Gabriela G.
Yelp
Wow wow wow!!!!! Absolutely worthy of its Michelin Star. The ambiance, the service, the food, the attention to detail, the wines, every single element related to this restaurant is a solid 5 gold stars!
PRE-VISIT: We made a reservation just days before our arrival to Prague (and we were lucky to be able to get a table). Over email they asked us if we had any food allergies or preferences. Both my husband and I are pescatarian (mostly vegetarian), so we mentioned this.
AMBAINCE
When we arrived at LDBB it was like love at first sight. The L-shaped restaurant was modern, chic, but also classy with dim lighting and clean design. All the tables were full of diners. Our table was the best seat in the house - facing the open, pristine and clean kitchen where the chefs worked in unison like a choreographed dance, and with the precision of surgeons performing a surgery.
Our menus were given to us in sealed envelopes, it felt like we were opening a gift. The seal on the envelope matched the glass design on their windows, as well as the graphics on the back of the menu, a folded up crisp piece of paper with two degustation options: a 6 course meal and a 9 course meal. My husband and I don't eat that much in general, and last time we had a 9 course meal (at Fiskmarkadurinn in Reykjavic, Iceland) we were unable to get through it, so we chose the 6 course. Our server knew (from our reservation) that we were pescatarian so they had adapted the menu for us. We did opt for the Wine pairing - which I highly recommend and is absolutely worth the splurge.
FOOD AND WINE:
The six courses ended up being more like a nine course anyway; since the kitchen spoils you with delectable pre-appetizers. We started with a sampling of clean crisp vegetables and a homemade whipped hollandaise sauce, followed by pickled carrots inside two crispy parmesan crackers. This was followed by homemade bread, and only then, did our six course journey begin.
Before each dish arrive, the overly friendly, funny, and completely un-pretentious sommelier came to our table to share a new wine. He would explain the qualities of the wine, the region it was from (all Czech wines), and a bit of the history of the wine/wine makers. Shortly thereafter, as if on cue in a perfectly timed theatrical production, our dish would arrive that was to be paired with each wine.
Our dishes were: 1) a tomato salad with mustard ice-cream, 2) crispy cauliflower (with an amazing green sauce), 3) a smoked catfish soup (my favorite dish of the evening reminiscent of Japanese bonito flakes), 4) a home made wild mushroom pasta (that rivaled some of the best Italian pastas), 5) a main fish dish (the fish was lightly seared).....but before the 6th dish (dessert), we were given small chewable honeycombs as a palette cleanser, followed by dish number 6) an ice-cream and berry dessert, and followed by a piece of marshmallow (not vegetarian), which we followed with a coffee.
Every dish had a special wine, every wine complimented the flavor elements of each dish. The whole meal was like a perfectly balanced performance. The dishes, though seemingly simple, played with textures (soft, gelatinous, crunch, solid, crispy, crackling), with flavors (mixing, sweet, sour, salt.....) but my favorite play of all, was their play on temperature -- which was the special surprise in each dish. For example the cold mustard ice-cream over the warm tomato salad; or the warm sweet smoked cat-fish soup -- all these were full of surprises in flavors and textures composed in truly innovative ways that I had never experienced before.
SERVICE:
The servers -- though one of the best restaurants in Prague -- were not stuck up or pretentious, everyone was super down-to earth and just seemed to really enjoy sharing this experiential experience with their diners.
Absolutely worth it! I am excited to return to Prague in the future to experience new inventions and creations by the chefs at La Degustation Boheme Bourgeoise.