You don’t need to be a full-blooded gourmet to appreciate light and healthy Mediterranean dishes – especially in the summertime – as unlike traditional Czech fare, it won’t leave you in a food coma for the rest of the day. And so we set off to Mirellie in Prague’s central Vinohrady district near náměstí Míru (its older sister restaurant is in Dejvice).
The décor is modern and bright, yet somehow sober; the larger of the two dining areas is reserved for smokers while there is also a small outdoor garden where we must all try to get along. During the day, Mirellie offers a lunch menu with options for Kč 109, Kč 129 and Kč 149 (we went a bit higher end) featuring fresh fish and seafood dishes, along with typical Italian-Mediterranean favorites like homemade pasta and risotto alla pescatore (Kč 190).
Off to a good start...
The warm Prague weather nudged us towards the red peppers with feta cheese (Kč 125): the garlic gave it a nice kick and the olive oil was quality and the feta was real feta — not its poor, dry, crumbly Czech relation, balkánský sýr — and absolutely fresh. A rare treat, indeed. With the swordfish (Pesce spada alla menta) that followed, it would have made for an ideal albeit pricey lunch.
Truth be told, we were at lured in by the promise of fresh mint (that the menu promised would garnish some lovely swordfish with zucchini), but due to adventures in the kitchen, perhaps, the dish arrived with parsley. Ah, the old bait and switch — and at Kč 355. Even so, the swordfish, among the densest of fish (in terms of its flesh, that is) was quite tasty and the portion of baby zucchini suitable for an adult appetite.
... then boredom set in
The other choice was the most expensive on the daily menu — tomato soup followed by turkey medallions with wild mushrooms (for a good Kč 100 less than the swordfish) . The soup arrived in a large decorative bowl that had seen better days. The consistency was nice and thick, with the tomato pulp evident, not too pureed, with slivers of garlic and onion swimming in the concoction, which was topped off with a few drops of pesto.
The chef’s taste, however, is evidently on the sweet side, and though not bad, neither did it stir up great enthusiasm. Pity that they didn’t add some ravioli to add a bit of fun.
Also on the menu was grilled turkey schnitzels with wild mushrooms and a golden sauce, along with potatoes sprinkled with parsley; this selection brought about genuine regret. The meat itself was inoffensive; it was the mushrooms — with the trace of slime (perhaps too harsh a word) from their incarceration in a jar of brine — that left us disappointed.
The sauce, on the other hand, was remarkable. In its total lack of taste, that is. The same can be said for the potatoes, some of which weren’t fully boiled.
We wouldn’t hesitate, therefore, to recommend the entire last dish to those on a convalescence following a bout with at attack on the gall bladder. Deadly dull, sterile potatoes, flavorless sauce, wild mushrooms that belied the name when they should have been the crowning glory of the dish.
Bittersweet symphony
As lunch wound down, out of sheer laziness we didn’t wander over to the dessert fridge and followed the recommendation of our waitress. Big mistake. The fruit tart in gelatin — oh so much gelatin — had layers of cream and a chocolate shell. The (forest?) fruit was so dense as to resemble marmalade. Desserts of this kind are not our cup of tea.
The other dessert was meant to be a “marzipan cake” called bajadera, a torte with a variety of ground nuts, layers of chocolate and lots of butter that has its origins in the former Yugoslavia, which is where the owner hails from as do most of the wait staff – who were not unfriendly but again not all that attentive, either. They brought the menu, the dishes, cleared the plates … but nothing more.
But back to the bajadera: the flavor of the orient cannot be denied. Though a nougaty sugar fest, as nut lovers, we were not unsatisfied. This is our fondest memory of Mirellie.
Resumé
For lunch we paid Kč 1,104 including drinks — a fair and absolutely middle-of-the-road price for a meal at a proper restaurant in Vinohrady — but then there are many Mediterranean-style restaurants to choose from in Prague these days, and Mirellie did not stand out from the crowd. The food was not exceptional and the waitstaff a bit inattentive. Still, it’s worth a visit on a hot summer day for some light fare.
Mirellie
Mediterranean restaurant
Korunní 23, Prague 2
www.mirellie.cz
Tel.: 222 521 814
