Sunday 6 January 2013

Kampa Park, Prague

I was knackered, I'd not slept, full off childish excitement and nervous anticipation on getting a very early red eye flight to Prague. We'd shared a big breakfast at Manchester airport, but that was hours ago. I'd always planned to come to Kampa Park, over the famous Charles Bridge and after we'd had a brief wander round the main sights. It's beautiful inside, but it does have the air of a restaurant that was once top of the tree, with photos of 90's celebs in the entrance; Bill Clinton, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. But I'd read that there was still some very good eating to be had there. We were shown down to the seats right by the river, with spectacular views over to the famous bridge.
Nice views, feels like you're on a boat.

It took us ages to decide. Me and Mrs Bacon hate to order the wrong thing and be disappointed. We settled on Nordic sashimi of salmon, scallop, lobster and shrimp with parsley oil, green apple and soy aioli.
Nordic sashimi of salmon, scallop, lobster and shrimp with parsley oil, green apple and soy aioli.
I just had to put in a close up, as it looks so pretty.
 The fish dish looked amazing, such a pretty plate, and it tasted divine too. Mrs Bacon has declared it her favourite starter of 2012.
Our other starter was Crab velouté with lump fish roe, crème fraîche and crab meat. This was equally as impressive, and came with a generous pot with the layered lump fish roe, crème fraîche and crab meat in. This soup was the best we'd had since Aumbry's Potato & Wild Garlic Soup with Truffle oil,  light, creamy, foamy, and above all delicious. The pot great to dig into and pull out the fish roe on top of the creamy crème fraîche. It was like a mini fish trifle.
The crab velouté.

Lump fish roe, crème fraîche and crab meat layers.
Mains were Duck confit with red cabbage, ricotta gnocchi and fig sauce, a beautifully hearty affair, the duck leg lovely and tender and juicy, the classic red cabbage accompaniment; sweet, and the ricotta gnocci a dense flavourful addition. I ate until halfway and then we did our planned swap over.  Negotiations with food and portions with me and Mrs Bacon are like a UN climate change conference!
Duck confit with red cabbage, ricotta gnocchi and fig sauce. I could it this every day of the week.

Spinach risotto with season´s best mushrooms and garlic foam was very green, runny and comforting. I had to inform Mrs Bacon that it was equal to the fine risotto in the Aperitto restaurant in Zakynthos Greece, which was very good indeed.  (She had the norovirus at the time, and well -  I had to eat!)  Risotto is one of those dishes where it seems to be easy to get wrong, thankfully the chef got this one just right, the liquid green stock delicious, it's a perfect winter dish.
Spinach risotto with season´s best mushrooms and garlic foam. A perfect winter dish.

We didn't have dessert, we were saving ourselves for that evening where we to dine at La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise.  Little did we know it at the time, but this was to be one of our best days of eating with this meal and the later, one of our best meals of a lifetime. 
Restaurant reviews on Tripadvisor are a funny thing, and very unreliable, especially when it comes to ranking, but it seems incredible that Kampa Park is currently rated at 100 in Prague. A restaurant this good would almost certainly be in the top 5 in Manchester, and judging it on the meal we had, still a very good choice indeed.
Lovely dining area down by the river.

Price: About £62 for two plus drinks.
They also do a 7 course Degustation menu for £57 per person, which seems good value.
Overall: Four  fabulous dishes.
Service: Fine
Atmosphere: A Beautiful restaurant with great views. Seats outside in summer with views over the famous Charles Bridge.
Food: Great.
Star dish:
Nordic sashimi of salmon, scallop, lobster and shrimp 
8/10

Kampa Park
Na Kampě 8b, Prague 1
www.kampagroup.com


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