A Yummy Little Whale

Kept Man and I have periodically been attending some events here in Prague hosted by InterNations and MeetinPrague. It's been a good way to meet other expats in the Czech Republic and while I was in town on my own it forced me to get out of the hotel and interact with people besides my work colleagues.

A few weeks ago the event organizers posted a 'Secret Dinner' which was limited to under 15 people and was to highlight a lesser known restaurant in the city. The name of the restaurant was not to be revealed until closer to the date. I thought it looked interesting and right up our alley. Food + drinking + limited number of people = good times. We managed to secure a place at the table and then found out that the restaurant was The Little Whale (U Male Velryby) which is right across the street from the hotel and a place I had been telling Kept Man we should try.

I had a bad day Thursday and I almost didn't want to go to dinner but I had been looking forward to the night so I ran out of work 15 minutes before we had to meet at the restaurant, did some speed dressing out of work clothes and into normal clothes, and we headed on over. I'm so glad that we did. The evening lifted my spirits and got me out of the stressful mood I had been feeling all day. The restaurant in a word is YUM. I mean super good, and in my humble opinion it was Wood Tavern good. I can give no higher praise.

The chef is Irish. He said a quick hello, but he could have a rat under his hat whispering cooking techniques for all I cared, as long as everything I ate that came out of the kitchen continued to be lip smacking delicious. The waitress was also wonderful and managed to keep everyone in a larger group very happy. And her husband is from Morocco. Marrakech is always a source of conversation wherever we go.

We had a set menu for the evening. For starters I had the octopus salad and Kept Man had sauteed duck livers. We both had the cod with mash potatoes (lumpy, ah yeah) and a creamy mustard sauce and some sort of crunchy light bread topping for our main course. The steak was also apparently very good which had a side of corn on the cob. And for dessert it was a chocolate torte with brown bread ice cream. Weird right?! But incredibly, it was amazing.

Besides the great food and service we had a great time with the group of people put together by the InterNations Ambassador and we got to know some of the people we had met in passing at these events a little bit better.

Kept Man and I had previously avoided the Little Whale because we found the pricing to be a bit high, but now having gone I can say that it was definitely more than we usually spend during a night out for dinner in Prague but was much less expensive that what we regularly spent at our favorite restaurant in Berkeley. While dining we noticed that the restaurant has a tapas menu and reasonably priced wine by the glass so a sunny afternoon sometime soon we plan to head across the street to sit on the patio and partake in some delicious bites offered from the Little Whale kitchen.

U Male Velryby
Maltézské náměstí 15 | Praha 1 | 420257214703