The name ‘Das Essen FM’ sounds more than a bit weird, but once you sit in the small Ukrainian restaurant it all makes sense. The owner is a radio fan and a lot of old devices are on display. When we arrived a birthday party happened in the front room, so our large group sat down in the back room. The dividing glass door worked as a sound barrier, filtering out most of the music, so that a conversation was possible.
front room after the party @Das Essen FM
The advantage of dining with a group of friends is the chance to snack yourself through the menu, always with the intent of tasting and deciding for yourself how you like the food. Right up front let me tell you that ‘Das Essen FM’ tasted of home-cooking. The portions were generous, some dishes tasted great, others still have room for improvement. But all of them were homemade, which already counts for something in my book.
I shared a Borscht and the kitchen was flexible enough to serve it already in the two bowls. So what you see here is just half the portion, but more than enough to get you going.
Borscht @Das Essen FM
The soup was warm and light, and had an earthy flavor. I especially enjoyed the slice of bread with lard and cracklings. The perfect addition to the soup. One person ordered a mushroom soup, which I was not allowed to taste. I liked the clear look of the soup though, since usually this one is heavy on the cream. Since I heard no complaints, I assume it was delicious.
clear mushroom soup @Das Essen FM
The baked red beet turned out to be a hit. Arranged like a carpaccio with green leave salad on top, as well as feta, pumpkin seeds, and an old-fashioned mustard dressing. With red beets you cannot go wrong in my opinion and in this combination they were a hit. The dressing had enough acidity to pack a nice punch and the seeds provided some crunch. A very lovely dish!
baked red beet with salad @Das Essen FM
The Ukrainian Shuba salad on the other hand looked great, but lacked flavor. Each layer looked perfect and distinct, but together it tasted flat. The salad missed salt and acidity, which was a shame. It had a nice creamy consistency and with the bread, it already made a meal.
Shuba salad @Das Essen FM
Another starter was herring with potatoes and onions. We usually eat it with sour cream and horseradish, so I was quite interested in the Ukrainian version. I quite enjoyed my piece with the mustard sauce. Although it was rather salty compared to the dishes before. Unfortunately some parts of the herring were hard and chewy, so it got mixed reviews.
herring with potatoes @Das Essen FM
With that we were on to the main dishes. At first arrived Banosh, a Ukrainian version of polenta with feta cheese and greaves. Not the lightest of dishes, but it tasted excellent. Really loved it, I am just not sure if you want to eat a bowl of it on your own. That might be better if you share it.
Banosh @Das Essen FM
The dish I looked forward to were the cabbage rolls, which are popular all over Eastern Europe as well as in Austria. At Das Essen FM the rolls were small and arrived nestled next to each other. The Ukrainian version arrived with a large dollop of sour cream and almost no tomato sauce. Too bad that the rolls were only lukewarm, when they arrived at our table. I really prefer them heated through. Also they lacked seasoning, the cook here was definitely not in love.
cabbage rolls @Das Essen FM
Way better were the vareniki, fillied with potatoes, onions, and sour cream. Vareniki come in all kinds of savory and sweet versions. The roasted onions provided some crunch, which gave the little dough filled parcels some texture. I loved the sour cream on the side, as you need some kind of sauce to dip. In Austria it would have been a pool of butter, so much better than to receive this in a figure friendly execution. A very tasty dish!
vareniki @Das Essen FM
A very interesting dish was Chebureki. Burek is well known as some kind of fried dough with a filling. Here the Chebureki has the form of a halved pizza filled with cheese curd. It got served with a bowl of clear chicken soup on the side. It had a flaky texture and arrived piping hot with the cheese inside pulling strings. The soup did nothing for this dish in my opinion, Cheburek was perfect on its own.
Cheburek @Das Essen FM
Last but not least we had two orders of Deruny, Ukrainian potato pancakes, at our table. Both wanted the pancakes with sour cream and salad. Even though the pancakes were fried, they didn’t appear to be crisp but rather soft. The Deruny got no complaints, so must have been tasty since the plates were empty.
Deruny @Das Essen FM
For dessert we shared one dish, since there is always room for at least one more bite. The pancakes with cherry and vanilla sauce reminded me of the presentation of the cabbage roll. Unlike them the pancakes were warmer and the vanilla and cherry sauce thick and creamy. Not too sweet and a lovely dish to share.
pancakes with cherries and vanilla sauce @Das Essen FM
Overall it was interesting to see how much can be done with a couple of basic ingredients. Even though some of the dishes lacked seasoning, I liked the home-cooked meal style. It felt real and fresh. There was a lot of sharing and tasting at our table, and isn’t that what a meal with friends is all about? The atmosphere in the restaurant was very familiar and the service was super friendly. Das Essen FM is a place were you feel right at home from the moment you walk in. Yours, Pollybert
Das Essen FM
1030 Wien, Juchgasse 24
Tel: +43 660 1681717
Tue-Sat: 11:00-22:00, Sun: 11:00-20:00
https://www.instagram.com/dasessenfm?igsh=d2tha3Q5NjczM21m
