PUMPKIN SOUP!

Alcron is a one-star Michelin restaurant located in Radisson Blu Hotel, Prague. It was awarded a Michelin star in 2012 and preserved it since then.

Alcron had a different degustation experience from the other Michelin restaurants I have been to. Here, you are able to select the courses you want from the a la carte menu of “degustatables”. You would pick 4 to 7 courses from the menu, building your personalized degustation experience without any limitations for selection.

Seasoned Chef Roman Paulus says he has his inspiration from traveling a lot and working abroad for many years.

Ambiance

I loved that the restaurant is surrounded by a wall housing one huge painting. As an art lover, I’m so happy to see restaurants surrounded by paintings. Although the dining area was small, it was well designed. It feels like you are dining at a secret place behind the curtains. The fact that there are only a few tables strengthens this feeling.

Purple velvet chairs had an elegant look with the snow white table clothes.

Taste

The experience starts with different amuse bouches; such as potato with wasabi cream and root vegetables with Jerusalem crisps. They weren’t remarkable but had a pleasant taste. You choose from eight different kinds of bread. I tried cheese and onion bread, both of them were exactly how I wanted them to be, with potent flavors. Four different types of butter were served at the table. Chilli butter was my best.

As a starter, I chose organic goat cheese with baked leeks and shallots from the a le carte menu. The goat cheese was amazing and had a vivid taste. Next, I had another perfect dish, roasted Jerusalem artichoke with ricotta and sage honey. Artichoke and ricotta made a good combination. Following this dish was cream of pumpkin, ginger and coconut milk, which was very tasty. Ginger, pumpkin and coconut got along very well.

After this point, unfortunately, there was a decline regarding the taste of the dishes. I had a potato gnocchi with ratatouille and black olives, which was a failure. It was very heavy and way overcooked. My next course lobster bisque with sweet corn and poached egg yolk was average, not impressive at all. This next dish was my least favorite of the menu; slow cooked octopus with chorizo emulsion, black olive tapenade and crispy capers. I seriously think that it needs to be removed from the menu. The octopus had a very disturbing jelly-like layer, cooked very poorly. If you ever went to Greece (or perhaps any other place on the Mediterranean coast) and ate an octopus there, you will appreciate the perfect taste of an undercooked octopus.

Luckily, the cold and hot textures of Valrhona chocolate dessert was great. Both hot and cold textures of chocolate were very tasty.

My degustation menu had a perfect beginning and a perfect ending, however the hot dishes in between needs to be improved. Still, I can say that overall degustation experience was nice.

Service

A practice which I love at fine dining restaurants is waiters wearing white gloves. I find this impressive because it gives me a sense of hygiene and value. It is also risky because even a little stain that the customer witnesses on the gloves may create the opposite impact. I’m happy to say that in Alcron, white gloves were perfectly used.

The service people were very well trained. I was well informed about the dishes with a very professional yet friendly approach.

I found it extremely thoughtful when I saw information about every single member of the staff working at the restaurant on the website. You can as well see the menu and make a reservation through the website easily.

Dress code is formal and they have also written their other expectations from the customers very clearly on the website.

Creativity

I could see the same artistic approach they had at the decoration for the presentation of the dishes as well. The harmony of the colors and the placements of the food were looking great. Though I have to say that I love some little surprises in a degustation experience. I liked the look of the dishes however I wished that some of them were more surprising. Still, I congratulate the Chef for the design of the plates.

By making you choose your own dishes for the degustation menu, he underlines the fact that he is pretty sure that every single dish of his can be a part of a degustation menu.

Value

When I compare Alcron with the other Michelin restaurants in Prague, it was the best amongst them in terms of value. The pricing is much more reasonable than other Michelin restaurants. You can also choose freely from the menu according to your gusto.

Perhaps this is the best choice if you would like to have dinner with a friend who isn’t much into degustation.

The sommelier was an expert in his field. I and other guests all tried different wines, he explained each and every one of them in great detail.