Degustation

One of the highlights of our trip to Prague was a tasting dinner at Dégustation, Trip Advisor’s #1 restaurant for Prague. We use Trip Advisor a lot these days but tend to stay away from the high end, expensive restaurants, as I like to find the hole in the wall places with good comfort food! However, I heard the food in Prague wasn’t so great from various people so decided to get some tips from Trip Advisor. I knew it was expensive but since we don’t spend too much on eating out these days, I figured we spoil ourselves. When we asked the concierge at the hotel to make a reservation for us, he automatically raved about it (a local Czech), so I knew we made a good decision. We had to opt for an early dinner Saturday night because the restaurant was completely booked (another good sign). We arrived at the restaurant at 6:00 pm and didn’t leave until 9:30 pm, with food brought to our table nonstop. In total, I think we had about 8 amuse-bouches, French for “mouth amuser” (which it did just that), and 7 tasting courses! It was truly a wonderful meal that excited my taste buds with the perfect amount of food! This might be a bit much, but since we normally don’t do tasting menu’s I thought I’d take photos of our meal (Gerald was our photographer) and share with our friends and family. Everything was wonderful but I’d have to say the fumé, smoked duck with the semolina dumpling, was my favourite! If you’re ever in Prague and feel like splurging, I would definitely recommend this restaurant!

Dégustation du Chef

A unique tasting menu presents Czech traditional meals animated with the distinctive style, modern techniques and inspiration of the chef Oldřich Sahajdák.

Friday 16. 4. 2011

entrée

Sicilian shrimps, orange essence,
hostín white asparagus, radish, ginger chutney

soupe

carrot soup, basil,

tomatoes, organic lentil

poché

canadian lobster, beetroot essence,

creamy leek, cashew nuts

amuse-bouche

fumé

smoked vodňany duck, semolina dumpling,

red cabbage essence, cinnamon

wagyu

wagyu kobe style beef entrecôte,

périgourdine sauce, shiitake, cabbage

amuse-bouche du jardin

fromage

gorgonzola d.o.p, pasta, parmigiano reggiano

amuse-bouche sucré

sucré

chocolate valrhona andoa lactée namelaka,

lemongrass, yoghurt

Other things Prague had to offer were pretty views of the Vltava River and bridges (one of the most famous being the Charles bridge), charming Old town Square with colourful buildings, and the Prague Castle. It was a pretty laid back trip, and despite the many tour groups around town and walking everywhere, Gerald and I managed to find it pretty relaxing.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and Happy Easter!

I Heart Scotland!

Hi Friends!

If you’ve been following me on Facebook, then you know that Scotland has been pretty warm lately. I mean, I was wearing a T-shirt and Capri pants Sunday! Oh, and did I mention I was actually sweating from just standing around? Mind you, it was only 60-70 degrees out. This weather has really put me into the spring/summer mood and I can’t wait for all the activities we have planned to be in the outdoors. I’ve never craved being outdoors so much as I do now. I think it’s because we’re surrounded by such beautiful scenery and even though there’s not much going on, it’s just really nice to look at.

I think the last time I blogged, I mentioned my childhood friend Carla was in town. Well, since then, we’ve seen a few more familiar faces. Hubert, a friend from Houston, visited us for a couple days 2 weeks ago. Hubert is working in London and had a weekend free so we told him to come on down. While Hubert was here, we went to friend’s 30^th Birthday party and had a great time partying with some fellow Americans. We started off at a Mexican restaurant, La Bamba, singing and dancing on the chairs and ended up at an 80’s nightclub, Tropicana, for more dancing. Margaritas, Patron, and late night bakery made for a great night! Gerald and I don’t normally go out in Aberdeen so this was a fun change. The next morning we took Hubert to Balmoral Castle and the Royal Lochnagar distillery. You’ve probably noticed that most of our touristy adventures involve Castles and Distilleries...haha. Our goal is to visit as many Castles and Distilleries Scotland has to offer while we're here. So if you ever come and visit, you know what to expect. Just kidding, there are lots ofother things to do as well, but this is all we had time for with Hubert.

This past weekend, Gerald ran the Edinburgh Half Marathon while I cheered him on. I opted not to do the race since I was nowhere near prepared. I figured I’ll save myself some embarrassment. The race wasn’t as big as the ones you would find in the States, with people lined up on the streets, bands playing, and loads of people everywhere but it was a good time. There were 3100 runners total. The runners ran along the coast on a very warm day in Scotland; I felt like I was further South somewhere. Gerald’s manager, Jeremy also ran with him; it was Jeremy's first half marathon. Here’s a pic of the 2 finishers! Great job guys. Oh, and just today we found out that the course wasn’t marked accurately and the runners actually ran an extra 300 meters! Whoops!

While in Edinburgh, we also got to catch up with Mickie. Mickie is looking to move to Scotland or England in the near future so has been making some visits across the pond. I think she said she’s seen us more than some of her family in Houston, and she lives in San Antonio...haha! We feel honoured. Anyhow, Mickie and I went on an Edinburgh Hidden and Haunted tour of the city and underground vaults one night. I’m usually super afraid of these kinds of things but I figured I give it a shot. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, but I did have an eerie feeling walking back to my hotel room that evening. It also didn't help that the hotel we stayed out was the same place a friend's friend committed suicide. Let's just say I prayed a lot that night! Overall, the tour was good and we had a fun time hanging out. There’s so much history in Edinburgh so I’m glad we got to learn a bit about it on the tour.

Well, it has been a fun couple of weekends for the Pena’s. We are off to Prague on Thursday, which means a short work week for me! Cambodian/Thai New Year is also this weekend so ‘Sok Sabay, Ch’nam Tmey’! Wish I was in Houston celebrating with the Family but I’m sure they will be doing plenty of celebrating for me! Love Ya!