MALA STRANA part 2

This is the 2nd post on Mala Strana, so enough of the history lesson and more about morer side of this district of Prague. Three names which come to mind when I think of Mala Strana are Jan Neruda, Albrecht von Wallenstein and Edward Kelly.

Jan Neruda's name can be seen on the road leading up to the castle from the square. Jan Neruda was a prominent figure of the Prague Renaissance in the 19th century. He was a writer, journalist, poet and founding member of the Czech realism movement. The name Wallenstein is very visible, especially on some of the buildings in Mala Strana. The most impressive of these being the Wallenstein Palace which is the current home of the Czech senate. Albrecht von Wallenstein was a general in the Habsburg army. He fought in the 30 years war and helped to win the war and was thanked by the Emperor Rudolph 2 who later had the command of his armies removed and ordered his assassination. The later of the three, Edward Kelly can't be found on any street names in Mala Strana but his name and the art of Alchemy for what he is known can be seen in many establishments in Mala Strana and other districts of Prague.

Apart from the obvious signs that you are in one of the most popular tourist areas of Prague such as the bustling streets of Mostecka and Nerudova and the views of the Prague castle, Charles bridge and St Nicholas church, there are more subtle signs such as 50czk beers and an abundance of traditional Czech restaurants. If you fancy something a little less hustle and bustle and more relaxing and clean then there are 2 popular green areas to see, Kampa park along the banks of the river Vltava and Petrin hill and if you don't fancy walking all the way up to the tower, there is a funicular ride that will take those of you who have already covered more Km's than your legs are comfortable carrying.

Walking around the streets of Mala Strana, taking all those photos, with a map in hand I found it easier in the end just to put the map away and trust my built in GPS to guide me around the streets and in doing so I found a lot of interesting places and a lot of great photos, some of which you can see at the bottom of the blog, so have a look.

Review

This week we ended up by the river at Obcanska Plovarna which nowadays is a Thai restaurant/music club. We went to sample the Thai food hopefully prepared by their fabled Thai chef, as it says on their web site. The venue itself is very impressive, next to the Czech Parliament building with great views of the Rudolfinum and National Theatre. We booked a table quite early because we went there with our son and we were very happy when arriving to find a table and baby chair for little Sammy to sit in. Our waiter was very nice, speaking Czech and English and his general attitude was friendly and professional. The decor is very plush and minimalistic and was set on 2 floors. The second floor looked down on to the first floor like a continuous square balcony. The place was child friendly and when we checked the website and saw that from March they offer a Sunday brunch buffet from 11 to 15 for families with teachers from the British kindergarten available to look after guests' children, we were very impressed though at 700czk a head and 250 for children from 6 to 15 years we won't be going there every weekend.

I had a small draught Lobkovic and Annie had a glass of white wine as a digestive. The beer could have been a little bit colder, but I am being a little harsh, mainly due to the type of establishment it is and we were the first guests of the evening. To start we shared Kari Puf which in English are 6 pieces of Thai vegetarian samosas with a sweet chilli sauce and they had a very fresh taste and even Sammy enjoyed them, without the sweet chilli sauce of course. The main courses were a Phad Thai Kai which is Thai noodles with peanuts, beansprouts and chicken and it came wrapped in a bamboo leaf. It was a very generous portion, not spicy but it had some dried chilli as an accompliment if you wanted to be a bit more adventurous. The opinion was an empty plate and Sammy also helped Annie to finish it. I had the Kaeng Ped Pet Yang - crispy duck in a red curry sauce with vegetables which had a 2 chilli spice warning but wasn't very spicy, well for my palate that is. Annie might have a different opinion for sure. I was expecting crispy duck and a drier sauce but I got well cooked duck in a wetter more liquidy curry sauce than I imagined, which was a bit disappointing if I was to be honest but it was very nice, though I was not too keen on the addition of whole grapes with seeds and small cubes of aubergine, not really Thai style culinary ingredients me thinks.

All in all we really enjoyed the whole experience. It is a very nice place with a great location, roll on spring and summer time, lunches on the river bank and nice gardens and playing area for the kids to run around in. The staff were very nice, polite and professional and the food was fresh, tasty and great value for money and if you want a special meal for a special occasion then i am sure that the Norwegian roast king crab leg with chilli sauce and vegetables, weighing in at an incredible 1kg (I hope that it isn't just the one leg) and costing an arm and a leg at 1599czk, is going to impress.