Barok

The first night we were in Prague was a lovely one. We walked around, admiring all the lovely buildings and passed by very old synagogues and churches. 

Barock is across from the New-Old Jewish Synagogue and an intriguing little building one block over from the synagogue.

They have live music at night and we decided after going away to come back and have dinner there. And boy, was it a bit interesting.

We ordered drinks first and I forgot what Barb had but it's not on the menu on the website - just on the menu we had when we went in. The long task of picking out food was next.

Raspberry Mojito yum.

Another drink

Barb finally picked a pasta dish...Again as she never contributes - I can not attest to how good the food was!

A pasta dish

I believe it was Spaghetti Pomodoro and I remember she enjoyed the tomatoes.

Spaghetti Pomodoro

I opted for the traditional Czech menu and got a lovely pork tenderloin in creamy mushroom sauce with pancakes. The mushroom sauce was too delicious. I dipped everything in it! It was lighter than I thought it would be considering that it is a cream sauce. It reminded me of another sauce but the bites of mushroom really were a treat. The pancakes were light - more like a crepe and paired perfectly with a bit of tenderloin and sauce.

Pork Tenderloin with mushroom sauce and pancakes!

I do recommend getting something from the traditional menu when you go to Prague. It's almost always better than eating other types of food there and usually the flavors are not typical of home so it would be a missed opportunity.

Up close with my food

For dessert, which took a while because of a huge table that came in - all American men, I might add, toasting their brotherly love, we got the three flavors of flan - coconut, passionfruit and vanilla.

Coconut, Vanilla and Passionfruit Flan

Barb ate the vanilla flan - I had to taste all three before figuring out that one. Passionfruit was a bit sour but still enjoyable. I think the natural sweetness of the passionfruit got lost in the real sugar and that's why it was a bit sour. The coconut had delicate taste of coconut in it so the coconut wasn't pronounced enough in the taste. The vanilla was very good. They obviously used a good vanilla flavor in it but I did not see specs of bean so it must have been an extract - possibly even a Madagascar vanilla.

All in all, all three were not overly sweet - they balanced the top crust of sugar with the flan underneath so you are left with a nice tasting but not overly sweet trio.

The music was live and they took requests so someone asked and got a Sinatra song! Otherwise, they sang a bunch of American songs...from at what we heard.

However, it was still quite enjoyable and wait staff was very nice. The restaurant was a nice atmosphere too even if it was catering to the tourist crowd.

Barock
Pařížská 24, 110 00 Praha 1
tel. 420 222 329 221
Opening hours: Mo - Sun 10.00 am - 1.00 am

Mio - Hit & Miss

Mio was right by the Westin, where we were staying. It was even on the list of restaurants that the concierge gave us even though I went online to check it out. Then I made OpenTable reservations after learning about the Hamilton...reservations for dinner in DC are a must if you do not want to wait more than an hour or so for food.

The place was very nice and spacious, with a lounge at the front and a bar to the left of the entryway.
Decor was sleek and modern with interesting lighting and a very open atmosphere. I would venture to say that it was quite relaxing and service was superb.

Spicy Machu Pisco

After perusing the menu, we decided on the drinks first, of course - Spicy Machu Pisco, made of Machu Pisco, Aji Amarillo (yes the same peppers in the green sauce), Passion Fruit & Lime Sour for Barb and the Pasion Urbana made of Banana & Pineapple Cruzan rum, Passion Fruit and Guava!

Pasion Urbana

Barb said hers was really really good. That was saying something since she is not much of an alchy. :)  I think she is in love with Pisco. I loved mine and if I didn't have 2 more bottles of Mike's Hard Lemonade in the hotel, I would have gone for a 2nd. It had not a huge wallop in the alchy department but I love guava and this drink had alot of it. In fact, if you did not like guava, you might not want this drink. It was sweet and deliciously refreshing.

Complimentary Bread

The bread was awesome. Barb did not take a piece but I did and let me tell you, it was some good bread.  It was quite soft but had good texture and some crunch from the crust on top. They did not have fresh butter but the bread made up for it.

Pollo a la Braza Mio con Yuquitas

After debating between the large and  whole fish and chicken, Barb chose the chicken, roasted with yucca, otherwise known as Pollo a la Braza Mio con Yuquitas. In hindsight, she probably should have gotten the fish... When it came, she was all excited until she took a bite. Apparently, it was not seasoned well or marinated long enough because it was very bland. She had to ask for salt and pepper and the waitress asked her how it was and she said it was bad. So the waitress spoke to the Chef and offered to take away the plate and dish something else up. And so, Barb decided to take her up on it and got the Ceasar Salad with real anchovy and the Filete de Salmón a la Plancha con Salsa de Piña or aka the Plancha Seared Salmon, Pineapple Salsa.

Caesar Salad

This she liked because it had real anchovies in it. Weird. And the croutons were made from Yucca! Yum.  I was just glad she found something else to eat!

Filete de Salmón a la Plancha con Salsa de Piña

Then she got the seared salmon and they forgot to not serve the squid ink rice with it. But she wasn't too happy because she didn't really dig into everything. You could totally tell by her face!!! I digress though because I never tried it since I do not like salmon because it's just too fishy for me. So round 2 was not so much of a success which is why I think she should have just gotten the Chillo Frito con Purée de Batata Dulce y Mojito Isleño which is Fried Whole Red Snapper, Sweet Potato, Island Mojito, and Avocado-Papaya Crudo. The lady next to us seemed to really enjoy it, despite having the head still on it.

Filete de Cerdo con Manchego Frito y Salsa de Guayaba

I however,  had long debated the quail stuffed with foie gras because I never had quail stuffed with foie gras! Uhhhh, liver paste...lol. However, it is a small appetizer. I went opposite. Yep, grilled pork tenderloin with fried manchego cheese in guava/red wine reduction. Do you see a theme here? Guava. Yum.

Up close and personal with pork..delicious pork

Despite having just devoured a whole crepe only 2 hours prior...I tucked into this big juicy slab of meat. Manchego cheese, one of my most favorite cheeses was gloriously melted over the entire slab which was grilled to perfection and had a melt in your mouth quality like a fine steak.

And let me just reiterate that this was one *very* good pork tenderloin. It was finely seasoned, perfectly grilled and had Manchego cheese melted all over it... What is not to like or enjoy?! I just had to mention it again because I did leave a lot left...

Remains of the battle with the huge slab.

This is not because it was not good but because it was too big. You could totally feed 2-3 people on this alone and still be full. Note that the salad and potatoes went virtually untouched. o(*^o^*)o  To quote Adam Richman - Food won this time...food won...

If you enjoy pork, the next time you are in DC - go to Mio and try this. You will not be disappointed by it or the service!

Mio Restaurant
1110 Vermont Ave NW,
Washington DC 20005
Tel. (202) 955-0075
Hours:
Lunch:  Monday – Friday 11:30am – 2:30pm
Dinner: Monday – Thursday 5:00pm – 10:00pm, Friday and Saturday 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Bar/Lounge: Monday – Thursday 5:00pm – 12:00am, Friday and Saturday 5:00 pm – 1:00 am
Happy Hour: Bar: Monday – Friday 4:00pm – 7:00pm, Selected House Drinks, Wine and Draft Beers
Happy Hour: Lounge: Friday and Saturday 11:00pm – 2:00am, Selected House Drinks and Draft Beers