The Prague Spoon: Independent restaurant reviews by Prague's most opinionated eater: Pasta

This review originally appeared in Czech translation in the 22/11/08 edition of Lidové Noviny.

There are more difficult jobs than writing restaurant reviews: coal mining, for example, or pediatric neurosurgery. I'm not one to complain.

But when I have to write about a restaurant like L'Angolo, my work suddenly starts to feel kind of hard.

It's always more interesting to write either about a fantastic dining experience (food so good it brings tears to my eyes) or a horrific one (greasy sauce being poured into my shoe by an idiotic waiter). Some people might think I look for things to criticize about a restaurant, or that I invent quirky details to make my articles more readable. I don’t. I try to give as honest an opinion – and yes, for those who are still in doubt, my articles are opinion pieces, not factual reports – as I possibly can.

What am I going to say about a restaurant that's not great and not terrible, that doesn't seem to have a distinct identity or particular specialty? Well, I'm going to say exactly that, I guess.

L'Angolo is a sister to the Yugoslavian-owned Kogo restaurants, which are known for their high-quality Italian food, consistent service, and sleek yet unintimidating settings. Unfortunately, this new venture (or semi-new, since L'Angolo recently reopened following a kitchen fire last spring) doesn't quite match the standards of the original.

I've been a fan of Kogo since the first location opened on Havelská in 1994. Back then, there were very few restaurants in Prague that wouldn't leave a sane person annoyed, if not completely enraged, by the end of the evening, either because of obnoxiously rude service or terrible meals or some nasty combination of both. Kogo's owners understood that to keep customers coming back, their food needed to be reliably good and their staff had to be properly trained. It helps that they have an apparent policy of hiring only waiters from the former Yugoslavia, who seem to be more naturally inclined to friendliness than their Czech counterparts (the Yugo dudes also tend to be very nice to look at, which might earn Kogo a few bonus points for atmosphere).

But it was only after the Slovanský dům location opened in 2000 that Kogo became a local institution. Suddenly, the huge, airy restaurant with the spacious garden at the back of Prague's newest shopping mall became a must-visit destination for politicians, czelebrities, and businessmen. In 2002, one would-be customer even told MF Dnes that he avoids Kogo out of principle because every time he visits, he runs into so many people he knows.

No matter that menu prices have spiked considerably since the restaurant first opened, or that patrons have to walk through the unappetizing stench of Palace Cinema's bacon-flavored popcorn to get to the restaurant. There's just something about Kogo that people love.

Still, not every Kogo enterprise has been as successful as the Havelská and Slovanský dům spots; the owners have been forced to close branches of Kogo in Karlín and on Karlovo náměstí (they also plan to open a Kogo in the new Albatross golf resort outside of Prague). And although L'Angolo has a much better location than those failed ventures, I'm afraid it may end up having to struggle a bit before it finds its customer base.

The major problem, as I see it, is that the food at L'Angolo just isn't quite as good as at the other Kogo restaurants. It's certainly not bad, and there are definitely some high points, like the homemade tiramisu (90 CZK), for example, or a wonderful dorado fillet with thinly sliced, almost chip-like potatoes (495 CZK) that was on special one evening. And the tomato soup (90 CZK), sweetened by red bell pepper and decorated with a swirl of pesto, was thick and satisfying.

But there were mistakes, too. Another special, the maltagliati with homemade sausage (245 CZK, pictured above), would have been excellent if the pasta had been salted more in the pot. The spaghetti with garlic, olive oil, and chili peppers (245 CZK) suffered the same problem. A salad of arugula, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, and parmesan (280 CZK), on the other hand, was so salty it was close to inedible – the parmesan had been grated into very fine pieces, making them impossible to separate from the rest of the salad.

Then there were the grilled lamb cutlets, served with cipollini onions and a Barolo wine reduction sauce (680 CZK), that didn't have any sauce at all other than a thin gravy. The lamb was cooked well, but it was full of fat – not the best cut of meat. For such an expensive dish (made more expensive by the 80-CZK side dishes that must be ordered separately), it was very unremarkable.

L'Angolo's décor is not especially memorable, either, even if it is quite tasteful. White wooden panels line the walls, starched white table cloths cover the tables, and black chairs are upholstered in cream-colored leather. Oversized black lampshades hang from the ceiling, and a special lighting system allows the restaurant to change the colors of the lights overhead (orange, on both of my visits). Most interesting, perhaps, is the enormous mirror against the back wall that gives visitors a view of the freshly-renovated Lexus Lounge in the basement below.

The restaurant has been decorated expensively, and it shows. But for me, there's something missing, something that even the large windows and spotless bathrooms can't make up for. Maybe I'm bothered by the kitchen's lack of sophistication, or the slightly cold feeling I get from the atmosphere.

Or maybe the restaurant just needs some time to settle. Perhaps in a couple of months or so, L'Angolo will have figured out how to live up to the second half of its name. At the moment, though, Kogo's little sister has some growing up to do.

L'Angolo by Kogo
Dlouhá 7
Praha 1 - Old Town
map
Tel.: +420 224 829 355

Open Mon-Sun 8:00–24:00

photographs 1, 2, 6: Tomáš Krist for Lidové Noviny; 3, 4, 7: mgmont.cz; all others: praguespoon

When an Italian restaurant decides to call itself "Aldente," it's probably not unreasonable to expect its pasta to be served, well, al dente.

But the tagliatelle (180 CZK) I ordered at the Aldente trattoria in Old Town one evening had definitely been in the pot for too long. The zucchini in the accompanying sauce were even mushier, their pulp greyish from overcooking. The saffron promised on the menu was indiscernable, and a few chunks of bacon fat didn't do much to help the dish's general blandness.

Another trip showed the tagliatelle in much better form, cooked perfectly al dente, smothered in a juicy fresh tomato sauce and sprinkled with salted ricotta cheese (180 CZK).

Owned and run by Italian expatriates, this is a cosy, pleasantly kitschy neighborhood joint. The larger half of the restaurant, Aldente, serves pasta and meat dishes; its adjoining side, Alforno, does pizza. Both are warm and well-lit, the yellow walls and red and white checked tablecloths creating a homey Italian atmosphere.
But it doesn't take many visits to figure out that Aldente, for all its singsong service and cutesy charm, is frustratingly inconsistent. Pizza could be ordered in the Aldente side one week, but not the next. A plate of lamb chops (380 CZK) was tender and tasty on first try, but fatty and unappetizing the second time around. Pasta dishes were made either carefully or carelessly, depending on your luck.

Then there's the fact that the lamb was accompanied only by a large lettuce leaf and some sliced raw tomatoes on the first visit; the next tasting saw the addition of a few extremely greasy slices of potato. There's nothing wrong with uncomplicated food, but this just feels lazy.

And that's really too bad, especially when some of the dishes here are truly impressive. The fried zucchini flowers (180 CZK) were doughy, crisp, and mildly sweet, and the desserts (120 CZK apiece), including an espresso-drenched tiramisú and a fragrant amaretto cake, are simple and delicious.

The pizzas are good, too: I sampled a vegetarian version (130 CZK) that came laden with chopped zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, and mozzarella. Its thin crust was nice and crisp, though I missed the earthy flavor characteristic to pizzas made in a wood-fired oven (Alforno doesn't have one).

So are these Italian conjoined-twin restaurants worth visiting? I'm not sure. The atmosphere, particularly in the Aldente half, is great. The service seems very decent -- until you take a closer look at your bill. Dishes and drinks aren't specifically itemized, so it can be hard to tell whether or not they've tacked anything extra on to your order.

On two of my visits, I had a mysterious charge on the receipt, labeled "ostatní" ("other"), that couldn't be accounted for. Together, they added up to 250 CZK. I've heard other diners make similar complaints, so I feel pretty safe in assuming that overcharging is done systematically at Aldente (they also charge a couvert of 45 CZK per person, so that free glass of prosecco they give you at the beginning isn't so free after all).

How stupid of them. I was just about to recommend that you risk the chance of overcooked pasta and bad cuts of lamb for the sake of the authentic Italian atmosphere. But if authentic Italian means cheating the customer, I don't want to have anything to do with Aldente.

And neither should you.

Aldente Trattoria Italiana / Alforno Pizzeria
Vězeňská 4
Prague 1 - Old Town
Tel: 222 313 185
map

images: aldentetrattoria.cz, praguespoon.com