Vienna’s seventh and eigth district are known to be the natural habitat of hip, young and not-so-young-any-more artists and creatives. Being creative all day, they also want to eat from time to time…a true living room bar/bistro/grill just comes right here: The St. Ellas !
The St. Ellas is actually a spin-off of the more gourmet-oriented Gaumenspiel, both restaurants share a common courtyard, that is really beautiful. The restaurant itself presents itself very casual, the tables are near to each other and it is quite loud – the Austrian version of a french bistro. The separation of smokers/non-smokers is not optimal – you enter the restaurant through the bar where everybody smokes and also in the non-smoking area there is this distinct smell, which is kind of a downer.
The restaurant offers casual kitchen, there are (well priced!) steaks from the grill and many snacks. The service was friendly, but not very present which is okay for a restaurant of this kind. The wine menue is not too big but offers well priced wines per glass. As a first course I went for the „Tapas“:
Not really Spanish, but still a very nice variation of the theme. It was a mixture of Austrian-Mediterranean-Spanish appetizers, all good in quality and taste. I especially liked the smoked trout and the prawn.
Then Papaya salad – sounds strange but was actually quite good! The crunchy sald went along quite nice with the fruity acidity of the papaya and the nuts…
The Tuna Sashimi pizza is something like a signature dish of the restaurant. To be honest it was a bit disappointing: A baked pita (a bit hard and dry), topped with wasabi-cream (not really spicy), tomatos and raw tuna sashimi of good quality. All was sprinkled with cress. The dish lacked a certain twist, maybe some real wasabi or some soy sauce – so it was quite boring.
The burger was very tasty, nice soft bread and a (small, though good) beef patty. The homemade fries were good too. All in all it was a bit small for the price. If it is the best burger in town, as often stated ? You have to decide for yourself….
Hm. Lime tiramisu….a little bit weird, because it was no real tiramisu. No Mascarpone, no ladyfingers. It was curd-based, which I didn’t like very much and had cantucchini inside. The lime taste was nice anyway.
All in all it was a relaxed evening in a busy, yet comfortable atmosphere. The prices are reasonable and so is the quality – we paid approx. 30€ per person with drinks and food.
