Kdysi jsme se tam scházeli na drink a noční klání v překlápěčce. Pak se to jedné noci v Nortonu zjednodušeně řečeno semlelo a tento podnik v Dušní 15 vešel v naši nemilost a možná až v zapomnění. Mezitím Norton ze sousedství koktejl baru Aloha Wave Lounge zmizel nadobro. Akvárko s rybičkama zůstalo, ale od minulého čtvrtka už rybky plavou na půdě hudebního klubu a restaurace Casa Andina, na jehož otvíračce jsme nemohli chybět.

Casa Andina by měla podle všeho být první restaurací v Praze, jejíž jídelníček bude zaměřený na peruánskou kuchyni. Můžete se tak těšit na typická jídla jako je causa, cebiche, ají de gallina, carapulca, jako dezert si můžete dát suspiro limeno a popíjet můžete pisco sour. Pokud o peruánské kuchyni nevíte zhola nic, můžete mi napsat :) nebo si prostě udělejte čas a vydejte se na ochutnávku. To ostatně udělal i velvyslanec Peru Alberto Salas Barahona, který by vám doporučil ochutnat cebiche, protože podle něj reprezentuje peruánskou kuchyni nejvíce, vynechat byste ale podle něj neměli ani ají de gallina či la carapulca, protože prostě stojí za to.

Na otvíračku dorazila i nejedna polo- a celebritka, včetně Míši Salačové, Ali Amiriho či Alice Bendové, a tak zatímco já jsem se věnovala zkoumání gastonomických lahůdek podle peruánských receptů, můj doprovod tahal informace a drby z přítomných hostů. Co z nich nakonec vytáhla, se můžete dočíst zde (Alice Bendová: Kolik shrábla za reklamu? | Ali Amiri: Ženský díky mně omládnou!).

The best advice for prospective diners at the recently opened Casa Andina restaurant is to go but perhaps give it a while. This Peruvian restaurant, which opened only three weeks ago, shows heaps of promise and is an enticing venue but its menu still has room for improvement. First impressions boded well when we visited the restaurant last week. Mango color-washed walls, mellowed wooden flooring and impassioned paintings of Catholic saints conspire to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere. The manager later told us that the intention of the decor is to convey the convivial atmosphere of a traditional South American home.

We began the evening with cocktails—two brandy-based pisco sours (Kč 135 / € 5 each), which as one guest pointed out was blended rather than shaken; my other guest, however, was pleased with her blended beverage. A request for a blue, nonalcoholic cocktail from one diner could not be met however. As we began the meal we also ordered a bottle of cheerful Argentine Tapiz Torrontes (Kč 790) which proved a fine accompaniment to both the meat and fish dishes.

The menu at Casa Andina is small, but offers an interesting range of Peruvian dishes. We were disappointed to learn that the intriguing anticuchos de corazón de res (Kč 220), otherwise known as beef heart, was not available that evening. One diner who was not especially hungry ordered a starter in lieu of a main course—but was disappointed to find that the yuquitas fritas con salsa huancaina (fried yucca and salsa, Kč 110) consisted of a handful of deep-fried bits that tasted not unlike average french fries. The sauce, a Peruvian specialty made from yellow peppers was also too tame, especially when paired with the uninspired fries.

Another diner ordered a tangy, fresh green salad and also enjoyed chicharrón de cerdo (Kč 175), tender chunks of spicy fried pork packing considerable heat and robust flavor. The aji de gallina (Kč 220), chicken in yellow chili pepper (aji) sauce was tender and tasty, bathed in a powerful, nutty salsa. Sadly, the more delicate seafood flavors of the risottos de mariscos (Kč 335) were rather drowned out by a sea of the very same aji sauce that had worked so well with the chicken.

The entire table however was wowed by a serving of ceviche de lenguado (Kč 360), sole marinated to tender perfection in a spicy citrus juice, with sweet corn and red onions supplying a satisfying crunch.

The Peruvian cuisine at Casa Andina was attractively presented, in a simple, asymmetrical style that is said to be a reflection of the influence of Chinese and Japanese immigrants to the South American nation some 100 years ago.

Desserts also hit the spot. A tangy lemon sorbet (Kč 70) was served in a hollowed-out lemon, and a crema volteada (Kč 70), a creamy, caramelized flan drew inquisitive spoons from all sides of the table. Coconut also featured prominently in many of the desserts.

In the coming weeks, the owners are planning to expand Casa Andina’s offering to include a greater choice of dishes and Chilean and Argentine wines. The basement nightclub will also host club nights featuring Latin American music. Given a little more time to settle in, Casa Andina is likely to be well worth a visit.

***

Owner’s Insight

Alejandro Sanders, a native Costa Rican who has lived in Prague for six and a half years, opened Casa Andina last month with business partner (and native Czech) Martin Štefánek. It is Sanders’ first foray into the restaurant world. The goal of Casa Andina, he said, is to introduce the exciting flavors of Peruvian cooking to Czech palates. “We want Czechs to discover that Latin America offers more than Brazilian and Argentine and Tex-Mex food,” he said. “Peruvian is a well-known [cuisine] around the world. ... The combination of vegetables and meat and spices make it very different, yet traditional.” Casa Andina also plans to introduce Latin culture to the city, in the form of high-energy salsa and other Latin American dances, to be held in its basement nightclub. “We expect people will see that we are offering something different here,” he said, adding he wants “to make people aware that they have different options” for entertainment as well as dining.

Over the past few years, Latin American cuisine has shown itself to be quite the crowd-pleaser here in Prague. Argentinian steakhouses, quasi-Mexican restaurants, and cocktail bars specializing in mojitos have popped up all over town, many of them packed nightly with starry-eyed, cigar-wielding patrons.

Now, another South American restaurant aims to capitalize on the trend. This one's a little different, at least: Casa Andina serves Peruvian food, a cuisine not as well-known internationally as those of Argentina or Mexico. Co-proprietors Alejandro Sanders and Martin Štefánek seemed excited to introduce their foreign specialties to local customers, demonstrating an eagerness to please so dogged that the attentive service occasionally bordered on annoying.

It's pretty clear that Casa Andina's heart is in the right place. But that alone, of course, isn't always enough.

Three large flat-screen televisions line the small restaurant's back wall. Their purpose, apparently, is to screen such garbage as the Ricky Martin MTV Unplugged DVD. Watching the Puerto Rican pop star gyrate his hips and flex his muscles in triplicate for his adoring fans was distracting, even with the sound off. Neither the TVs nor the thumping techno soundtrack seemed to mesh well with the rows of books and reproductions of traditional Moche sex pots lining the walls.

I was also a little thrown by the presentation of my shrimp ceviche entrée (360 CZK): the seafood salad arrived in a whiskey glass stamped with the Havana Club rum logo, which wasn't especially appetizing. The ceviche itself was less of a salad than a cold tomato soup, something like a baby shrimp gazpacho. It tasted pleasantly of lime, but the fresh zestiness that is typical of a good ceviche was missing.

A skewer of beef hearts (anticuchos de corazón de res, 260 CZK, above) had been marinated in a tasty red chili pepper sauce, but the meat hadn't been cooked for long enough and ended up tough and chewy. The papas rellenas de carne (potatoes stuffed with pork meat, 195 CZK, below), on the other hand, were truly memorable. To make this dish, a mashed potato patty is filled with heavily seasoned ground pork, raisins, and hardboiled eggs; the patty is then dipped in batter and fried. The end result looks like a whole cooked potato with its skin intact.

Also worth trying are the yuquitas fritas (110 CZK), a sweeter spin on the French fry made with yucas instead of potatoes and served with a red pepper dipping sauce, and the dense, caramel-laced coconut flan (70 CZK).

Casa Andina has its flaws, but with a little more time and a few adjustments, it just might find a niche in the crowded Latin American-themed restaurant scene. The owners will be holding regular salsa-dancing nights in the club space downstairs; that should certainly help put Casa Andina on the map -- even if nothing else does.

Food ***
Service ***
Atmosphere **
Overall ***

Casa Andina is worth a visit. Not as a fine-dining destination, mind you. While Peruvian cuisine may flaunt a reputation for diversity, the lowly potato sets the beat, and aji, a native chili, provides much of the spark for traditional dishes. But it’s what the kitchen manages to do with both that’s interesting. The explorer Pizarro “discovered” potatoes in what is now Peru and introduced them to Europe in the 1530s. Close to 3,000 varieties still grow in that part of the world, and the role played by potatoes in everyday cooking can’t be overstated. Recipes including the starchy root range from wild dehydrated and reconstituted mixtures to spuds stuffed with various essentials. Sheer, crispy and deep brown, Casa Andina’s stuffed potatoes’ deep-fried crust shatters into a fluffy, almost ethereal melt-away layer. In the version filled with ground pork, raisins and hard-boiled egg, this beautifully constructed shell softens the hearty blow of densely seasoned meat. The flavors are elusive: rich and earthy, with a pungent character. Dried fruit slips into the background while insistent olives drone constantly, threatening to upset the balance of spices, shoving a salty taste to the front. Olives and raisins are an unusual combination, at least to those not reared on the southern continent. Then there’s the sudden intrusion of eggs, hard-cooked and tacky. On the side, a mustard-yellow sauce of aji tamed for the local palate — sweet flavors yielding with great reluctance to fiery pepper. It’s like Barnum & Bailey’s in full swing — a lot of action and contrast and unexpected moments, backed by plenty of history. Casa Andina’s kitchen emphasizes authentic presentation, even though the juxtaposition of ingredients may seem bizarre in this market. Beef hearts, filled avocados and other common South American items appear on the menu. The continent’s other staple starch, manioc, is served as fried “yuca” strips. Dry on the inside, like dough not fully baked but parched of liquid, and golden brown on the outside, the small portion presents just a hint of grassy sweetness. Otherwise, it’s a strangely textured, essentially bland starter, offset by a dish of that sweet-fruity-hot aji sauce. Peru is justly famous for another creation: ceviche. The restaurant honors this with a couple of interesting options, such as a conventional plate of shrimp and a break from tradition with salmon. Served in proper style, with red onion, corn and half a sweet potato, the marinated game fish stands out. Perhaps the kitchen splashed a bit too much lime across the plate before sending it out, for the sour-sweet pucker of citrus dominates at first. But the strips of pink meat are incredible. Tormented by juice until firm and tinged in white, the center holds onto its natural ruby color and delicate texture, melting on the tongue as toughened fibers break apart. It’s a beautiful experience. It’s unfortunate that no one in the kitchen had the fortitude to counter the piercing acidity with a little more chili, but let it slide. Lime juice tames the bitterness of raw red onion, holding its anger at bay until the finish — a long, long finish, during which the husky snap rushes back with a vengeance. The corn seems like an afterthought, but the sweet potato soothes things with a mellow, earthy taste. There’s more to discuss. For the price of two small beers, for instance, you can experience a nicely balanced pisco sour. Service is solicitous and warm — maybe a tad too concerned for your comfort. On the other hand, wait staff that care (or just pretend to care) tend to stand out in this city. And the room … well, if you ignore the mirrored back wall and series of inset flat screens blaring, on one occasion, scenes of frogmen plunging through algae, it’s a fitting, unobtrusive hodge-podge of religious art, earthenware colors and decorative artifacts. But none of that will matter once the first cocktail or starter arrives at your table.

One of the world’s tastiest cuisines has found its way to one of the world’s greatest cities.

Wandering one afternoon last week in a fashionable neighborhood of boutiques and apartments not far from Prague’s Vltava River, I was surprised to find a restaurant serving Peruvian cuisine.

Not only dishing up staples from South America’s foremost fusion cuisine like papas a la Huancaína and lomo saltado, Casa Andina captures in its decor the spirit of the land of Inca and Nazca cultures.

In addition to artwork focusing on themes ranging from ecclesiastical to environmental (of note are playful castings, including the restaurant logo, that incorporate the mysterious Nazca Lines), the inviting, intimate dining room also features a trio of giant flat screens with regularly repeating footage of an excursion to the Peruvian treasure, Machu Picchu, mountaintop home to the ancient Inca civilization.

A variety of lively Latin music mixes with the chatter of the slightly less than three dozen customers this new Staré Město (Old Town) dining destination accommodates.

I wandered into the equally attractive Casa Andina bar just after lunch, eager to learn how this Peruvian export came to be in one of my favorite cities. The tall, dark and handsome guy behind the bar not only produced a stellar cappuccino but was eager to share information about himself and the new eatery.

Seems Dusan Valenta is not Peruvian or anything close to it. He’s a Slovak who went to Marbella, Spain, three years ago for a vacation and wound up living and working there. He not only eked out a living but also became fluent in Spanish, so much so that on his return to Prague it made sense to sign on as barman/waiter at this new South American outpost.

For the back story on Casa Andina, managing partner Alejandro Sanders, a native of Costa Rica, said the concept belongs to his business partner, a Czech named Martin Stefanek. Although he has no previous restaurant experience, he studied gastronomy while he was in school. Business opportunities took him to Peru, where he spent several years prior to rerturning to his native country. So taken with Peruvian cookery, Stefanek decided to give Praguers a taste of it, opening Casa Andina as both restaurant and weekend club (there’s a downstairs lounge open on weekends).

While the kitchen crew is Czech, Sanders says several have prior experience with Latin American cuisine and one lived in Spain where he worked in a Peruvian restaurant kitchen. In addition, Sanders, with his knowledge of Latin American cookery, and Stefanek, with the experience of living in Lima, helped with menu creation and design of the dishes.

That brings us to the food. Following up on my initial afternoon visit, I returned for a most memorable dinner, starting with one of Peru’s best known dishes, papas a la Huancaina, a very attractive plate of sliced potatoes (the staple of Peruvian meals) topped with a piquant sauce built on the intriguing flavor of ají amarillo, the golden Peruvian chile that brings both bell pepper flavor and varying degrees of heat to the palate. The usual accompaniments included sliced hard-boiled egg, olives and, here, batons of fresh cheese. A tiny dice of fresh tomato scattered across the plate provided added color and flavor.

Continuing with the ají amarillo theme, I had to try Casa Andina’s rendition of ají de gallina, tender pieces of chicken napped with this special salsa, served, as the Peruvians do, with both potatoes and rice, plus more hard-boiled egg.

And for the nightcap — what could be better with an espresso than a shot of pisco? Ok, two shots of pisco.

Peru is also known for its distinct ceviche, and three versions are offered at Casa Andina — with a local flatfish, salmon and shrimp. Fried yuca, chicken escabeche, tacu tacu (traditional beans and rice dish with African roots) and anticuchos (that’s a skewer of grilled marinated beef heart with ají panca) are also traditional dishes offered on the daily menu. And, what would a Peruvian restaurant be without lomo saltado, tender beef sirloin — served with lots of sautéed onions that get a fusion kick with the addition of soy sauce — paired with both fried potatoes and rice.

Casa Andina also features a dish that all Peruvians love, causa, a potato cake stuffed with tuna, eggs, tomatoes and onions, topped with Huancaina sauce. A food writer for Prague’s English language newspaper, the Prague Post, swears by Casa Andina’s papa rellena de carne, a deep-fried potato stuffed with pork, egg, raisins and olives.

And what kind of Peruvian restaurant would it be without Inca cola, Cuzquena beer and Pisco sours? Also, you can order up a glass of Chilean wine if you’d like. The coffee is from — you guessed it — Colombia.

So next time you’re in Prague — or if you’re planning an initial visit — make sure you sample tasty Czech cuisine. But when you’re in the mood for tasty AND picanté, drop by Casa Andina. It’s in Prague 1, just around the corner from the imposing Intercontinental Hotel. And tell Dusan, Alejandro and Martin the Napa Valley Register sent you.

Take in an immersive experience in Peruvian culture at this hip restaurant. From the art on the walls to the music and food, it’s all authentic and you’re invited to dive in and explore. Start with Pisco, a liquor distilled from grapes and widely consumed in the region, or one of two authentic beers Cuzqueňa and Cristal Cerveza. Combine any of them with Papa Rellena Con Carne – stuffed potatoes with pork meat, eggs and raisins, or the Causa Con Pollo – potato cakes stuffed with chicken, tomatoes and avocado covered in huancaina sauce for complete satisfaction. Top it off with some dancing down below or a Flan de Coco. - Christophor Rick

Casa Andina is more than just a restaurant with great Peruvian food. It's more than just a lively night club and it's more than just a place to drink. When you step through the doors of Casa Andina you cross the threshold of time and space. You are stepping into a cultural experience. Yes there are Pisco sours and Peruvian beers and yes there is latino music. You can stuff yourself with papa rellena and causa con pollo. But you can also learn something about their art, their life and their culture. This is the true value of Casa Andina, the immersive experience into an interesting culture represented by the music, food, drink and even the art on the walls.

Well OK...the food, drink and dancing are all pretty good as well! I've been several times and you'll probably find me there again from time to time. Of course the small Plzen beer for the big price is a downside and the Peruvian beers are priced beyond most peoples tastes (150Kc!). The selection is large but light on vegetarian fare.

I normally don't score a place this high but everything really is of high quality there which means you will pay a little more than normal. Of course you may not meet a more friendly staff in all of Prague and that goes over well with me.

OVERALL:
9/10 based on my rating system which gives a number 1-10 for each of the following (scores in parenthesis): Cleanliness (10), atmosphere (10), price (9), service (9), friendliness (10), selection (9), drinks (9) and food (9).