The place is fairly new and tucked away in a very quiet corner between Mala strana and Smichov. Not only it is easily reachable by foot or tram, but there is almost always free parking space right next to it. I didn't make any photos of the interior, they're available on the restaurant's website.
We came at about 6.30 p.m. and decided to sit on the outside terrace.
Soon after we were seated and given menus the bread arrived. It was tasty, dense and crusty bread, which has probably been grilled shortly. It was served with whipped butter. Simple, but tasty.
Above is the salmon ceviche with mango and jalapeno. A very colorful dish and it surely was tasty, but this is not something I would ever call a ceviche. It was rather a salmon carpaccio served with a mango and chilli chutney on toast. A ceviche, in my opinion, is something like this - pieces of raw fish marinated in lemon juice until becoming opaque and mixed with the other ingredients. Artisan's version served it's purpose as a good carpaccio, the fish was fresh, the mango was ripe, the toast was crunchy. I wish they served some lime wedges with it.
Husband surely made better choices this evening. His scallops with pea puree were fantastic. They were surprisingly big, lightly grilled and very juicy inside. The pea puree was velvety and the sweetish port reduction worked very well with it. These were the best scallops we have ever eaten in Prague.
I decided to go for the open ravioli with duck ragout. Again, I expected something else, but these were alright. The ragout was on the sweet side and tasted strongly of root vegetables. The meat was cut up in very small pieces and overall I thought that the sauce was too thin to be served with this type of pasta. It would have been better with tagliatelle or a similar pasta variety. It was tasty, but not something I would order again. A guest sitting at the table next to us ordered the bbq ribs, these looked incredible and I wish I ordered those :-) Next time!
Husband's black pepper steak was the star of the dinner. Very good quality meat, grilled to perfection and served with tasty sides. Husband said it was one of the top 3 steaks in Prague.
He savoured every bit and later said that it's a pity that they didn't offer bigger steaks on the menu. My favourite part were the haricots verts, they were very crunchy but not stringy. The chef in Artisan definitely knows how to cook a good steak and we would go back for it any time!
I decided to try their crème brûlée, as it's one of my favourite desserts. It was very decent, although a tad too sweet for my liking. I've never seen a crème brûlée with so many black vanilla dots, however the vanilla taste was not overwhelming.
As for drinks - husband had a few draught Pilsener, while I stuck to Mattoni. I haven't had any alcohol for a loooong time and I'm starting to miss it! There's nothing I can say about the wine list and other drinks on offer...
We were the only guests when we arrived, but more and more people started coming in after 7 p.m. The place seems to be popular and I strongly hope they will keep up the good quality, friendly service and acceptable prices. Overall we enjoyed this dinner a lot and we would return anytime!
