Fine Dining

Let Sia transport you to a market in Hong Kong or Saigon without having to book a flight just to taste their local delicacies.

Head chef and Sia’s owner Jiří Štift dropped the “A” in “Asia” when he came up with the name and created the restaurant’s concept – high-end street food in an ultra modern setting. Jiří Štift is a celebrated chef who worked at the Michelin-starred Alcron restaurant before his illustrious eight-year stint as the head chef of Essensia in the Mandarin Oriental, Prague. He is also a published author and some may recognize him as a judge on MasterChef. Drawn to the rich culinary traditions of China and southeast Asia, he trained under various cooks and chefs in the area to learn the techniques he brings to Sia. One of the reasons to come to Sia is to try their delicious traditional Peking Duck, a menu item that has thus far been very hard to find in Prague. Štift’s Peking Duck takes several days to prepare and every day at Sia one cook is on designated duck duty all day, as the process is lengthy and no step must be skipped. At Sia, they serve it in two courses. First, the breast meat and crispy skin, served with various sauces and fresh vegetables, along with a sesame flour pancake made from scratch in the restaurant. Then, the thigh meat is pan-fried to perfection in a wok. Sia’s interior is a wonder of modern architecture and the work of Václav Červenka from the PH5 architecture and design studio. The restaurant’s exterior is entirely glass-fronted and from behind the concierge’s desk the restaurant’s many levels seemingly lie open for your perusal. A massive Chinese dragon hangs overhead from the exposed pipes. Live fish swim inside aquariums that form either the floor or the ceiling depending on where you are in the restaurant. The restaurant’s interior is a labyrinth of different stairs and hallways with no walls between them leading to its many seating sections. There are three open kitchens on three different floors, each devoted to a different method of food preparation. On the lower level, chefs turn mouthwatering fish and steaks over a Japanese robata grill. Robatayaki is a type of hot coal grill over which food is cooked at varying speeds, which originated among fishermen in Hokkaido. The steam kitchen is on the ground floor, and this is where dim sum, rolls, and many kinds of Asian noodles are created and cooked to perfection. The topmost floor houses the woks, where the Peking Duck thighs are stir-fried before being brought to your table, and where the curries and the spicy Chicken Kung Pao sizzle over hot flames. Sia has a full bar, where mixologists shake up signature cocktails, create iced teas, and dole out other soft and hard drinks. Jiří Štift’s priority was to ensure that Sia’s Asian cuisine was as authentic as possible, and so he hired a multitude of chefs from all over Asia. The service is fast, polite, and informative and the waiters bring you your orders as soon as they are ready. They place everything in the middle of the table to be shared by all, Asian style. Given its size and layout, Sia is perfect for large as well as small groups, and corporate lunches. If you’re planning a romantic evening for two, ask to be seated close to the bamboo garden, where the atmosphere is more intimate.