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The Old Czech RestaurantWhile winter was holding off in Mongolia's capital, our mid-October jaunt in search of Obscure Restaurants gave your hardened hedonists some shivers. It did not take too much imagination to feel the gritty ice underfoot and feel the slice of a minus 40 wind on our face as our maniacal taxi driver and his nail-sawing, gum-chewing girlfriend dropped us off at the edge of the brick and concrete part of town. We had abandoned central Ulaanbaatar and ventured up into Number Three District on the second tour of duty of our second campaign on your behalf. Alternatively menacing, racy, depressing and exciting, this District of Ulaanbaatar is home to countless high rise apartment blocks and attendant dark alleys and mysterious courtyards. Mongolians name the area "Brezhnev's Gift", as the infrastructure was (cheaply) cobbled together in that era, with Soviet money. The Big Ring Road that traverses the area hosts shops, bingo halls, sauna/massage joints, cinemas and night clubs. Speaking of which, our good friends, the "Brothers Corsican", of Café De France fame have recently opened a classy night club called "Paris by Night" on The Russian Strip. As you read this review, and if you are a single, you may realise that a meal at the Czech followed by a visit to Paris may be a good way to meet and woo people in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. For the first time visitor to Mongolia, the District is immediately noticeable as the high area on the north side of downtown with 12 story high blue apartment blocks and the big TV transmitter. And it was close to that tower that our Czech experience began:- LOCATION: When on the Big Ring Road travelling West, as you get about level with the TV tower, look under it and a huge sign "The Old Czech Restaurant", dimly lit by blue spotlights should be visible. It's next to the Woman's Hospital and accessible by a paved lane followed by a careful walk across a dirt expanse (watch for the open sewer manholes). HOURS: 12-12 AMBIENCE & APPEARANCE: A cheerful and spacious tavern-type establishment. Pine tables and bench seating at those table. Three basic areas, or rooms. A bar with a couple of stools. Pine floor and ceiling. An eclectic set of paintings on the walls, from a giant depiction of an ancient Mongolian battle scene through to little portraits of Rubenesque European wenches. A set of clogs. Basically, the Restaurant is a tavern. And a nice tavern at that. Read between the lines. ATTENDANCE: Most tables (that would sit 6) were occupied by a couple of people. Here two young Mongolian lovers cooing at each other, there two young Mongolian lasses having an after work (or before work?) beer, a couple of young Mongolian lads, a few more tables of two Mongolian lasses. Lines, readers, lines. As we left we noticed a young European-looking couple in one of the dark corners. The only other Europeans faces in the establishment for the evening. All in all, a lively place. A place where you should not need to be alone if you didn't want to be. A further hint - your valiant voyagers were the only two people who seemed to be there to eat. Everybody else was happy to be quaffing pints of beer. STAFF: A cheerful Boleraa was our waitress for the evening. She was attentive and always available. And the orders were delivered correctly. A winner, is young Boleraa. SERVICE: Quick and on time. MENU: One side of a laminated A4 sized menu listed the drinks and the other the food. In big letters. No wading through pages of choices here! "Mini Duu", Shell called, and Boleraa came scurrying. "Can we have another menu" he asked. "Bakgui" (not here, in Mongolian) - Doug had the only English version in the place. So we received an identical menu in Mongolian. No descriptions of the dishes, and we didn't bother Boleraa - we were on our own. Main meal prices topped out at 2,800Tg, after starting with the steamed potato at 900Tg. So - on the cheap side of Ulaanbaatar dining. FOOD: Your brave bon-vivants venture into unknown territory for our readers. We could have stuck with the schnitzels, the omelette, the mushroom soup or "steak". But no - with a flick of the forelock, a girding of the loins and a loosening of the belt we ventured into the land of "Old Czech Soup", "Old Salad" (seriously!), Knedlick and Rolles of Karlover. The soup was a chunky potato and corn affair, intermingled with sliced sausage and coloured borsch red, no doubt by red cabbage lurking in there somewhere. Heartily edible. Unless we struck a real bad, old, old Old Salad, we recommend you don't bother. Shel hit on the jackpot for the night. The Knedlick was a delicious beef stew with ample servings of a steamed bread. Doug's Karlovar was thinly sliced beef wrapped around more thinly sliced slivers of ham. Red cabbage and rice with a dollop of tomato sauce on the top. OK, we thought. Perhaps the ice cream & banana. It was passable, but nothing you couldn't do at home with an old banana and some half melted ice cream from your own freezer. All, in all, the food fare was pub fare. Edible, unusual, filling, and less than memorable. COST: 11,400Tg for the two for us for the food. Good value, and you would walk away full. Beers 1,200 each. Also good value. TOILET FACILITIES: Shel's Inspection Report - - - - - "the WC does have a functioning hand drier. It also had soap and toilet paper and was spotless. And I liked the maroon tile decor." RATING: 2.8/5 RECOMMENDATION: Your gallivanting gourmands could easily imagine getting there in a good mood on a cold winter's night and bursting into a crowded and raucous gathering. We would quaff down a lots of pints of cold beer, swapping laughs with a few different nationalities. Boleraa would keep the beer flowing, we would meet up with some locals, and then slurp down an hot serving of Old Czech Soup to fortify ourselves for the 500m walk to Paris By Night with our new found friends. There we would dance away the last of the Ulaanbaatar Winter Blues. Aaahh, the good life of an ex-pat in Mongolia. That's the sort of place "The Old Czech Restaurant" is.
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