Grand Café Evropa – now called Le Petit Beefbar
Hotel W Prague, Grand Hotel Evropa, Václavské náměstí (Wenceslas Square) No. 826/25
There are places in Prague that fill me with nostalgia, and the café at Grand Hotel Evropa is one of those places. The old hotel, originally built during the neo-Renaissance but modernised to its current Art Nouveau look in the early twentieth century, stood as a monument to another time when I first visited Prague in 1981 and we, who were very young at the time, hung out at the Grand Café Evropa where we were able to feast on Crimean sekt and caviar for a modest sum while a gentleman in a tuxedo and bow tie entertained on the grand piano and a stream of wait staff ensured that no one wanted for anything. It felt like a strange and almost unreal contrast to the otherwise somewhat sad communist atmosphere that pervaded the city, its inhabitants and its buildings. I also went there on later pre-capitalist visits in 1983 and 1987.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, many hotels were renovated and brought up to today’s standards, also in terms of price, but not Evropa, which for a long time stood in the centre of Wenceslas Square as a reminder of a bygone era and with prices that – partly due to shared showers and toilets in the corridors – were the cheapest offer we could find when I visited the city with a colleague in 1997. We had breakfast in the opulent but somewhat ‘patinated’ café and loved it, although the surroundings were more interesting than the breakfast itself!
In 2013, the hotel was closed for renovation, but in true Eastern Mafia style, the contractor in charge managed to steal the entire construction sum and apparently hide in South America. Everything came to a standstill until a couple of years ago, when the renovation finally got underway and today the hotel has opened under the luxury brand W Hotels with room rates from around Czk. 8,500,- in the low season, naturally without breakfast included.
There will eventually be more restaurants in the large hotel with around 160 rooms, but of course I was most curious to finally revisit Grand Café Evropa, which I will have to get used to calling Le Petit Beefbar, unless the concept, as in so many other hotel restaurants in Prague, will change again and again.
To my delight, the first thing that greeted me was a meticulous recreation of past glory, and with attention to detail, everything looks as original except that it is no longer worn. That alone makes me expect and accept prices that will be higher than at my local pub around the corner.
And of course that is how it is.
I was greeted by a polite, correct and white-uniformed young waiter who took my coat and showed me to a very nice table right by the window overlooking Václavské náměstí. The lunch menu is simple, with a street food section, café classics and café signature dishes (see the menu for yourself) – and then a special Business lunch, which was what I was interested in. For starters, I could choose between a spinach salad and the soup of the day, which was with mushrooms. I chose the former. The main courses were either the signature Steak Frites, a steak served with French fries and a ‘Sauce beefbar’, an ‘ultimate beef smashburger’ or the dish of the day, which today was grilled duck fillet. I was actually very tempted by all three options, but decided in favour of steak frites. Total price for two courses was Czk. 550,-.
There is an OK selection of open wines in the price range of Czk. 180-330 per glass (0.125 litres). If you prefer bubbles, you have to pay Czk. 180,- for prosecco and 390,- for champagne.
But I chose a beer, Pilsner Urquell, which is listed in the menu at Czk. 90,- for 0.3 litres, which is on the high end. The waiter was obviously a good judge of character, because instead of a poor little baby beer taken from its mother far too early, he served a half litre, which was listed on the bill for Czk. 135,-, a fairer price, but nowhere to be found on the menu. Strange.
My spinach salad was fresh and tasty with a variety of green leaves and different crunchy elements, including pomegranate seeds, pine nuts and some dried red seeds with sweetness and chewiness, which unfortunately I could not identify but would have liked to eat many more of. The dressing was well balanced and I actually quite liked the light starter.
The steak wasn’t particularly large obviously as a lunch special, but it was (ok, let me just admit it: on the second try) served perfectly medium rare. The accompanying fries weren’t the crispiest I’ve had, but they were acceptable. The sauce, which definitely contained an epic amount of butter, a precious commodity these days, was subtly flavoured with truffle, which went well with the dried herbs that made up the backbone of the flavour. The sauce went well with both the fries and the meat, which was OK tender without being over the top, but had really good flavour. I found the portion size appropriate for a lunch, but for a dinner it would probably be too small.
The total bill came to Czk. 685. All in all, it was a perfectly satisfactory lunch, and considering the elegance of the place, the kind service and the excellent quality of the food, I think it’s perfectly acceptable value for money, which I would recommend others to try if you want to treat yourself or someone special. I could easily find a cheaper place to have lunch, but that wasn’t my purpose today. And I’ll probably have to return to try that ultimate smash burger they market themselves with. If I set my expectations to ‘excellent’ instead of ‘ultimate’ beforehand, hopefully it will be a great experience.
