From the moment I had heard about Restaurant Mader I wanted to dine there. In the end though it took a bit longer, but eventually I convinced some friends to come with me. On a recent Saturday evening we arrived and got a table in the back room, where a lovely fire burned.
dining room in the back @Restaurant Mader
much appreciated fire place @Restaurant Mader
We started the meal with freshly baked sourdough bread, salted butter, and purple bean spread. Usually I skip the bread to keep my appetite for the real deal, but this bread with the salted butter and the bean spread was just so amazing, I devoured both slices.
sourdough bread with butter and bean spread @Restaurant Mader
The menu was short but included a daily dish and showcased seasonal and local produce. My friend got a Serbian bean soup. The dish resembled more a stew than a soup and was honestly big enough to satisfy anyone. Really too bad that she had already ordered a main dish as well, because the bean soup alone was already a hearty meal. But it tasted so delicious that she finished it all anyway.
Serbian bean soup @Restaurant Mader
Ideally I had decided to share a starter, which was in hindsight a tremendous idea since I had eaten all the bread. We got roasted red beets with fresh goat cheese, sugared walnuts, and a poppy seed dressing. Even though I dislike poppy seeds, this combination worked really well. A bit more of the goat cheese would have been nice, but I loved the beets and the sugared nuts.
roasted beets with poppy seed dressing @Restaurant Mader
The others all got a stuffed cabbage roll, at least this is how it was announced on the menu. It arrived looking more like a casserole covered by a roasted cabbage leaf, and cabbage in form of a salad on top. The stuffing was potatoes mixed with chestnuts, red pepper sauce and roasted pumpkin seeds finished the presentation. The salad had a nice citrus dressing and elevated the otherwise rather heavy dish to heavenly heights. It got rave reviews from both sides, so this was apparently really tasty!
stuffed cabbage roll @Restaurant Mader
I went with the fish dish and got a barley risotto with walnut pesto and three pieces of catfish. The fish was juicy and perfectly roasted, the risotto still had a bite was creamy and nicely seasoned. Overall a very harmonious dish and also super delicious.
catfish with barley risotto @Restaurant Mader
The biggest problem though was that I ate too much. The bread to start with was already so good that I couldn’t resist, and then I ate the large portion of the fish. Most main dishes come in two sizes by the way. So my biggest regret was that I had no room for a dessert. To rectify that circumstance we decided to come back in two weeks and made a new reservation right away. So that we can start tasting the rest of the menu. It’s so good, trust me, you’ll want to come back as well. Yours, Pollybert
Restaurant Mader
1150 Wien, Markgraf-Rüdiger-Strasse 25
Tel: +43 1 9823350
Email: restaurantmader@gmail.com
Mon-Fri: 16:00-23:00, Sat: 11:00-23:00, Sun: 11:00-17:00
http://www.restaurantmader.com/
