Review: La Casa Argentina

Prague´s locals have found a new playground. It´s big, it´s loud, and it looks just like Argentina. Well, sort of.

The small circus that is La Casa Argentina is divided into themed sections, most of which, on a Thursday evening, were jam-packed with customers. We were initially seated in the non-smoking garden, a kind of greenhouse that features a rock-embedded wall of trickling water and a pair of sad-looking live lizards. The garden is enclosed, but might as well have been out on the sidewalk for how drafty it was. After being informed by the maitre d´ that there was no way to turn on the room´s ice-cold radiators, we were moved into the back room – which, judging by the large helm at the bar and the painted deck mural, was the “ship.”

The starters, as well as the beautiful toucan now visible through a nearby glass wall, made up for the earlier discomfort. A salad of radicchio, arugula, and baby spinach with tiger shrimp and marinated pineapple is outstanding. The greens are fresh and crispy, the shrimp are large and juicy, and the dressing is a heavenly combination of apricot marmalade, pineapples, and cayenne pepper. Not quite as exceptional is the creamy bean soup, which needed a dose of table salt before its subtle flavors could be detected.

One decidedly unsubtle dose of Latin American flavor was presented by the hired dance couple, who, along with a blast of accompanying music from the speakers, intermittently swooped into our section to perform a short but passionate tango. The interludes were brief and the dancers very good, making it a surprisingly un-irritating addition to the atmosphere – although the occasional collision with the wait staff indicated the need for cleaner choreography of the personnel.

But in any Argentinian restaurant, the quality of the live entertainment is only of miniscule importance compared to the all-important national dish: steak. A cut of imported Argentinian filet mignon did not disappoint, with its remarkably juicy, cherry-red center and lightly blackened, pepper-encrusted surface, the meat so tender that a simple butter knife can detach each bite from the whole. Another steak was made not of beef but of tuna; garnished with thyme and only gently cooked, the tuna´s grey outer layer and near-raw rosy heart are a testament to La Casa Argentina´s superior grilling skills. But an accompaniment of grilled root vegetables is marred by an inexplicable smattering of fatty beef, stripping the veggies of their crunchiness and any inherent flavor. The additional side dishes – creamy mashed potatoes and veal ossobucco – are both unnecessarily rich, and only help in depriving the excellent tuna of the fresher, less heavy complements it deserves.