La Casa di Erminio — Restaurant in Prague

Very negative experience

We are a Spanish couple (family) living in Prague. This year we came to La Casa di Erminio for dinner, for us two with no kids, on a Wednesday evening after a recommendation, and being casually dressed. After asking us and confirming that it was our first time, the guy who served recommended with great emphasis a seafood starter he had out of menu and we accepted based on his insistance and for main course we said we were thinking on a shrimp pasta and a fish, both on the menu, but he insisted we should take the pasta with seafood, also out of the menu, instead of the shrimp one in the menu we mentioned. To our surprise, the starter was an excessive dish in quantity (clearly for more than two) and excessive price (1,400 Kč, it seemed they wanted to cash in on us and sell their the product they have left). And the pasta with seafood was excessive after that starter and for twice the price of the one we had suggested from the menu and had pieces of badly dried tuna. And the tuna dish was accompanied by a garnish of vegetables, not grilled as supposedly, that seemed and tasted weird as if each had been cooked separately, as if they had made a remix of previous things. We were just looking for a nice dinner without kids but we did not enjoy the dinner, we felt ripped off, cheated, with very unfair recommendations, being excessive and overpriced. At the end we think they even actually seemed embarrassed after having taken advantage of us in such a clear way, that the guy who served and the girl who brought the bill were not even able to look us in the eye when coming and bringing the bill of 3,000 Kč (with no dessert or wine, beyond the initial proseco they served so straight that we thought it might well be a compliment). For that price we would had expected a unique dinner and not this bad experience, bad digestion and the feeling that they took advantage of the good faith of the customer.

Very sad and...

Pretty good. This would get five stars but for a few points.

First, and most important, the ingredients are good, though not great. The food therefore pleases but doesn't amaze.

Next the cooking. I had a tuna steak with roasted potatoes, the tuna was good but somewhat overdone, yet still rather cold in the middle (I suspect it was cooked from the fridge instead of being at room temperature first, and was then put on a cold plate). The potatoes and my friend's pasta were rather over-salted.

Finally the room is somewhat cold, both in temperature and in looks. It's not really inviting or cosy. It wants to be a place of fine dining but comes off instead as snooty and aloof.

It's still worth 4/5 for the good ingredients fairly well cooked. The wine and desserts are good. I wouldn't feel ashamed bringing someone here.

The prices are rather high, but not...

The ambience in this restaurant is pleasant and relaxing. It’s rather small place and not very crowded. If you’d like to enjoy romantic dinner with your partner I think this would be a nice choice. If you like grilled seafood, but not only they also have selection of meat too, this is a must visit. Waiters are professional and very attentive. I couldn’t find in the menu the combination of seafood I wanted to have and they created for me a salad with grilled seafood which even wasn’t in the menu. I noticed( too late) they have special offer written on the wall as well, maybe I would welcome to be notified about it as well while choosing the items from the menu and couldn’t find suitable options. The price is higher in this place, but the taste and the quality of the food...