Just recently Tschak Mak opened in my area of Vienna and of course I had to give it a try. I was quite saddened to see that it had opened instead of a burrito place that I frequented sometimes. Apparently not often enough. So now it is a new place called Tschak Mak, which offers sandwiches and tapas. What drew me to idea was the idea of a drink and a bite to eat. I love an uncomplicated concept in summer.
Tschak Mak @Vienna
Tschak Mak has a small terrace with a couple of tables on the busy Liechtensteinstraße. When the bus drives by you don’t understand your vis-à-vis. But that’s to be expected. The eatery hasn’t changed much since it was a burrito place, most tables are upstairs, so outside is definitely preferable during warm weather. There’s service in the evening, although as charming as our waiter was, he was also inundated. Or maybe he just had better things to do, as he was mostly looking elsewhere and or talking to friends. Never mind, he managed to bring out our food, but for extra drinks you needed to get his attention. A bit weird though with only five other tables in total.
terrace @Tschak Mak
We ordered the big starter plate, which included according to the menu ham, salami, cheese, home-made fermented vegetables, and other delicacies. This is what arrived.
big starter plate @Tschak Mak
It does look enticing, doesn’t it? But it had little to do with what the menu promised. We had asked our waiter for a sandwich recommendation and he told us that the pastrami sandwich was the most popular. Too bad he didn’t mention that it would be already on the starter plate. But I have to give him that, the pastrami was by far the best tapas on this plate. But even that was no great. Unfortunately the chipotle sauerkraut lacked the main factors. Acidity and spice! It was rather oily and overwhelmed the little pastrami there was. The pastrami and mustard on top were great though, as was the toasted bread underneath.
The grilled eggplant sandwich was absolutely disgusting with the oil squishing out, when I took a bite. I couldn’t eat that. The ‘Notorious PIG’ sandwich fared little better. Already when I touched it oil flowed out, the chimichurri on top missed the spice factor completely. Unfortunately the delicacies were rather underwhelming.
But also the fermented veggies were a sure miss. Both fermented vegetables were home-made, because I do not think you could buy that anywhere. The cauliflower had a very distinct aftertaste, which we couldn’t allocate. It just didn’t work. The fennel had the requisite acidity,but overly so, and also lacked any real interesting flavor. Best of all, I don’t even dare to write it, were the store bought olives.
We had ordered the pastrami sandwich at first, but with it on the starter plate, we changed our order to ‘Big Chick Energy‘. The sandwich features an in buttermilk marinated chicken, umami mayonnaise, and chili crunch. At least that’s what the menu promised. Since we were still hungry after the starter plate, we both took a bite out of the sandwich.
Big Chick Energy @Tschak Mak
I can’t say for sure what was in the sandwich except the chicken and the same sauerkraut as was underneath the pastrami. There was also more of the tasty mustard. The chicken was tender,and the bread fluffy. Unfortunately the overall impression of the sandwich was super greasy and there was no chilly crunch at all. Another miss!
The drinks were tasty, too bad that I do not have a picture of them. Because they and the company were the best part of the evening. Tschak Mak has a great concept, but the implementation still needs to adjusted. And not only in the kitchen, but also in the service. Until then, the Negroni was delicious! Yours, Pollybert
Tschak Mak
1090 Wien, Liechtensteinstraße 10
Tel: +43 660 1423757
Mon-Wed:12:00-19:00, Thu-Sat: 12:00-02:00
https://www.instagram.com/tschak_mak/?locale=us
