Sometimes ‘less is more’ – quite overrated: Restaurant Café de Paris (7. October 2017)

The restaurant Café de Paris has been recommended by the book “Where the chefs eat” which has been quite a reliable source of great places to eat at. The book / app had recommended to have the Entrecôte Café de Paris, so I was naturally interested how it was going to taste.

I had called before to make sure there was a table free – and when we arrived there seemed to be quite some confusion about a table being reserved or not. And frankly, it wasn’t really a welcoming atmosphere. We were led to a room in the back of the restaurant which wasn’t entirely appealing and then they gave us a small round table. Well, French service, I assume.

However, as a starter, I decided to have an “onion soup with melted cheese and French baguette” (65 CZK) which was okay. I mean, the soup tasted like onions, there were fresh ones and roasted ones, and it was cheesy.

The “leaf salad” which was served before the Entrecôte was not too bad either.

Now, I was super curious about the “Entrecôte ‘Café de Paris’ grilled filet of beef with our french fries, leaf salad, French baguette and secret recipe sauce ‘Café de Paris'” (399 CZK). And frankly, I was a bit disappointed. The meat was generally okay but a bit too chewy for my personal gusto. However, they managed to cook it perfectly medium-rare as requested. Which surprised me especially since one of the starters of our group was forgotten and we explicitly stated afterwards that we wanted to wait a bit with the main course. The recipe for the sauce is maybe secret and that’s okay as it isn’t a sauce which I would want to copy. Definitely have had better Entrecôte in my life! It isn’t bad or anything but definitely not as famous as the app states.

For dessert, I went for the “Crème Brûlée à la vanille” (130 CZK) which was freshly prepared and quite decent in taste. But overall, the food isn’t really that outstanding as my experience with the app / book would have suggested.

The prices are overall okay – the 79 CZK for 0,7l mineral water or 679 CZK for a bottle of “Malbec Dona Paula, Mendoza, 2016, Argentina” or the 55 CZK for an espresso are all within a fair limit. In terms of atmosphere. the place is quite okay – however, in terms of service, there is still quite a way to go. The waiter was jovial and friendly but somehow over-excited. He forgot the starter, forgot to bring water, kept pouring wine in one of the glasses where the ‘owner’ repeatedly said that it was enough. And he spilled water. Aad when serving more fries, kind of splattered them over the table – twice. Sometimes ‘less is more’ – and that was definitely such a case. So, definitely not on my ‘must visit again’ list.

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Contact Details:

Restaurant Café de Paris

Velkopřevorské nám. 485/4

118 00 Praha (CZ)

Tel.: +420 603 160 718

Homepage: http://www.cafedeparis.cz

About the Author: Sven

I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org. Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City.