Klara's Restaurant

10/28/09

Not quite Prague

by vsenory at Citysearch

We have eaten at Klara's three times and the best meal was the Oktoberfest buffet. The pork was excellent and my husband loved the head cheese. I was pleasantly surprised to see strawberry dumplings for dessert.

But the bread umplings(knedliky) are not the same as we've had from my mother in law, the Czech restaurants in New York and those in the Czech Republic. These are more like just white bread. The bread cubes are missing and the texture just doesn't make the grade.

However we will be back and try other things on the menu. We haven't tried the strudle yet, but the palacinky(crepes) are wonderful.

• Pros: Nice atmosphere, good service, good beer
• Cons: Disappointing dumplings and not enough sauce

09/19/09

Nice surprise!

by RussellinCary at Citysearch

We visited for the first time last night and were pleasantly surprised. The interior is upmarket but not stuffy, there is plenty outside seating and the place is spotlessly clean.

The menu has Czech traditional dishes and some that appear to cross into German territory. For those that are unadventurous, one of the specials was a boring old steak (that actually looked really good).

Bread is served quite quickly. Two large slices of home made bread that was delicious plus some bread sticks that tasted home made but were not as crispy as the commercial version. Real butter (of course).

There is a nice selection of Czech and Slovakian beers. Czech beer is good.

My wife had two appetizers: garlic soup and the "cutting board" which is assorted salami, ham, cheeses. The garlic soup made her evening - "best I ever tasted" was the quote. The "cutting board" is large, that is all she would say about that one.

I ordered the roast duck. Yes, it does arrive swimming in red cabbage that is quite soft and sweet and sour in taste. The dumplings are made from bread with herbs. The gravy is a bit salty and a bit oily but used sparingly is excellent with the dumplings. But it tastes like home made. The duck - my quote "best I've had". It was slow roasted and, I believe, basted with salted water. The fat layer under the skin was almost entirely absent and the meat was succulent and tender. The skin was better than the so-called Peking Duck at most local Chinese eateries.

By the way, Czech food is supposed to be quite heavy, as with food from other ex eastern bloc countries with cold cloudy winters. If you want lighter fare, go with the schnitzel - you can have pork or chicken and it is served with potato salad.

Dessert - we shared the apple strudel. It was quite good - different to the German version in that it had walnuts in place of raisins and it was not particularly sweet. The apples could have been cooked a bit longer. However, the pastry was the real deal, flaky and browned nicely. Of course, as it typical in this area, it was totally messed up by being "decorated" with that darn chocolate sauce that every chef around here seems to think enhances their presentation. Come on!!

In summary - great foreign food in a pleasant unhurried atmosphere in the heart of Cary NC. What more could you ask for if you live in Cary? Perhaps the chef could work with someone on "Americanizing" the presentation or the side dishes to please those who hated the food in earlier reviews, but we noticed plenty happy customers. This was our first experience with Czech food and we enjoyed it. Some of the other reviewers need to realize that this is NOT an American restaurant (thankfully). We will go back !

• Pros: Garlic Soup ! Roast Duck ! Romantic upscale atmosphere
• Cons: Service can be a little slow

08/25/09

BEST FRIENDLY RESTAURANT

by ZdenkaB at Citysearch

I go to Klara's a few times per week because the food is excellent. I absolutely love everything on the menu, so when i think of a restaurant, Klara's is always my first choice, and not just because of the tasty food, but the place is very friendly and i feel great there. I am very happy for the first Czech cuisine in the Triangle area. Thank you, Klara!!! :-)))

• Pros: VERY TASTY FOOD