Thai Oishi: Eating Good

I met with a friend recently. We met over a meal of Asian dishes: friend noodles, rice, stir fry. It was good but it was a Western version of Asian foods. My friend began to spout about this amazing new restaurant he'd discovered in a part of town I wouldn't have believed had anything but pubs and goulash. But he claimed this Thai and Japanese restaurant had fresh sushi and great crab cakes. I was game and we made a plan to eat.

We met up on a Saturday afternoon and headed to Palmovka metro station. The restaurant is a short walk, only one street from the metro. It sits in the ground floor of an old residential building, surrounded by a street of old residential buildings. If you weren't looking for it, you wouldn't find it.

Everything in the restaurant is new and bright and welcoming. The walls are covered with posters of the Thai King, Thai dances and Thai dishes. There are two menus: Japanese and Thai. We ordered dishes from both. The food was genuine and fresh and everything you'd want from a little known gem. Plus, it won't break the bank because all the dishes are reasonably priced.

If you are looking for fresh sushi, well done maki, tasty Phat Thai, spicy shrimp or piping hot crab cakes you don't need to hop a plane to Bangkok, just get yourself to Prague 8 and fill your tummy.

http://www.thaioishi.cz/

The First Wednesday of every Month

The end of February is near and March will be rushing in like a lamb, I hope. But until spring has sprung and you can spend all your evenings drinking Pilsner at the local beer garden without fear of frostbite, there is a warm FREE activity I can recommend to get you through the last days of winter.

The first Wednesday of every month, the National Gallery of Prague opens its doors to the public for free from 15.00-20.00 (3pm-8pm). The Gallery has eight locations in Prague, including the House at the Black Madonna (Dům U Černé Matky Boží), Kinsky Palace (Palác Kinských) and Waldstein Riding School (Valdštejnská jízdárna).

Each location offers a different type of visual art experience, from medieval to art nouveau to contemporary. You can choose whatever you are in the mood for. Or maybe choose a type of art you've never seen before, or something you never want to see. When it's free, there is just no excuse not to.

www.ngprague.cz

Kardamon Klub

I love to eat and I love to travel, and Kardamon Klub may just be the restaurant that fills both those loves to a T.

The Kardamon Klub is located in the center of Prague, near Betlemske namesti. It is hidden down an alley, behind an imposing wooden door and down into a cheerful cellar.

The thing about the Kardamon Klub is there isn't just one menu. There are several menus based on Middle Eastern, African and Indian dishes. The menu you order from depends on how many times you have visited the restaurant. The first time you visit you have the Lebanon menu, the second time Persia, your third trip takes you to Yemen, then Zanzibar and finally you land in India. Throughout your visits to the restaurant you travel through a variety of culinary traditions. What a clever idea.

As it was our first visit, we had the menu inspired by Lebanon. We started with humus, pita bread, and salad. The next course was a variety of chicken, liver and tomato stews. Then we had small savory pastries stuffed with spinach and lamb. The whole meal was topped off with strong coffee and honey drowned pancakes.

I can't wait for the next journey!


www.hedvabnastezka.cz/kardamon