Nota Bene

"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact than a drunken man is happier than a sober one." George Bernard Shaw

I'm a regular reader of the New York Times. Occasionally, the "paper of record" records an article about a Prague restaurant for its travel section.

Last summer, the newspaper published a brief review of Nota Bene, the new restaurant not far from I.P. Pavlova.The story mentioned the restaurant's "great beer" and "good food" prepared with "a playful blend of contemporary recipes and traditional flavors."

Although I'm not a passionate connoisseur of Czech cuisine, I have eaten a lot of it over the years, and I do love Czech beer. The quality combination mentioned in the article piqued my interest.

Then I heard and read stories about the restaurant's popularity making it hard to get a table and tales of sometimes surly service. I put the idea of a visit on my back burner.

I finally got around to giving it a try. I visited three times in the last few weeks.

For those who either can't get a table upstairs or just want to drink their interesting and tasty brews, there is their Beerpoint pub.Walk through a passage and down some stairs and you'll find six regional Czech beers on tap, many of which you'd be hard-pressed to find elsewhere in this town. They also have some small meat and cheese snacks to go with the beers.The restaurant, which is non-smoking, is upstairs. It's a smart-looking space with hardwood floors, brick walls, mirrors, and black and white photos on the walls.There are only about 15 tables and usually fill up fast or have reservation signs on them. I have one criticism of the design. The iron supports under the tables hit me in the knees, and I had to sit with my legs off to the side.

There are also six beers on tap upstairs and the offerings are listed on chalkboards on the wall. Most are usually different from what is served downstairs.The kitchen prints up a new menu each day, usually with five main courses, a starter, a soup, and a dessert. Some but not all of the meats they serve come from The Real Meat Society. An earlier article on this site notes that they only sell free range meat from local farmers.

On my first visit, I started off with a .4 liter of Nomad Gentlemen (48 CZK). This 11 degree ale had a light, crisp finish that reminded me of ginger.You do pay a premium for these rare beers, but I wish they were served in half-liter glasses. I didn't get a chance to sample some of the more exotic options like the De Molen Amarillo Imperial IPA from the Netherlands, which was 60 CZK for a .2 liter glass.

For my meal, I saw one of my favorite Czech classics on the menu, the svíčková na smetaně, which basically translates as beef tenderloin on cream sauce (185 CZK). This was one of the better ones I've had.This dish is rarely, if ever, made with tenderloin and this one wasn't either. But it was a thick, slow-cooked, fork-tender and flavorful cut decadently studded with plenty of pork fat.

All too often, the sauce is too sweet, too creamy, or both. This one was just right, with just a hint of sweetness and an inviting brown color indicating the rich base of vegetables. It was drizzled with a sweet cranberry sauce.

I'm not a big dumpling fan, partly because I've had way too many stale ones in my life. These "Palffy" dumplings were the best I can remember in a long, long time. They were supremely fresh, delicate things full of flavor. These were the rare dumplings I could eat unadorned, but it was just so much better to coat them in sauce.

It took a while for my dinner to arrive, but I understood that quality food can take time to prepare. This visit cost me 233 CZK and it felt like a bargain.

On my second visit, I noticed the music playing lightly in the background: The Beatles, Beck, and "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" by B.J. Thomas. Quite a mix.

I arrived just as they opened at 6 p.m. because I didn't reserve. I got one of the last unreserved tables. Due to some "technical problem," the menus for the evening were not printed for more than 30 minutes.

A .4 liter glass of Matuska Winterbock (52 CZK) kept me busy while I waited.This 16 degree German Kellerbock packed a big, complex punch, but with only a lightly bitter finish. I later had a Nomad Gentleman.

When the menu arrived, I quickly knew what I wanted. I ordered the lamb shank on red wine with mushrooms, vegetables, and mashed potatoes (345 CZK).As one would expect, the slow-cooked meat fell off the bone.

After that, it was not as tender as I expected. The sauce was OK, but rather simple and one-dimensional. The mushrooms were dull and ordinary. The carrots, onions, parsley, and mashed potatoes were commendable.

My impression was that this was a good, but not great dish. I had no big problem with it. But I expected better given the restaurant's reputation and the not insubstantial price tag. The whole meal was 445 CZK. I wasn't thrilled.

A friend joined me on my last visit. She had a French Cabernet (65 CZK/.1 liter), and said it was heavy and pretty good.I had a .4 liter glass of Nomad Blackhawk 17 degree black IPA (52 CZK).My impressions -- blond head, great body, bitter, and alcoholic -- one of the few times you can appreciate this mix.

I got the smoked trout starter (125 CZK).The dense, cold fish was certainly smoky, but also a little dry. It was topped with tartar sauce made with chives. What really stood out was the cool, red lentils simply mixed with parsley and onions. That was delicious.

For a main course, my friend got the pork tenderloin (265 CZK).The meat was silky, tender, and tasty and sat on a good gravy made with the pan drippings. The green beans were fine, but the scalloped potatoes were dry and lackluster.

I ordered the flank steak (325 CZK). This was a major disappointment.I asked for it to be cooked medium rare, though it came out straight-up rare. That didn't bother me at all.

What really let me down was that the meat was both bland and incredibly tough. I added a fair amount of salt, but I got tired of chewing it. My friend had a bite and didn't want another one.

The spinach, carrots, and onions on the side were fresh and on the salty side. They balanced the beef out when combined on a fork. The mashed potatoes were good and creamy and I liked the gravy, which reminded me of a demi-glace.

The bill for this meal was 994 CZK. Overall, the service was friendly to neutral and certainly not as rough as I was led to believe. I did get something of a cold reception when I showed up to dine solo without a reservation. The kitchen can be slow, but it's clear they are putting more effort into the cooking that the standard Czech pub.However, I think there should be better results for that effort, not to mention the higher prices. Yes, I went in with high expectations about the food and, for the most part, they were not met.

Note well: the food will not draw me back.

I should be more skeptical about what I read in the newspaper. But I'd be more than happy to get drunk at Nota Bene. They have many fantastic beers to choose from.

Nota Bene
Mikovcova 605/4
Prague 2 - Vinohrady
Tel. (+420) 721 299 131

Jáma Steakhouse

"All human errors are impatience, a premature breaking off of methodical procedure." Franz Kafka

Jáma Steakhouse has been open for more than a month.I went twice in its first week and once more last weekend.

I debated with a friend about whether it is fair to write about a place that is so new. My answer was and always has been that if they are charging regular prices, I expect regular quality, even from the first day. That argument brought him around.

Even on my last visit, in their fifth week, they were still using a limited, temporary menu. Also, as of this writing, the website written on their business card wasn't functional. But I'm not surprised, either.

As Max Munson, the genial owner said recently in The Prague Post, "I saw the location and liked it," he says. "It was a case of fire, ready, aim."

The interior is casual and basic. This is no fancy steak palace.The background music was on shuffle and veered wildly from Jay Z to Billy Joel to Green Day to generic 80s pop.

The bar side of the restaurant looks a little better, but the seating was awkward and uncomfortable.Along the wall was wooden banquette-style seating without padding. Not only that, but it was elevated enough that a tall man's feet, such as myself, would not reach the floor.

There was nothing to rest them on. So they dangled. Even the tall stools lacked useful foot rests.

One of the most notable and laudable aspects of Jáma Steakhouse is its beer selection. Rather than the standard Pilsner Urquell, Budvar, or Staropramen, this place serves regional beers from the K Brewery Group.Prague's quality, non-standard beer gadfly, Pivni Filosof, did a good, informative post about Munson and his decision to go in this direction.

So the first thing I did was order a .3 liter glass of the 12 degree Lobkowicz (28 CZK).Normally, I'd get a half-liter (45 CZK), but I wanted to try as many of their five tapped beers as I could.

I'm a fan of the Lobko. My powers of beer description are not great, but I thought it quite similar to Pilsner Urquell, with its strong, Saaz (Žatec) hoppy bitterness.

After I placed my order, I was surprised to receive a "gift" from the chef. An amuse bouche, if you will.It was a medium-sized potato pancake. I hate to criticize a gift, but it was dry, rubbery, and just too large and dense ahead of the heavy meal to come.

My first beer was gone, so I got a .3 liter glass of 11 degree Klášter Kvasnicový (24 CZK).This beer tasted bland after the stronger, more assertive Lobkowicz, but I had it on another occasion and enjoyed its complex, yeasty character much more.

I got a starter of the fried, cheddar-filled jalapenos (110 CZK).I was hoping for something made in-house. Instead, they were the same Makro-sourced frozen poppers that they have at Crazy Cow Steakhouse and many other places around town.They're just OK, but not worth the money. I saw some fried mozzarella sticks go by and they looked about the same.

Beer number three was a .3 liter Velen 12 degree wheat beer (25 CZK).It had a light honey note. To my taste, the tart, cloudier Primator Weizenbier, which they have on tap at Neklid, is much superior.

For my main course, I got a 200 gram piece of my favorite cut, the rib eye (265 CZK).This Irish beef was one of the thinnest steaks I'd ever seen in a steakhouse. To compensate, it was also wide.

In short, it wasn't pretty. However, the flavor was good. It picked up a smokiness from the grill. The beef was perfectly salted, fatty in a good way, and very tender.

The gravy was made with beef bullion mixed with sliced red chilies. It wasn't creative cooking, by any means, but it tasted OK, and it was quite spicy. The fries had a ridged shape, and were seasoned, hot, and crispy.

This quirky steak had me wondering how they handled other dishes. On my next visit, I tried a .3 liter glass of the Klášterní tmavé 10 degree (22 CZK).It had a mild caramel flavor.

Now, if you know me, you know I had to try their hamburger (165 CZK).The price starts out OK, but to add bacon costs 45 CZK, and to add real cheddar costs another 45 CZK. So that's a hefty 255 CZK total for a bacon cheeseburger and fries.

The patty was made with good quality ground beef, and was simply seasoned with salt.It was like a big, fat, juicy backyard burger. That's the good part.

But I was disappointed that it tasted as though it was cooked on a pan or griddle rather than a flame, which I greatly prefer. In their kitchen, they have both.I asked for the burger medium-rare, but it came medium-well.

The bacon was too hard and crispy for me, and the tomatoes and onions were cut too thick for good placement on top. The steak fries were different from the first visit, but still good and crispy.

At the end of this meal, I had a .3 liter glass of their Schwarzenberg 10 degree (19 CZK).I liked it more than the Klášter Kvasnicový.

Then, I waited four weeks and returned with V to see how they do some other steaks.But first, I got their starter of chicken wings (99 CZK).They were soaked in a Thai-style chili sauce mixed with red chilies.

These were not good. The wings were barely warm. They tasted as if they had been prepared long before and reheated. And just partially.

The waiter brought us a sample glass of an off-menu cherry beer.It tasted like a sweet cherry soda. I didn't think I could drink a whole glass, but V liked it.

Then, I got my 200 gram Uruguayan Charolais fillet (345 CZK).I ordered the Port wine reduction with beef broth and grilled vegetables on the side (45 CZK).

I didn't enjoy this steak at all.It was tougher than a fillet should be. I'm not even sure it was a fillet. It tasted like it was cooked on a griddle or a pan rather than on a flame.

Even if some people don't appreciate fire-grilling as much as I do, I think the menu should state the different ways the steaks will be cooked.

The sauce was essentially the same as the gravy chili sauce I had on the first visit, which had disappeared from the menu. It tasted like the same beef bullion, but if there was any Port wine in it, much less a reduced Port wine, I'd be amazed.

The "grilled" vegetables were just a miserable mushy mass of pan-fried red and white onions and peppers.

V did a little better with her New York strip loin (245 CZK).The Irish beef tasted better my South American cut, partly because this one had a smoky flame-grilled flavor. Otherwise, it was surprisingly tough and hard to chew. It reminded me of Czech Roštěná steaks I've had.

The small dish of mushroom cream sauce, which V asked for on the side, did have the flavor of wild mushrooms in it. But it grew cold quickly in the dish. The fries were a disaster -- oily, soggy, and limp.

My first solo visit cost me 487 CZK without tip. The second was 296 CZK. The third was 905 CZK. They weren't cheap meals, but not bad for a casual steakhouse.

However, there were serious deficiencies in both the quality of the meat, its preparation, and the conception of the steaks and sauces.

Crazy Cow Steakhouse was far from perfect, but did a much better job with its steaks. Though Jáma Steakhouse did have a better burger.

The main edge Jáma Steakhouse has over the competition is its beers. But steaks should be main attraction at a steakhouse, not something that seems like an afterthought.

This feels like a restaurant started on the cheap, with starters out of a freezer bag, with a poor understanding of what makes a good steak, and with sauce recipes off the back of a bullion package.

So Max Munson and I agree. He opened his restaurant too soon. I think he didn't spend enough time and attention on quality and creativity.

He's always been positively responsive to criticism, so one can only hope he'll patiently and methodically correct the many errors of Jáma Steakhouse.

Jáma Steakhouse
Ostrovní 26
Prague 1
Tel: (+420) 222 542 823