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Greasy spoon

Spanish eatery needs a change of oil
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By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
May 7th, 2008 issue

Cantina La Salchicha


V Korunni 48
Prague 2-Vinohrady
Tel. 222 516 704
Open Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Food *
Service **
Atmosphere *
Overall *

JAN PŘEROVSKÝ/THE PRAGUE POST
Until this tapas restaurant works out some kinks, it's best to just keep walking.
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FROM THE MENU



Fried baby squid 75 Kč
Fried calamari 55 Kč
Serrano ham 60 Kč
Gazpacho 65 Kč
Vegetable soup 45 Kč
Chicken fajitas 137 Kč
Chicken steak on creamed spinach 160 Kč
Chicken breast with bacon and apples 160 Kč
Hoegaarden 50 Kč

Few things spoil dining out faster and more thoroughly than the thick, rancid taste of used cooking oil.
A recent afternoon visit to Cantina La Salchicha offered a reminder that there’s nothing like the foul residue of past-its-prime grease. The swampy flavor and nauseating texture, like mouthfuls of viscous slurry, permeated two of the restaurant’s fried tapas offerings.
Imagine, instead of bobbing for apples, plunging face-first into a vat of polluted goop, hoping to snap up suspended shards of old Michelins. That was the experience of trying the breaded calamari rings and whole baby squid poppers, which are heavy, soggy and unredeemable. Dabbing pieces into the restaurant’s misguided aioli — seemingly composed of de-icing solution and garlic — only makes matters worse.
The cuisine complements the Spanish-themed restaurant’s cobbled, work-in-progress feel. There’s nothing really telling or spectacular about the interior, other than a hunk of cured ham pegged to a table near the entrance.
An Italian chef once admitted to me that Spain’s Serrano beat out some of his country’s more famous regional delights, such as Prosciutto. Slices from Cantina La Salchicha’s slab of concentrated meat are cordoned by thick, silky lines of fat, a mellow counter to tart bursts of ham. Yet this particular example of Serrano pales in comparison with competing cuts.
The presentation of Andalusian gazpacho is arresting: burnt orange soup, the color of paprika, pooled in a large, hollowed bell pepper of vibrant red. Meaty, acrid flavors similar to those derived from Worchestershire sauce rise from the pureed base, eventually to falter just at the point where the first gust of a “wow” begins to form on one’s lips.
And two straws are plopped into the soup so you can slurp up every drop. Not the most elegant way to start a meal, particularly on a first date.
Or even a last date, for that matter.
Some of Cantina La Salchicha’s more interesting menu items — apart from the paella, which requires a lead time of two hours — are chicken dishes. A breast stuffed with bacon and apple, for example, or strips served with tortilla wraps.
The former should be the kind of entree that stuns diners, tender meat seared to a crust of golden brown. But the so-called “bacon” is really just processed ham lacking the heft and smoky bite to combat a cloying Calvados reduction and surprisingly sugary apple chunks. By contrast, in the fajita dish, ancillary ingredients save the parched, chewy pieces of chicken. Grilled peppers and onions develop more distinct and complex flavors, lending their bitter, smoky character to the meat itself.
Aside from the nauseating fried tapas experience, Cantina La Salchicha provides filling, sometimes creative, though rarely memorable meals. On occasion, the kitchen’s stabs at ingenuity lead it further off-course than normal — as in a chicken breast served atop satisfying creamed spinach. Bulked up by bits of ham, the side of greens pits richness against the gentle, bitter flavor of spinach. Slathered over one corner of the white meat, however, modestly spicy red sauce drips into this mass, rending the creamy base.
Oh, well. At least the gritty sauce works well with the bland, although once again tender, chicken breast.
Maybe the kitchen staff will learn to replenish their frying vats with fresh oil and find the balance missing from a few of the entrees. If so, Cantina La Salchicha will stand as a worldly alternative to the Czech pubs nearby. If not, we’ll just wait for the next theme to move in.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


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