Well well hello!
Hey guys.
From Bratislava.
It is lunchtime.
Yes.
And we've brought our appetites.
So hungry!
I don't know what it is.
I think I did go for a jog this morning.
I didn't have a big breakfast so I have brought my appetite today.
And we're going to be trying Slovak food for the first time.
So this is an exciting moment for us.
Let's go do it.
So we made it to the restaurant (Prašná Bašta) and it feels like we're in this little
cave.
We're underground and it is so cozy and yeah.
It is just dimly lit.
It is not too busy so we've already placed our order and hopefully the food will be here
soon because I'm so hungry.
Argh!
Okay so Sam and I both got red wines.
And they're both from Slovakia so I got the Cabernet Sauvignon and you got one called
André.
Yes.
So let's pretend we know a thing or two about wine here.
Haha.
Mmmm.
I have to say they had a pretty good selection.
Like they had 4 different dry reds to choose from and our waiter recommended the cab sav
which is one of our favorites.
Nice and dry.
Yeah.
I'm kind of curious to see how yours.
Try mine.
A sip.
Mmmm.
Tell me if you notice a difference?
Oh, yours is drier so you're going to be very happy.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yours also has more like berry notes.
Okay.
Yeah.
That is nice.
Wonderbar.
Berries and cherries.
Mine is more.
Cinnamon-y.
Is that possible?
Look at you becoming a wine connasieur over here.
We've been going to a lot of vineyards lately.
So yeah, but it is good wine.
I like both of them but you definitely chose the better of the two I would say.
Alright so the first dish has shown up at the table and it looks nothing like what we
were expecting so we're kind of like wooh which one is this?
I'm guessing it is the appetizer which I think was called palacinka hortobágyi or something
like that.
And it is meant to be potato pancakes with chicken in a cream sauce.
And I mean this looks creamy.
It does look creamy.
But um I was expecting like a white cream sauce.
Haha.
So yeah, I wonder if it is the right dish.
It probably is.
I hope so.
Nice creamy soup.
Let's break this apart.
Let's see what this is.
This is oh okay.
Yep.
This is right.
Is it?
Show us.
Let's see if I can lift this.
So we've got like some rolled pancakes in here and they're stuffed with chicken meat.
It looks like shredded chicken.
Oh wow.
Little bit of sour cream.
That looks good.
This is definitely what we ordered.
We're just so unfamiliar with Slovak food that we're like huh.
I was expecting it to look like the pancakes we were having in Ukraine how you get like
a stack.
Yeah.
Of pancakes with like a cream sauce with chicken and mushrooms.
But this is totally different.
No nothing like that.
The sauce is completely different too.
Mmm.
That is cool.
I'm so happy we're getting a chance to try Slovak cuisine.
Oh my gosh.
That is nice.
It is like the same texture as pulled pork except it is chicken and it is all stuffed
in this thin crêpe like pancake.
Well, so far so good.
Dripping in sauce.
The wine has been great and the food is good.
The appetizers have been good and also they brought us a bread basket too.
Looking forward to trying that.
I'm really impressed so far.
This is good.
Alright.
Sam is going in.
Alright.
So what I'm going to do here is try some of this bread in the sauce.
Oh nothing like homemade European bread.
Gotta love it.
Mmmm.
It is a nice sauce isn't it?
Oh yeah.
That bread is perfect to dip in here.
Yeah.
It just sops it right up.
Look at that.
Wait until you get to the pancakes that is my favorite part.
Alright, I'm going to try and get a bit of the sour cream here.
Oh, it is dense.
Oh my gosh.
Wow.
Super dense.
Okay.
Try to get a little bit of a smaller bite.
Yeah.
It is kind of hard to show the texture of the meat but it reminds me of pulled pork.
That is the best way I can describe it.
Mmmm.
Yeah, you're totally right.
Yeah.
And it is very thick.
Like it is very generous amount of pulled pork in a pancake.
Yeah it is really stuffed.
Yeah, it is really stuffed.
They are not skimping out.
It is very hearty.
It is very hearty and just the sauce compliments it so well.
I love the little dollop of sour cream too.
Mmmm.
Great great start to this meal.
Alright, let's enjoy this before the mains arrive.
So here we go.
My main is here and I went for a traditional Slovak dish.
I can't pronounce the name (Bryndzové Halušky) it is a little too complicated for me but
basically it is a potato gnocchi made with Slovak sheep's cheese and it also has some
bacon on top.
This looks really nice.
Big chunks of bacon on top.
Oh yeah.
Look at that.
They are not skimping out.
Uh uh.
Not at all.
At all.
Mmmm.
That is really good.
Is it?
It is a bit of a salty cheese.
So it gives it a bit of seasoning and the bacon is nice and crispy.
So yeah if you like strong flavored cheese this is quite good.
It is like perfect hearty food because we are moving into fall and temperatures are
dropping pretty fast.
Mmmhmm.
So a nice selection for a you know a little bit of a brisk fall day outside.
Sam going in for the potato gnocchi.
My turn.
Oh, gotta love this traditional Slovak food.
Yum yum yum.
Okay.
Mmmmm.
It is good isn't it?
Woah!
That is some salty cheese.
Yeah.
Very very flavorful and something I've noticed right away is that I guess when you're translating
this dish into English you would probably say the pasta is kind of like gnocchi.
The potato pasta but it is quite a bit smaller.
Yeah.
The size of each what would you call it.
I don't know morsel or pasta.
Haha.
Yeah.
But it is definitely a little bit smaller than a typical gnocchi but my gosh you sure
taste that cheese.
That is very overpowering but in a good way.
It is if you like a nice strong powerful cheese this is the dish for you to try in Slovakia.
Absolutely, this is so good.
I'm going in for another bite.
Mmmm.
Okay and Sam ordered himself some kind of stuffed potato zucchini pancake (Bravčová Panenka).
It looks so good.
I've just got to show you guys how big this is.
My hand for comparison.
Like this is big.
It is massive.
So do you want to tell us what is in there.
So inside we have pork and beef tenderloin in a paprika sauce.
Oh la lah.
And you were going to tell us about outer layer.
Yes, so the pancake I already mentioned is made with potato and zucchini.
Yeah.
Oh.
It has a bit of a darker color.
Oh, this looks good.
Kind of already it reminds me of the consistency of like a porkolt style goulash.
Oh my gosh this is going to be good I bet.
Oooh.
Wow.
What do you think?
It is just the dish I was looking for.
Oh my gosh that is good.
That meat is so tender and like rich like the paprika sauce is really flavorful and
it sort of like a rich gravy sauce.
But what I really like about this too is the pancake compliments it perfectly because there
is obviously a lot of zucchini put in there.
It gives it a little bit of extra juiciness.
Okay which is so cool.
And it makes you feel like you're getting your vegetables.
Hahaha okay yeah.
Your five a day.
I suppose you could say that.
Haha.
It might be a bit of a stretch but oh my gosh this is so good.
I'm feeling so defeated at the moment.
Like ordering such a heavy starter was a big mistake and I ate a pancake, I ate all the
bread.
And here is the deal.
We've got a dessert coming too.
Oh my gosh.
We do have dessert.
I forgot about that.
You better you like a prepare some room in that little stomach of yours.
I know.
Alright, so we're going in for some meat and some potatoes.
The zucchini pancake.
Here we go.
Oh my gosh.
It looks like it is steaming.
Like this is our first introduction to you know Slovak cuisine and I'm saying I'm loving
it so far.
Mmm.
This is how I feel.
Urgh.
Gluttony redefined.
Oh my gosh.
Dessert has arrived and like I'm already stuffed beyond belief.
I feel like we take gluttony to a whole new level sometimes.
This is so good though.
Anyways, what did we get.
This is actually not a Slovak dessert.
We ordered Hungarian dessert because Sam thought it looked really appetizing.
It is called Somló.
Somlo.
We had this when we were in Budapest.
Yeah, we sure did.
This one looks very different.
There is so much whipped cream.
Oh my goodness but we've got some here.
So it kind of looks like a sponge-y cake maybe.
Mmmm.
There is apple in there.
You know what?
What?
This almost feels like a deconstructed apple pie of sorts.
I like the sound of that.
This is not like we had before in Budapest.
I take it back.
Okie dokie my turn to try it.
Mmm.
What do you think?
I really like it.
It has got a nice big piece of apple.
Yeah.
I thought I tasted apples but also chocolate.
Yeah.
Like I don't even know what is in there.
I feel like we need to dig around.
It has a chocolatey taste and yeah it doesn't at all taste like apple pie or crumble in
the sense that like the filling doesn't taste like that.
Just the fact that it has apples but.
Yeah.
Yeah, there is so much whipping cream going on that is kind of hard to see what is actually
in the cake.
That is true.
It is very good though.
I don't have a lot of room in my belly for this though.
Haha.
Alright, Mister.
Time for price point.
So that was 35 Euros.
That included two glasses of wine.
One appetizer.
Two mains and a dessert to share.
So yeah, it wasn't a cheap meal but we knew that going in.
We wanted something that was really good quality and we sure got that here.
Portions were generous too and just everything was delicious.
There wasn't anything that we ordered that we didn't love.
So highly highly recommend this place and what a fantastic introduction to Slovak food
I have to say.
And now we need a siesta.
Yes.
Oh my gosh.
It is food coma.
Officially food coma time.
Tata guys.