and locals alike.

Fosil

The time for yet another quarterly team dinner had rolled around, and on this occasion the destination of choice was decided upon as Fosil, a Mexican restaurant recently re-opened in Žižkov (exterior clearly still a work in progress here!).

Fortunately for one of us in the team, we can’t collectively remember who among us came up with Fosil as an initial suggestion, so the individual in question is spared the irredeemable blame of having unwittingly chosen one of the most disappointing restaurant venues in living team memory.

Cloud 9 Bar at the Hilton

So, last week we had our company Christmas party at the atmospheric Cloud 9 Sky Bar on the top floor of the Hilton hotel. I for one was pretty chuffed here seeing as, well, quite frankly I’m not really classy enough for the Hilton under normal circumstances, let alone flush enough to cough up for food or drinks here out of my own pocket.

I wasn’t originally planning to blog about the place, but when I had a look at their website noticed that most of the dishes listed on our company buffet were also featured on the normal menu, so I figured it might be worth providing a sneak peak at some of Cloud 9’s range of posh bar snacks on offer here (albeit obviously mass catered on this occasion).

Radost Revisited

Great minds think alike, or so they say…

What other explanation could there possibly be for the fact that my fellow food blogger Brewsta should have written about popular vegetarian café / bar / restaurant Radost FX on the very day that I was due to attend a pre-Christmas girlie dinner there organised by my very good friend Prague Ginge…?? 🙂

Ah well, no point in letting a good blogging opportunity go to waste, particularly when for once we actually had pretty much the whole of my crowd round the table at the same time.

La Bodeguita del Medio

It was Mr K’s birthday last week, so – rather than manipulating / bullying / otherwise cajoling him into my next blog spot of choice as I usually do – I for once left the choice of restaurant venue up to him alone.

Luckily, in this case he plumped for Cuban restaurant La Bodeguita del Medio at Staroměstská, one of our favourite venues in Prague for cocktails, steak and general party atmosphere.

Back in my early Prague months, I used to spend about half my salary on mojitos here each weekend with the now legendary Bad Influence Dutch Girl. Ah, happy days… 

Masala (Tasting Menu)

Regular readers of my blog will know that Curry House in Palmovka is my personal Prague spice spot of choice, but when I saw a recent Lime & Tonic deal for a Ten Course Taster menu for two for just 580 CZK (discounted from the usual price of 1,200 CZK) at Masala Pod Karlovem last month, I definitely thought it was worth making an exception for… 🙂

And so it was that a visiting Mr K and I both rather foolhardily set forth on that one evening when even Prague’s most resilient of public transportation systems all but surrendered to the arctic blizzard conditions, turning up at Masala a good three quarters of an hour late in urgent need of a nice hot curry to warm our near frozen extremities and stave off the impending onset of hypothermia.