Westpol

Review

Alternative mainstream

Photo: Heribert Corn There are restaurants that spring from an inner passion. Then there are restaurants that are opened in places and provided with an offer because other restaurants are already operating there with the same program. And then there are restaurants that are not based on a particular passion or a copied recipe for success. They simply sense the zeitgeist and shape themselves accordingly, soaking up the local spirit and turning it into a restaurant design and menu, just as you simply have to hang lines in the sea in suitable places in order to be able to harvest mussels a year and a half later. The new Westpol is a bit like a local atmosphere collector, formed from the current culinary style plankton of the seventh and eighth districts. The biggest common denominator of pretty much all the restaurants that opened in Vienna last year. The white Euro-pallet garden fence with integrated herb pots, the trendy cement tiles, the hanging globe lamps dangling from the cable, the gleaming white tiled bar, the cool gray walls and, of course, the chalkboard. It's almost surprising that there's no mention of pulled pork on the menu, just as the menu is a little out of the alternative mainstream. This is probably due to the fact that Zabit Fidan ran the Turkish restaurant Hasir on Mexikoplatz with his uncle until recently, but a family dispute motivated Fidan and his wife to start something of their own. It's not really easy to find a common thread in the Westpol menu, which offers burgers, salads, a little Styrian beef salad with seed oil, salads, grill, Polish pierogi, with only the Turkish sector of the range appearing well-founded. Zabit Fidan admits that it took so long to rebuild, a lot of time to rewrite the menu several times ... In any case, the oriental starter platter is not a bad choice, the portion is huge, the homemade falafel is good, the homemade hummus and the Haydari yoghurt cream are okay, the eggplant and zucchini vegetables are great, the cigarette börek is a bit greasy, the couscous salad rather dull (€ 8.50). The lentil soup can be saved in this form, thin and inexpressive (€ 3.70), and the zucchinis stuffed with chicken could do with an aromatic kick (€ 9.50). The moussaka has been adapted a little to local eating habits - less vegetables, more beef - which shouldn't be the case (€ 9.50), and when it comes to pierogi, it's better to choose the ones with potatoes and curd cheese, the spinach ones are bland (€ 6.90). The audience likes it, Josefstadt and Neubau seem to get on well with the West Pole. But if the cuisine were a little more exciting, special, individual and unique, it wouldn't be a mistake either. In summary: a restaurant that looks the way restaurants look at the moment and that cooks all over the world. Westpol 7th, Lerchenfelder Str. 71 Tel. 01/944 38 95 Mon-Sat 9am-2pm

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