Delicatessen Bar&Kitchen

Review

Vienna is different ...

Delicatessen is completely different from the restaurants that are described as the best in Moscow in various rankings. Delicatessen is not frequented by oligarchs, and foie gras and otoro from bluefin tuna are not on the menu here. Delicatessen cultivates an underground style, the purist cuisine focuses on simple ingredients, great taste, unusual ideas and, of course, a little bit of the creepy effect, because horse or brains are obviously not eaten on every corner in Moscow. Six years ago, chef and co-founder Ivan Shishkin decided to try out the concept in Vienna. He chose a building on Spittelberg, which had never been used for catering before, so it took ages to get the necessary permits. It's been open since the beginning of March, the location is great, the restaurant with its doll's house design is really pretty, the menu is very interesting and the prices are more than fair - yet I was the only guest there last Tuesday. There are probably a few reasons for this. One is that Delicatessen is not easy to find, you can hardly see it from the outside. In Moscow, the hidden location is part of the Delicatessen cult, in Vienna it's a guarantee of failure. And even if you think that Vienna is so international - if only one member of staff speaks a little German, that's not an advantage, especially when there's so much to talk about. Speaking of stories: Shishkin now lives in Hamburg, which makes a personal welcome rather difficult. It may not matter in Moscow, but in Vienna people like it. And the provocative power of the already good horse tartare with the finest olive oil and enoki mushrooms (€ 15) may not be as strong in the hometown of horse liver cheese, nor is the veal brains with yolk and trout caviar. The delicatessen is therefore certainly underpriced. The quail eggs in a spicy za'atar coating are a great snack (€ 4), the deep-fried pieces of beetroot with shichimi togarashi seasoning and creamy, light coriander-lime mayo were just as delicious (€ 7) as the baked baby potatoes stuffed with gorgonzola with melting lardo (€ 9.50). And yes, nobody in Vienna knows "Metzgerstück", it doesn't seem appetizing, even if it is a perfectly roasted, absolutely delicious piece of beef with fried spinach and crispy cocoa nibs (€ 24.50). Perhaps you should try it under the name Hieferschwanzel ... Hopefully they'll get their act together somehow, it would be a shame if it petered out. A really great restaurant in itself, but one that unfortunately makes little effort to draw attention to its own class and so remains undiscovered.

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