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Vegetarians find their place at Radost FX Posted
July 15, 2004
By TARLIKA NUNEZ PRAGUE— “There’s a good vegetarian restaurant called Radost FX. It doubles as a nightclub and it’s open till five in the morning,” a classmate of mine said. “I hear it’s the best in town.” The comment seemed rather odd considering the stereotype for vegetarians is not, shall I say, “Party animals.” In America, the idea of having a vegetarian restaurant turn into a nightclub after the sun goes down seems a little out of the ordinary. But, hey, that’s why I’m here to try out new things, so I thought I would give it a try. After wandering around Prague for two hours, trying to figure out which Metro would lead me to I.P. Pavlova Street. I arrived at a busy district of town. And as I was searching out my guidebook to decide my next plan of action, I noticed a dark awning across the street boasting music shop, café, and disco. I thought to myself, rather interesting combination, so I took a deep breath and proceeded forward. I entered a dark alleyway with a music shop on my left and what appeared to be a closed abandoned café to my right. I was more than overjoyed to discover that the café my classmate suggested was the light at the end of this dark tunnel and not the one to my right. I must admit, at this point, I was considering whether or not I had the guts to eat food from a restaurant / nightclub / music shop. All inhibitions faded away as I entered a door draped with Indian cloths, a floor made of old bamboo and a sun lit room colored in a palette of burgundies and sage. I found myself surrounded by a type of New Age Indian-inspired décor and neo-Indian music that fascinated my ears. I entered the room without anyone knowingly acknowledging my presence, so I decided to seat myself on one of the plum-colored velvet couches. It was overflowing with multi-colored pillows and appeared to be the seating for the coffee tables that other guests were dining on. You will want to sit in the front room decorated in bright colors and fresh flowers; otherwise you will be in the dark backroom which doubles as a dance floor at night. As I sat taking my notes on the rummage-sale inspired décor, a Czech couple sat down next to me, was waited on and lit up cigarettes. Just as I was wondering if they didn’t serve foreigners, a waitress in flip flops and jeans appeared with a menu made out of wood and sat it in front of me. “Drink?” she asked in her Czech accent. “ Orange juice please,” I said. (It’s my choice beverage at vegetarian restaurants because most often it is fresh squeezed.) But to my disappointment when it arrived in a can I knew this might be considerably different then the vegetarian café I frequent at home. “Order?” she said, giving me approximately two in a half minutes to decide what meal I wanted out of the over 50 or so choices on their overly extensive selection of vegetarian pizzas, salads, burritos and pasta dishes. After I asked what the soup of the day was, and she responded with an “I-don’t-know, look-in-the-back-of-the-menu remark,” I thanked god for living in a country obsessed with providing flawless service. Dill soup, I thought. It’s not too popular in the states and I’m not a fan of dill, but what the hell. I order it and decide on the house veggie burger made up of spinach, hazelnuts and garlic topped with Swiss cheese and mushrooms. She was gone in a flash and back with my soup and baguette served on the side. The earthy green soup served in an oversized bowl was sprinkled with parsley and full of flavor. It was a surprise to me when the flavors of fresh dill, chunks of potatoes, corn and carrots excited my palette and reminded me of my mother’s soup The temperature of the soup was near perfect and the baguette was slightly toasted, just what I would expect from a fine vegetarian establishment. If the soup of the day doesn’t interest you, there are other starters that include Garlic cheese toast, hummus and a Mediterranean plate served with olives, grape leaves, couscous and tubule. Just as I was in the middle of enjoying my dill soup, the waitress sat a gigantic burger nestled between two pieces of toasted focaccia bread. The spinach burger came with a hefty portion of Swiss cheese and mushrooms, but was lacking lettuce, tomatoes or any kind of condiment. Fortunately, as soon as I bit into the moist, almost soufflé like, bright green patty, I realized none of that stuff would be necessary. The burger, unlike many veggie burgers that fall apart in your lap, maintained a perfect texture while still maintaining a good firmness. It was served with a mountain of iceberg and romaine lettuce tossed with carrots, couscous, vine ripe tomatoes, cabbage and was doused in creamy vinaigrette. Ask for the salad dressing on the side if you prefer to taste the fresh vegetables that accompany your burger. The couple beside me obviously had eaten there before; they split the jumbo burger and opted on sharing a Greek salad that looked absolutely scrumptious. If Greek isn’t your taste of choice, other selections include hot goat cheese, Caesar, tofu with couscous and a Mexican salad that was topped with refried beans, cheese, sour cream, olives, rice and tomatoes. This café is a must for vegetarians searching to add a bit of excitement to their daily menu. Some creative main-dishes include penne pasta with hot sage meatballs, a blue cheese pizza and a seven-layer dip boasting lots of avocado and tofu. You will be encouraged to try one of the 11 home-made desserts on the menu, warm chocolate walnut cake, carrot cake or one of their homemade muffins. I decided on the first one, grandma’s American apple pie (who could resist a name like that?). It was served warm, garnished with fresh apples and paired with vanilla ice cream. It was a nice presentation considering the small amount of time devoted to the appearance of the staff. If you opt for coffee ask for it in advance, it could take decades to reach your table and by that time your dessert maybe long gone. After 10 minutes or so of watching my waitress drink her Coca Cola Light behind the bar, the bill finally arrived. For orange juice, still water, a cup of soup (45 kč, US$1.85), a veggie burger (135 kč), apple pie (75 kč ) and espresso, the bill set me back 375 kč ($16), a bit overpriced considering I have been eating three meals a day on that amount of money. This might explain the rather older business-like crowd that was there at the time. The restaurant and bar was nearly packed when I decided to leave around 7 p.m. Overall, for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike, the food was good, the service could use a little shaping up, but the décor was fabulously unusual and I enjoyed that. My advice is to split an entrée and one of the many salads offered and skip the orange juice. That will cut down on the price of the bill.
RADOST FX CAFÉ Belehradska 120, Praha 2
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