Bresto Cafe & Wine Bar

"Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts." E.B. White

Sometimes, I judge a book by its cover. Or a restaurant by its front room.

Sometimes, I learn that this is not always a good thing to do.

I'd gotten a couple of recommendations about Bresto Cafe & Wine Bar over the last year. But when I glanced through the front window a long while back, it turned me off. I saw tables in a small bar area filled with members of the cell phone and cigarette set puffing away.

Not my kind of place, I thought. I didn't feel the urge to try it.

But I kept hearing positive comments about the French and Italian menu. I finally broke down, looked past my preconceived notions, and made my way to the restaurant on Štěpánská, not far from Wenceslas Square.The front room was not so smoky this time.I made my way to the larger non-smoking area in the back and was more impressed. I liked the modern, cheerful, artfully lit space.There was a cool, lounge-like area further back, with walls artistically paneled with wood from wine crates.Jersey Girl met me at the restaurant for dinner. She's a foodie, a great cook, and an admittedly tough critic. True to form, she quickly made a cutting comment about the tiny paper napkins on the table.

Since Bresto is a wine bar with oeno-inspired decor, she suggested we should have a bottle. I agreed.They have an extensive list with moderately priced French, Italian, Czech and other national offerings.

She ordered the Estampa Riserva Syrah-Cabernet (390 CZK).We thought it was great for the price. We also shared a bottle of San Benedetto sparkling water (90 CZK).

The bread basket contained fresh French baguette slices.There was a specific charge of 25 CZK for it on the bill.

I started with the duck foie gras accompanied by Port wine reduction and toasted Brioche (195 CZK).The liver was silky smooth and delicious. I especially liked the sweet, tart, and syrupy sauce. The brioche was the real deal, but unfortunately, it was dried out and crumbly.

Jersey Girl tried out their Caprese salad (145 CZK).She liked it, but thought the mozzarella di bufala could have been creamier. I thought it was perfectly fine.

She liked that the tomatoes were sliced so thin, making them easier to eat. I appreciated the balsamic reduction and the generous amount of chopped basil on top. I love basil and in many versions, you only get a leaf or two.

For a main course, she ordered a special of Penne Arrabbiata (159 CZK).She said she rarely finds any pasta she thinks is cooked correctly in Prague, and she proclaimed this one as perfectly al dente. We both also savored the garlicky fresh tomato sauce with a few lightly cooked cherry tomatoes. Simple but highly effective.

Bavette or flank steak is one of my favorites, so I had that (295 CZK).It was tender and delicious, with perfect levels of salt, pepper, and pan flavors.

I asked for medium rare. I'd say it was on the rare side, but the beef was of such quality, I was actually glad.It came with lovely roasted Grenaille potatoes and a creamy, dreamy pepper sauce. It was among the creamiest and most delicious I've had.

For dessert, I had the chocolate moelleux, also known as a fondant (135 CZK).It was a good, rich iteration with decent vanilla ice cream.With coffee, the bill came to 1471 CZK before tip. Not bad considering it included a bottle of wine.

We both liked our dinner so much that we decided to return the following week with Jersey Girl's husband, the English Patient.We shared a few .4 liter glasses of Pilsner Urquell (39 CZK) to start things off.JG's starter of grilled eggplant with sheep cheese (129 CZK) was pretty good.The thin-sliced aubergine was topped with a rich tomato sauce and some plump olives. The warm, creamy cheese was the star, with the eggplant and sauce fading into the background.

I sampled the French onion soup (45 CZK). This was my first real disappointment.I expected the usual brown, aromatic broth flavored with wine and caramelized onions. This version seemed more Czech to me. I found it bland and boring, and JG agreed.

JG had the La Riviera Salad (159 CZK). It came with grilled goat cheese, walnuts, and roasted cherry tomatoes with honey-balsamic dressing.JG complained that it was underdressed, but I thought it was fine. I always find white toast to be a boring complement. The cheese was good, but overall, it was unexciting.

EP had the chicken Caesar salad (139 CZK).I didn't taste it, but EP was not impressed. It was rather limp, and just an average iteration. Nothing special.

I had the black risotto with cuttlefish ink, shrimp, and candied lime (249 CZK).The rice had a nice buttery flavor, but it was overcooked. The shrimp were done properly with just the right texture, but didn't have much seasoning or taste on their own. The few small bits of lime were an interesting touch.

It was OK, but not as memorable as the risotto at Zelena Zahrada.

This bill for the three of us, which included four beers and a couple of glasses of wine, was only 1062 CZK. Service was good, but was better on the first visit than on the second.

If I had only experienced the first meal, I'd give Bresto a big rave.

The second trip was a little anti-climactic, but still, there is a lot of good to be found there -- more than most places. I think the prices are reasonable for the quality.

Now, I'm recommending Bresto, even though I've had to endure an "I told you so" and a "what took you so long" from a friend.

So I've finally gathered the facts and formed a fair opinion. It just took a little longer than it should have.

Bresto Cafe & Wine Bar
Štěpánská 31
Prague 1
Tel. (+420) 222 212 810

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Mistral Café Restaurant

"The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, familiar things new." William Makepeace Thackeray

The menu on the wall outside Mistral Café Restaurant looks all too familiar.There's pork schnitzel, beef with cream sauce and dumplings, and steak tartare.

But if you assume that this new restaurant by the Starometska metro station is the same old thing, you'd be wrong.

First of all, it doesn't look like other Czech eateries in this city.The scored concrete walls, smooth concrete floors, open space, and high-intensity spot lighting, give the restaurant the spare aesthetic of an art gallery.It's not that surprising since it took the place of the Arzenal Design Lounge, which sold the art glass of Bořek Šípek.

There's a separate dining area in the back near the bar and service area.And there are three tables next to shelves of fresh herbs that look out over a nice garden.The back window opens wide, but it's not possible to sit outside.

I decided to go to Mistral after a positive comment on the Czech Please Facebook page. But the non-Czech offerings I saw on the menu when I walked by also piqued my interest.

On my first visit, I ordered the thick pumpkin soup with ginger and grilled chicken (79 CZK).I'll confess to low expectations. I'd never had a good pumpkin soup in Prague outside of my own kitchen.

But this one was excellent and almost exactly as I'd have made it. The soup was, indeed, made with real, pureed pumpkin, and it sparkled with fresh ginger. The sliced chicken breast was tender, and rested on a bed of sliced pumpkin.

One of my few quibbles would be that the chunks only had a dull, earthy flavor. Also, the soup was fairly salty and, for my personal taste, a hint of sweetness and a shot of lemon would have improved it.

I passed on their alcoholic offerings and ordered a chocolate milkshake (42 CZK). It was a generous size for the price.But this shake suffered from low-quality, artificial-tasting chocolate ice cream. It was also on the milky side and had small ice chips in it.

I ordered the bacon, egg, chicken breast and fried zucchini sandwich on toast with ginger mayo (95 CZK).This was a buttery, decadent sandwich, and I enjoyed every bite.

Everything on the toast had that just-off-the-grill taste. The properly-cooked chicken was similar to that in the soup. I thought I'd mind having zucchini in this combination, but the thin slices, cooked to softness, really worked.

I enjoyed it much more than the unwieldy bacon, egg, and chicken sandwich at Cafe Savoy. And it was also better than the simple Club Sandwich at Cafe Louvre.

I did not see or taste the ginger mayo, so I mentioned it to the waiter. This led to an odd, and somewhat amusing experience. The waiter communicated my complaint to the chef, who works in the basement, speaking via two-way closed circuit video.The audio of the chef could be heard all the way to my table.

"I put the mayo on the sandwich!" he said.

Then, the waiter comes over to tell me the chef is sure he put the mayo there. It could well have been true -- the heat of the chicken, fried egg, and toast may have caused it to disappear into the buttery bread.

Still, I didn't really taste it, so it would have been best if the chef had sent up an extra portion on the dumb waiter.

Along with my sandwich, I also got their homemade French fries (41 CZK).Some might find them too greasy, but I liked the large, lightly crispy wedges, served in brown paper. I had to ask for ketchup, which was duly sent up in a small dish from the basement without complaint.

It was a cold, unpleasant spring evening, and I was in full comfort food mode. I was pleased with my meal. The chef might not be a great diplomat, but he had a flair for flavor. It made me curious about how they execute other items on their menu. I was back the next day.

This time, I started with a Pilsner Urquell draft, which they only serve in .3 liter glasses (29 CZK).All good.

Then, I ordered the grilled pork "sirloin" marinated in honey and chili with a mushroom ragout in cream sauce (189 CZK).I liked it. There was no sweetness from the honey marinade, but a very mild heat from the chili.

The meat itself, a generous portion of tenderloin, was tender, juicy, and cooked just right. They used good mushrooms in the sauce.

On the side were what they called "potato lumps." That's a pretty good description, but if it were up to me, I'd call them fried mashed potato fingers. I found them addictively delicious, especially with the sauce.

With this course, I had a .5 liter bottle of Kozel dark (37 CZK).
The subtle coffee-chocolate flavors in this beer went extremely well with this dish.

I felt obliged to try a dessert. I went for the pancakes with raspberry compote and Czech cream cheese or tvaroh (79 CZK). The little pancakes looked invitingly thick and fluffy. But I was disappointed.

Though clearly homemade, they had been made earlier and reheated. They weren't hot enough and were too chewy.

The cappuccino was fine.Although not perfect, something about Mistral intrigued me. I returned again the next day.

Since the first soup was so good, I thought I'd have another. I got the tomato with cheese-curd ravioli (49 CZK).The soup of pureed tomatoes had a thickness to it. But it was on the bland side. It came with basil leaves, but it would be much better with a stronger shot of basil flavor.

The "ravioli" were long, finger-like things that were stale and chewy. Very unfortunate.

They have some cocktails on the menu, so I tried a mojito (119 CZK).It was a good, well-mixed drink for a good price.

I wanted to see how they did a Czech classic. So I came back the next day for a third meal and ordered the beef with cream sauce and dumplings, also known as svíčková na smetaně (149 CZK).Although the literal translation is "tenderloin," most restaurants use a lesser cut. But here, they clearly used a better cut.

It even had the thick, round shape of a tenderloin. Of course, it was cooked almost to a braised state like many places do. But it was still tender and tasty.

But the sauce was the best part. Unlike some places with a thinner sauce like Lokál, Mistral's had a body to it from all the pureed vegetables. Its lemony tartness stood above its light sweetness.

I liked that there was a squeezable piece of lemon included, unlike most places which give just a slice. And instead of the usual cranberry sauce, there were dried cranberries.

The only bit that really failed were the dumplings. Those were really dried out and chewy.

I was still curious about what the kitchen was capable of so I came back the next day for an unprecedented fourth consecutive fact-finding trip.

I started off this visit with their ice cream coffee (52 CZK).Served in a large coffee cup, it was not mixed well, and there was not enough ice cream. After stirring it up, it looked like this.I added some sugar to make it more milkshake-like.

The mushroom risotto with chicken (145 CZK) was listed under small dishes, but it was not so small.This dish was probably the biggest failure of those I sampled. The rice was so al dente and even dry that I got mandibular muscle fatigue.

There were some beautiful wild mushrooms that made a contribution to great flavor.But the whole thing was way too salty. And in this dish, the ubiquitous chicken I'd seen in other items was overcooked, tough, and dry.

I also ordered steak tartare (249 CZK).I had expected it to come as a second course, so I was unhappily surprised when the waiter brought it out with my risotto.

The beef was lightly seasoned with salt and ground relatively smooth. Unlike many other versions around town, I couldn't detect any significant level of onion, garlic, ketchup, or mustard. Still, I enjoyed this simpler iteration.

There was roasted garlic on the side, which was a little more awkward to eat than the usual raw stuff that can easily be rubbed on the fried bread.

Mistral Cafe Restaurant can be frustrating.

Some dishes are great. Some fall flat. Sometimes you'll love what's on the left side of the plate, but not the right.

The kitchen took its eye off the ball when it came to consistency. Some of this, I'd hope, is because the restaurant is still very new and there aren't a lot of customers yet.

On the plus side, the prices are quite reasonable for the center of Prague. Some of the city's great sights are just a few steps away.They also do breakfast, which I have yet to try. But I'd be more than happy with one of those egg sandwiches.

Even with some miscues, they've managed to take plenty of familiar things and make them seem new for me.

And that's no small thing.

Mistral Café Restaurant
Valentinská 11
Prague 1 - Old Town
Tel: (+420) 222 317 737

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Millème Boulangerie Pâtisserie Café

"I went to a cafe that advertised breakfast anytime, so I ordered French toast during the Renaissance." Stephen Wright

When I first saw Millème, my reaction was "Qu'est-ce que c'est?"I didn't expect to see such a pretty place on this busy street. The eye-catching French café is close to the Jiřího z Poděbrad metro station, just across from The Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord. So you'll always know what time it is.

I went through the doors and saw that Millème was pretty on the inside, too. There was simple, colorful furniture, dark wood flooring, and plenty of light.The walls did look bare, though.

There was a beautiful spread of fruit and vegetables under a water mister.They make regular fruit or veggie smoothies for 80 CZK. The ones made with "exotic" fruit cost 120 CZK.

On my first visit, I got a bunch of stuff to take away. The first treat that caught my eye was the raspberry tart (95 CZK). This was rather exotic. The receipt called it a "Shogun."The berries sat on a green tea cream, held by a chocolate nut crust.

The glazed fruit was, fresh, tart, and sweet, and I really liked the cookie-like base. I was amazed how assertive the green tea flavor was. I appreciated how unusual it was. However, it might not appeal to everyone.

For a second sweet, I went for the straight-up chocolate tart (66 CZK).The rich, intense chocolate filled the same tasty crust as the raspberry version. But it was not quite as good as the chocolate tart at Millème's closest competition, Paul at Palác Flóra.

I also got a pain au chocolat (28 CZK). Very buttery and nice chocolate.I'd say this was as good or better than the one at Paul. However, that one was only 19 CZK. The ones at the pâtisserie, Café St. Tropez, can also be great. They use high-grade Valrhona chocolate, but I don't recall the price.

I went back another time and sat outside on a weekened morning to enjoy the last of the warm summer weather.For my breakfast, I ordered a ham and cheese omelet (75 CZK). It was mostly unremarkable.I liked that omelet was on the runny side. Neither the ham nor the cheese had too much flavor.Uncouth savage that I am, I asked if they had some ketchup. I wasn't surprised that this very French place only had mustard. It needed salt and pepper. It did look lonely on the plate, without any bread or other side items.

A French breakfast was also available (120 CZK). That comes with coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, orange juice, a croissant or pain au chocolat, half a baguette, butter, and jam.

There were also several types of quiche available (89 CZK). They also had salads: Caprese(129 CZK), Niçoise (159 CZK), grilled chicken (179 CZK) and goat cheese (189 CZK).

Simple sandwiches were available (69-99 CZK).

I was intrigued when I saw the menu mentioned fresh iced tea (39 CZK). It came in a frosted glass that formed some slush in the tea, but there were no actual ice cubes. There was tea foam at the top, something I'd never seen before.It was OK with some sugar, but I should have asked for a lemon slice. It wasn't bad, but given it's small size, I didn't think it was worth the money.

I sat and read a book for a while in the sun. Then, I decided that a dessert to go with my breakfast would not be inappropriate.

I ordered the Moelleux chocolat with vanilla ice cream (98 CZK). The warm, perfectly formed cake also came with a dish of chocolate sauce.The cake, with its liquid chocolate center was good, though not the best I've had. I didn't particularly like the vanilla ice cream, but the sauce helped.

The cake's shape was so perfect, the interior so consistent, I wondered if it was baked fresh on the premises. But given the beauty of some of their other offerings, I though it very possible it was.

To go with my cake, I got a decaf cafe latte (49 CZK).It was nice to look at, great foam, and tasted just fine, but the latte was only warm, not hot, on arrival. Perhaps the milk was not heated properly.

I'm glad to see the continuing renaissance of food and drink options in this part of Prague.

I'd like to try a few other things at Millème, but it is hard to imagine anything will outshine their cakes, pastries, and other desserts.

I do wish they'd expand their breakfast menu. My humble suggestion would be to offer that simple, lovely creation the French call pain perdu.

That's a breakfast I'd have anytime. But I'd still call it French toast.

Millème Boulangerie Pâtisserie Café
Náměstí Jiřího z Poděbrad 4
Prague 2 - Vinohrady
Tel. (+420) 223 002 274

I have to add something to this post. After I published it, V went to Millème and had a very bad service experience. The waiter got first her juice order and then her omelet order wrong, kept her waiting more than 20 minutes for it to be fixed, even though the cafe was empty, and was unapologetic and rude when she complained. I hope this is not an ongoing problem.

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