Le Patio

**NOTE: This restaurant has changed menus. It no longer does Asian cuisine

"Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another." Voltaire

I've been following the food and career of chef Sofia Smith for a long time.

More than a decade ago, I enjoyed the cakes and salads at her long-since-departed Angel Café.

Almost half a decade ago, I loved Smith's Asian fusion menu at the restaurant, Angel. I wished that eatery lasted longer than it did. Its location has been cursed for its many tenants.

I never actually met Smith until early 2011 when I got to know some of the staff at the much-lauded and very successful Asian-fusion restaurant, Sansho. When it opened, Smith was one of the cooks working under former Nobu London sous-chef, Paul Day.

Earlier this year, Smith got a kitchen of her own at Le Patio. It's the same location as Resto Cafe Patio, which I liked quite a lot. She's turned it into showcase for her own Asian fusion menu, though there are a number of similarities to Sansho's offerings.

The front dining room of Le Patio is basically unchanged. That's the smoking area.

The second floor overlooking it is the non-smoking section. There's also a section that used to be a furniture shop that has converted for use as restaurant space.

I stopped in a couple of times for lunch. I started off with a beer. They have .33 liter bottles of Pilsner Urquell (60 CZK).

The price is steep by Prague standards.

I ordered two dishes from the "small plates" section of the menu. First up was the sweet calamari (165 CZK).

The squid were fresh and tender, though cooked slightly longer than I'd like. It's mixed together with fresh baby spinach. It sits on a crispy wonton-like base.

What grabs your attention is the homemade, caramelized chili sauce. After you get past the sweetness (and not everyone will), you taste lime leaf along with black and white sesame praline mixed in. There's a slow-building but serious spiciness. I wished it was bigger, but I liked it.

The second plate was the hot and sour beef salad (185 CZK).

Thinly slice beef, cooked medium but served cool, was tossed with pomelo, peanuts, green onion, toasted rice, galangal, and nahm jim, a chili and lime dressing.

The meat was not very tender, but had great flavor. I detected fish sauce, coriander, and Thai basil. It also deserved to be in the "small" section.

Then there was dessert. It was what the menu called "love it or hate it" black rice pudding with vanilla and coconut semifreddo (95 CZK).

The creamy coconut melted into the warm, al dente rice. It creates flavors and textures that are both familiar and new. I hate being boxed in, so I'm going to go with "liked it."

The tab for this lunch was 505 CZK. Service was OK.

I began the next lunch with the gado gado (175 CZK).

I've had many versions of this Indonesian salad in Netherlands, the USA, and even in Prague. Spinach is tossed with a peanut dressing, shredded carrots, warm crispy tofu, cassava crisps, and potato slices.

There was a growing heat with each bite, but I found it bland, especially the potatoes. Adding a generous amount of salt brought improvement. There's no single recipe for this, but all others I've had included boiled, sliced egg, which this one omitted.

The menu lists "Le Patio Prawns - 3 ways." At first I thought all three kinds came together, but you actually pick which of the three you want. I tried the Balchao prawns (185 CZK).

Six small crustaceans were served cool, with a small portion of rice, papadums, and salad. The prawns were on the chewy side with mild heat and the flavor of curry and mustard seed. I wasn't impressed.

At a later dinner, I preferred the fiery black pepper prawns (185 CZK).

Those are stir-fried in oyster sauce with soy, black vinegar, garlic, a generous amount of black pepper, and kohlrabi. Very spicy.

This lunch cost me 460 CZK. The kitchen moved slowly, and I waited a fair amount of time between the courses. The restaurant was not very busy, but it took too long to get my bill and pay.

The similarity between Le Patio and Sansho is they both have tasting menus. Le Patio's is eight dishes for 850 CZK. The ones I enjoyed at Sansho last year were seven courses for 750 CZK. Smith does dishes like jungle curry, soft shell crab, and sticky toffee pudding (which is a signature dish of hers) on her degustation. Those items, although done differently, are also on Sansho's list.

I tried Le Patio's tasting menu a few weeks after it opened. Overall, I didn't like it. A couple of dishes were far too salty. One was bland. A salad, which has since left the menu, was dull and underdressed.

One night not long afterward, I randomly ran into Smith at Zebra Asian Noodle Bar. She told me her kitchen was being reconstructed and a lot of staff was turning over. I decided to try the menu again in September.

I returned with several out of town visitors. Two of us had the tasting menu. The other three ordered a la carte. We were warned that the tasting would take at least two hours. This did create some awkard periods when the a la carte crowd had no food in front of them.

For simplicity's sake, I'll just cover the tasting menu. Although I was able to sneak into the lunches unnoticed, Sofia Smith was out in the dining room and spotted me right after we sat down for dinner.

We started with a bottle of La Baraquette No. 3, a Languedoc rosé. It was light and dry. Everyone liked it.

We also had a big bottle of Perrier (130 CZK).

A basket arrived with homemade rolls. Years ago, I had these at Angel when they were fresh from the oven. These were cold and chewier.

There was a chili jam on the side made with dried shrimp, brown sugar, rice wine, shallots, coriander, and red chilies.

Based on the ingredients our waiter described to us, we expected it to be sweet and spicy. However, it was more salty and fishy. The flavor took some getting used to. It grew on me, but not everyone liked it.

I was served a drink that I was told was a palate cleanser to sip between courses. This was iced white tea with lime, ginger and mint.

At first I thought the flavors rather weak. Later on, I did find it more refreshing and relied on it to reset my taste buds through the meal.

We also had papadums with a lemongrass, coriander tomato dipping sauce.

There was a little sugar, a little spicy, and it was quite nice.

Course 1: Beef and Pineapple. This was dried shredded organic beef, fresh pineapple, rojak dressing, and snake beans.

The first time I had it, the dish was served at room temperature. This time, the tender, shredded, long-cooked meat was warmer and much more inviting. It had the luscious flavors of cardamom and cinnamon. The thinly-slice pineapple with the rojak had a big kick. There was also lime leaf in there. It had a terrific balance of salty and sweet.

Course 2: Wonton. It's a steamed Szechuan-style shrimp wonton with chili oil.

This is eaten in one fiery, vinegary bite. It was a well-made dumpling. The flavor of the black vinaigrette dominates.

Course 3: Laksa. In basically a large, deep spoon, there's Malaysian coconut soup, a lemongrass and lime leaf chicken dumpling, and masago caviar.

The broth, with a touch of sweetness, was delicious. However, I did not like the dumpling. It was a densely packed ball that had an unenjoyable, crumbly texture when chewed. The same dumplings are also in the otherwise enjoyable coconut and galangal soup.

Course 4: Butter Prawns. This is a picture from the first tasting. At the second, I received two. These are wok-fried with red chillies, curry leaves, garlic, rice wine, and rocket leaves.

The toasted coconut on top, made with caramelized brown sugar, give it a crunchy, sticky sweetness. Miss P gave it a thumbs up. It was also my favorite of the three shrimp offerings on the menu.

Course 5: Crab. A soft-shell crab is deep-fried and lightly coated with a Singapore black pepper sauce with green chillies.

This was way too salty the first time, but just right on the second try. It was perfectly, delicately fried.

Course 6: Belly. This is twice-cooked organic pork belly, with tamarind plum sauce and a cucumber relish.

The dish was great the first time and great the second time. It was hot and cool, salty and sweet, with tender pork surrounded by crispy, rendered fat.

Course 7: Jungle Curry. The is a photo from the first visit. On the second, the black rice did not come in the banana leaf. This dish was also excellent both times.

There was a bouquet of flavors -- ginger, Thai basil, lemon grass, fingerroot, and crispy garlic. The small pieces of duck were very tender. Jungle curry recipes are from northern Thailand and don't use coconut milk.

Course 8: Sticky toffee pudding.

The menu calls it "a classic English date pudding served warm with toffee sauce" and a vanilla bean crème fraiche semifreddo. I loved this at Angel, Sansho, and now at Le Patio.

So I went from not liking this tasting menu to really enjoying it. Miss P felt the same. Will you? It's hard to say.

We all felt we received special treatment because I was recognized at the beginning of the meal. Our service was excellent. The sommelier was our waiter. Because of this, I'm not going to count this last visit as part of the service rating.

I want to know how guests are treated when they are not writing about the restaurant. I did get a taste of that on earlier visits.

Although I wasn't impressed with all my experiences there, Le Patio is capable of great things. I hope they do it for everyone.

Le Patio
Národní 22
Prague 1
Tel. (+420) 774 539 301 or 224 934 375

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Zebra Asian Noodle Bar

"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." Chinatown (1974)

I can get obsessed with specific restaurants. It's a useful problem to have in this line of work.

If I like a place, I'll return again and again until I tire of it. In rare cases, the obsession doesn't end.

I still haven't lost my passion for La Bottega di Finestra, perhaps the finest cafe in the city. I've lost track of how many times I've been there.

Asian eateries are well-represented on my short list of regular favorites, so when I saw the new Zebra Asian Noodle Bar on Havelský trh, I quickly got curious.

For those not familiar with Prague geography, the restaurant is located between Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square.

Both the menu and the interior reminded me of Coa.

I had high hopes for that place, but they didn't pan out. Zebra also has an open kitchen, a variety of table and seating choices, and a bright, modern feel.

Zebra is smaller inside, but it has quite a few al fresco tables under an arcade.

I'll tell you right from the start: I became obsessed with this restaurant. These passions usually fade after three or four visits. I've been to Zebra six times since it opened this summer.

Rather than break down each visit, I'm going to go through everything I tried on their menu in one straight shot.

The first thing I went for was the Zebra wings.

They were fried with a crunchy coating and covered with a sweet and savory orange glaze. Some could find it too sweet. They appealed to my sweet tooth, reminding me of the guilty pleasures of Chinese fast food in the USA.

One unappetizing aspect was that they revised the menu recently. Some tasty dishes were dropped, a few others were added, and they raised the prices.

When they first opened, they charged 89 CZK for six Zebra wings. Now they've soared to 139 CZK for eight. A number of offerings went up in cost by between 10 and 60 CZK.

We tried the vegetarian dim sum (99  CZK).

The five delicate dumplings were filled with tofu, bok choy, mint, leek, and Thai basil.

They come with a terrific, tangy dipping sauce. This was ordered on many visits.

They also have shrimp dim sum (119 CZK). These three dumplings filled with chopped shrimp also had the satisfyingly moist, thin skin.

The dipping sauce was the same. While not bad, we preferred the veggie dumplings.

I was curious about the Vietnamese roll (169 CZK). Of all the things I tried, this was the only one I considered a failure.

The waiter told me it was fried, but it was only lightly griddled. The menu says it is filled with shrimp, avocado, shallots, and mayo.

While I could see some of those things inside, all I could taste was a large amount of mayo and some celery. A sweet mustard sauce sat on the side.

We enjoyed the cool and refreshing soba salad (179 CZK).

The buckwheat noodles were combined with fresh spinach, mint, peanuts, and a light vinegar dressing. You will also feel some garlic.

An alternative is the green papaya salad (169 CZK).

This was a handful of crunchy papaya mixed with cherry tomatoes, spring onions, sprouts, and peanuts. The tart dressing included lime and fish sauce. Nice.

Two soups I really loved, the corn with coconut milk and the Five Treasures have dropped off the menu update. I won't tease you with the pictures.

They still have the tom-yam (179 CZK).

This type of hot and sour soup is not usually made with coconut milk. Some variations are made with a small amount, but this version was much more like a Tom Kha Goong.

Either way, the large bowl was loaded with glass noodles, calamari, shrimp, and shiitake mushrooms. The seafood was fresh and well-complemented by the lime leaf and fish sauce, plus with a slow-building heat. It was very filling by itself.

I sampled my Thai litmus test dish, the Pad Thai with shrimp (249 CZK). I'd rank this one second only to the version at Noi, which is still my favorite in the city.

The noodles had layers of flavor that ran from tangy to smoky to salty to nutty. There was a bounty of shrimp in there. I counted 12. Though not large, they were cooked just right to a delicate and still tender state.

Continuing with the Thai theme, there's the massaman curry with beef (249 CZK). Rice is included in the price.

In my recent story about Občanská plovárna, I was talking about my desire for thicker, creamier curries in Prague. This is exactly what I was talking about. It's my wish fulfilled.

Thai curries are usually thin and soup like. The exceptions are panang and massaman curries, which can be creamier and more Indian-like in their consistency.

In this one, chunks of beef were slow-cooked to softness. The meat was surrounded by eggplant, potato, white onion, green onion, and peanuts. The spiciness built up slowly. It was a little too salty for me, but otherwise great.

If you like that one, you might want to try their "Chang-Mai" noodles (249 CZK).

Their homemade egg noodles were covered in a thick, red curry coconut sauce. There was also tender chicken, coriander (cilantro), green onions, white onions, peanuts, mushrooms, and eggplant.

Continuing with the egg noodle theme, they have a Japanese dish they call Kuni salmon (249 CZK). This included shrimp, yams, leeks, and oyster sauce.

The shrimp were excellent again and the yams had a mild sweetness. Overall, it had a strong flavor of Thai basil supplemented by the large amount of fresh coriander on top. I did hear one complaint that there weren't enough of the small pieces of salmon.

I'd note here that they were accommodating and prepared this once without salmon on request. Another time, my date asked if they would make a vegetable stir fry, which was not on the menu.

They were happy to do so, and she was happy with their creative effort.

From the Chinese portion of the menu, I ordered the Sichuan Beef (279 CZK).

The tender beef slices were mixed with a sweet and seriously spicy sauce. There was also bok choy, green and white onions, and what tasted like Thai basil. Rice came with it in the bowl.

The last of the main courses was the pork ribs (249 CZK).

These baby backs were not as tender as the American style ribs at Mood, but they were still easy to peel apart with fingers. Although the menu said they have a "sweet and spicy glaze," I found them more salty than sweet. And I thought they were great. The flavor brought me back to London's Gerrard Street and New York's Chinatown. It wasn't exactly the same, but close enough.

On the last visit, we tried the two new and most expensive items on the menu. My date had the Zebra maguro (570 CZK). It was sesame-crusted seared tuna over bok choi cooked with soy sauce.

We were guaranteed it would be served very rare. Although not quite as rare as we would have liked, it was still within our acceptable range. There was a sour yuzu sauce on the side.

My date liked the tuna. I thought it was OK, but I'd say it didn't satisfy my price to pleasure quotient.

I had their Thai-style sea bass (490 CZK). Although I'm a big tuna fan, I actually like this dish better.

The large, fresh filet rested on a very tart lime, coriander, and lime leaf sauce. There was also fried garlic and cherry tomatoes underneath. It might be too sour for some people, but I enjoyed the strong taste.

Rice came on the side for both dishes, but it went less well with the tuna, which had very little sauce with it.

To drink, I most often had the .3 liter glass of Merlin dark beer (45 CZK).

It was on the sweet side, with coffee and caramel notes. They also serve Lobkowicz Premium 12° beer, which I like as an alternative to Pilsner Urquell.

My date drank rosé (99 CZK) and a large bottle of Romerquelle sparkling water 85 CZK) on one visit.

Her favorite beverage was their super thick, creamy, homemade mango lassi (95 CZK).

As enjoyable as it was, the downside is that it is a very small bottle for a big price. They also have .25 liter bottles of BonAqua, which is not cheap either (55 CZK).

I did try one dessert: the marquise chocolate with ginger and orange (99 CZK).

This was something akin to a rich chocolate mousse with candied orange peel. I liked it very much.

What about the service? It was all over the place. There was a total melt down on one visit with two forgotten orders, incorrect charges on the bill and the like.

On a couple of visits, the service was terse and impersonal. On another two, it was stellar. Our hyper-efficient waiter was as friendly and as sweet as their wings.

I'd make some allowances for the restaurant being newly opened. The later visits did have better service.

The location, at a crossroads of Prague's tourist trails, can't be cheap. The rising prices did take away some of the feeling of value. I thought the price for water was ridiculous.

However, with many filling and delicious dishes going for around 250 CZK, it's still possible to eat at this restaurant and not go broke. My meals for two with at least two courses and drinks averaged 1000 CZK.

In the end, I became obsessed with Zebra because it presented flavors that were familiar to me and, at the same time, so unfamiliar in Prague.

It's clear the people behind this restaurant have an international perspective and did their homework. Although not gourmet or groundbreaking, Zebra brought back memories of simple, but satisfying meals in London, New York, Los Angeles, Beijing, and Thailand.

For me, food like that is hard to forget.

Zebra Asian Noodle Bar
Melantrichova 5
Prague 1
Tel. (+420) 777 873 333

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Coa

"Ivan Ilyich's life was most simple, and most ordinary, and therefore most terrible." Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

I have a most terrible obsession with Asian food. My recent trip to Berlin attests to this. In the land of currywurst, I ate only Japanese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Thai.

It's fair to say that the German capital has higher quality and a wider variety of offerings than Prague.

Next to my hotel off Potsdamer Platz, there was an Asian restaurant called Coa. The chain, which has outlets around Germany, offers an eclectic mix of dishes that cross a number of borders.

At the beginning of March, Coa opened in Prague -- its first non-German outlet.

The bright, eye-catching space in the high-traffic area at Náměstí Republiky provoked my curiosity.

The investment in design made me think they'd invest heavily in the cooking.

There are a variety seating options. They have lounge-like banquettes.

There's a small, semi-private area, separated by screens.

One could select tables against walls with rough wood panels.

Or you could try the long tables with stools in front of the open kitchen.

On my first visit with my Italian companion, we started with soup. She got "the meatless bunch" (75 CZK).

This was a vegetable soup with shiitake and button mushrooms, bok choy, red chilies, and cherry tomatoes. The flavorful, steamy broth had a strong shot of soy. We both liked it.

I had the pumpkin and coconut soup with prawns, button mushrooms and chives (109 CZK).

It was creamy, sweet, and tangy. The coconut overshadowed the pumpkin. I thought it was good and would get it again.

We both decided to drink wine, and what they serve is on the expensive side. Wines by the glass are 70 to 80 CZK for .1 liter. We drank glasses of Chupin Rosé d'Anjou.

It was too sweet for me. They also serve .25 liter bottles of Bonaqua (25 CZK), which I hate.

Next up was what they call "Summer in a Roll" otherwise known as summer rolls. They are 95 CZK, plus a supplemental charge depending on whether you choose chicken, beef, or duck to go with it. With duck, it adds up to 209 CZK.

The way they serve it is more common in Asia, though I've never seen it in Europe: roll your own. The cold, moist rice paper is held between circular, plastic mesh discs. Peal one off, fill it up, fold it up, dip and eat. They gave me three, but told me I could have more if necessary.

I won't show you how mine turned out. It held together, but it wasn't so pretty. Frankly, I'd rather have someone do it for me.

You can load it with unseasoned rice noodles, mint, coriander, carrot, spring onions, lettuce, and bean sprouts. There was a hoisin dipping sauce on the side. The cold duck was good and reasonably moist and fresh, but nothing too special.

The small "Mango Chicken Fresh-up" (115 CZK) is basically a salad.

This includes hoisin-marinated chicken, lettuce leaves, red pepper, black sesame and mango-chili dressing. The menu said it came with chopped peanuts, but these were unchopped and difficult to keep on a fork.

The mango was a little on the sour side and the chicken didn't have much flavor. The whole thing was awkward to mix together in the small bowl. To eat the components in combination, I decided to use a spoon.

My friend got the wok vegetables, which included bok choy, broccoli, and red peppers.

This was good. The vegetables retained crunch and flavor.

We shared a mix of 8 dim sum (159 CZK).

There's the "pork and prawn meeting," "sesame pool duck," and more. Dim sum is a rarity in Prague, and I'd rate almost all as good. We both were put off by the "sweet & creamy fusion," which was just cream cheese.

I had some room, so we ordered the "lemon beef noodle session" (154 CZK).

The meat was well-marinated in lemongrass, but the beef itself was low quality. It was tough and underwhelming underneath the seasoning. The noodles were plain and unseasoned. Disappointing.

Finally, I ended with a glass of ginger iced tea.

It cost around 60 CZK. It was a strong brew with the flavor of real Thai tea. Slices of ginger floated at the top, but it did not infuse into the tea. I couldn't really taste it.

What I could taste was a shocking amount of sugar. I had to order an extra glass and ice, pour some of it out, and dilute it with water. Then it was drinkable. I wished they had a version with condensed milk.

After this, I made a solo visit. I ordered the beef masaman (255 CZK).

In the bowl were sweet potatoes, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, and snow peas. Again, the beef was tough and it had an odd flavor.

All was covered with a thin coconut milk curry that tasted of lime leave and provided some heat. I'm always wishing the curries at Asian restaurants in Prague had thicker sauce.

To drink, I got the "Thai basil smash," also known as the Coa Mojito (125 CZK).

It was a dull, flat, and watery failure.

For dessert, I had the chocolate hazelnut cake (50 CZK).

It was OK, but had the rather artificial quality of a mass-produced dessert.

I returned for one last meal. We got the "coconut clash" or tom kha gung (97 CZK).

I'd rate this as above average. It had a good balance of sweet and sour, a little chili kick, a good hit of galangal and coriander, and a creamy consistency. The prawns were small but cooked just right. It was rounded out with mushrooms and spring onions.

The "papaya prawn parade" (98 CZK) was OK.

I liked the Thai chili dressing with lots of fish sauce, but it quickly pooled in the bottom of the bowl. There were too many bean sprouts for my taste. They overwhelmed the cherry tomatoes, mint, and papaya. Again, the peanuts were unchopped and awkward.

The prawn package dim sum was good (108 CZK).

Finally, I had the Pad Thai with shrimp (188 CZK). I use this dish as a measuring stick for any restaurant that does Thai.

Unfortunately, I'd rate it as another fail. The whole was less than the sum of its parts. It was bland, one-dimensional, and needed more lime juice and a salty note, perhaps some fish sauce. The sliced pieces of prawn were tiny. Again I was chasing the rolling peanuts around the plate.

If they want a lesson on how to do Phad Thai right, they should send the chefs over to Noi. They cook the best I've had in Prague.

I thought Coa would turn out Asian cuisine of a higher international standard than we've become used to in Prague. Granted, I didn't try many things from their long menu, but my high expectations were brought low by a number of lackluster dishes. It's not exactly cheap, either.

It's a new place that has a different style than we've seen before here. Hopefully with some experience and constructive feedback, they'll improve.

Right now, despite its fancy looks and quirky menu, I'd say most of the food I tried was most simple and most ordinary.

Coa
Revoluční 1
Prague 1
Tel. (+420) 222 318 724

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