Bistro Praha
10117-101 St.
780-424-4218
bistropraha.com
No delivery service listed
Parking in Scotia Place Parkade
Mon. to Thurs. 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Fri. 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., Sat. noon to 1 a.m.
Sun. 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Dinner for two, excluding beverages, tip and taxes: Basic, $30, loaded, $100
Food: 4 of 5 Suns
Ambience: 4 of 5 Suns
Service: 4 of 5 Suns
Many restaurants in this town have been around since the 1970s. There’s a list below.
But none wear the years so well as the downtown’s Bistro Praha – 32 years in its original location in Rice-Howard Way until the Kelly Ramsay Building burned in 2009, re-opening two years later in the Empire Building, on 101 Street north of Jasper.
When Bistro Praha re-opened, it was an exact copy of the original with better washrooms: The same sturdy wooden tables and chairs, the same giant European countryside mural on the back wall, the same homage to famous European composers on the walls.
Two photos now hang by the entrance. One is of Bistro Praha’s late, larger-than-life founder and Czech emigrant Frantisek Cikanek. The other is of another well-known Bistro Praha personality. Sharka Svajgr succeeded Frantisek as a co-owner/manager before sadly passing from cancer one year ago. Sharka’s partners, including her husband, brother and long-time kitchen staff, continue to operate the bistro.
Bistro Praha has great history, but, more important, it continues to produce excellent, well-priced food within an authentic Central European ambience with skilled and gracious servers.
The menu has easily withstood the test of time. Nothing has changed since Cikanek opened in 1977, yet everything remains fresh, tasty … and current! Of the nine dishes ordered by our party of six, only one salad (swimming in its dressing) and the trout (strangely tasteless) could be faulted.
Wiener Schnitzel — breaded, fried veal medallions — are what Bistro Praha is most famous for, and the Parisienne and Cordon Bleu schnitzels more than lived up to their reputations. The veal is of excellent quality, spoon-cut able and generous in serving size.
Bistro Praha’s schnitzel breading has always been the best in town — crisp, delicate, fine-grained, well-herbed. The “cordon bleu” includes shredded ham and cheese next to the veal inside the breading for additional taste and texture. “Parisienne” is an egg-based batter … as if a thin omelet coats the cutlet.
If a Best Steak Tartare contest were held among Edmonton restaurants, Bistro Praha would win. A full order is about five ounces of the best raw ground tenderloin available, coarse and fine-ground. It’s subtly spiced, served with two olive-sized Sicilian capers and crostini-sized rye toast. At $32, it’s a treat, but it makes for a finer dining experience than most fancy steaks.
(Many may think eating raw meat is dangerous and yucky. Every restaurant that makes a steak tartare is acutely aware of food safety. As for yucky – your loss!)
Bistro Praha’s tradition is its greatest strength. All its recipes are unique – its potato salad, its mild sauerkraut, a certain style of pickle, its inexpensive open-face sandwich starter/snacks. Our only disappointments were the Salad Sarka, swimming in its dressing, and the trout, which, while visually attractive and of fresh texture, simply lacked taste.
Bistro Praha, in this era of constant change, isn’t going anywhere. The executive chef and the front-of-house manager are both part-owners. It long ago perfected the art of attracting different crowds at different times. It fills up for dinner, and then later in the evening as patrons of the Winspear Centre, the Citadel Theatre and Rogers Place head for a post-show bite to eat and a glass of bubbly.
May this menu never need changing!
• • •
How many Edmonton restaurants are still around that opened in the ‘70s or earlier?
Here’s as complete a list as I could research, including those that grew into chains, with the year of the original opening:
Teddy’s (1932), Commodore (1942), Lingnan (1947), Red Goose (1955), Blue Willow (1958), Saratoga (1958), Boston Pizza (1964), Tony’s Pizza Palace (1965), La Ronde (1966), Royal Pizza (1969), Old Spaghetti Factory (1971), Mikado (1972), Creperie (1976), Barb and Ernie’s (1975), Bauernschmaus (1975), Coliseum (1976), Bistro Praha (1977), Flamingo (1977), Rose & Crown (1978), Bul Go Gi House (1978), Pearl River (1978).
Did we miss anybody? Many long-established eateries actually opened in the 1980s. Sherlock Holmes Pub, for instance, opened in West Edmonton Mall in 1985, downtown in 1987.
Sorrento (1979) was the first of what grew into the Sorrentino group … but it had a different name.
Continuity? One report says today’s Sugar Bowl (1990) took its name from a 1943 cafe in the same location, which closed in the 1950s, but left its name painted on the back of the building.
The Hat can claim a spiritual connection with The Silk Hat (1912) in the same Jasper location, but with make-overs, ownership changes and the name change, The Hat is not the Silk Hat.