Restaurant Aleks is the Russian restaurant associated with the Casino Aleks.
Both are in a basement of a building on Wenceslas Square.
It is a casino restaurant - and casino restaurants often offer great food at a low low price.
That certainly applies here.
We paid nearly nothing.
We dined on a terrific Siberian fish soup, a whole smoked trout, a nicely executed grilled salmon and a plate of pickled salted cucumbers and tomatoes. The tomatoes tasted like they had just been pulled out of someone's garden.
The food and the price were five stars.
But all did not feel right in the world.
There were very few diners in the dining room - or for that matter in the casino in the next room.
There were a number of Russians doing something else. One or two could be seen in the casino gambling.
Many drifted in and out of private offices or in and out behind the bar. They clearly had free run of the place. They weren't eating, they weren't drinking, they weren't gambling. But they seemed to have things to do.
With so few diners or gamblers in the place, Restaurant Aleks did not feel very much either like a restaurant or a casino.
But, whatever was going on, it was going on surrounded by great food. read more