After a recent trip to Japan I needed to see what Vienna had to offer in that department besides the usual sushi places. Nagano Wien calls itself a reinterpreted Izakaya. An Izakaya in Japan is a bar that offers small dishes. So I was interested to learn what a reinterpreted Izakaya would mean in Vienna.
Nagano Wien has opened its doors in downtown Vienna and offers Japanese fusion cuisine. The restaurant looked chic, with clean lines, in a shabby sort of way. The walls were raw with panels along the sides. The sushi chef had his working station in the middle of the entrance area, so that all diners could follow his every move.
sushi bar and dining area @Nagano Wien
Nagan Wien invites you to share plates, but I have seen plenty of people eating rolls on their own, not in the mood to share. But I was here to taste my way around the menu and what better way to do that than by splitting?
We started with Nitamago & Lotus, which was by far the most interesting dish of the evening. Lucky us to pick the winner right away! We got a marinated egg, which lay on some kind of creamy sauce, covered by lotus roots, edamame, and cherry tomatoes. There was a lot happening on this plate and it looked wild. In essence though everything worked together and it was absolutely divine! There were many different flavors, but put together beautifully. I later had to ask for a spoon to gobble up the rest of the sauce!
Nitamago Lotus @Nagano Wien
Next up came a pork belly with potato udon noodles, truffle, and cabbage. There was definitely some fusion happening, because potatoes are more a staple in Austrian food. The pork belly had a super crunchy crust, with the rest of the slice of meat being juicy and soft. The flavor was intense, but perfectly seasoned. That was a great bit of meat. I didn’t care so much for the fusion udon noodles, could have passed on the truffle, and loved the cabbage with the sauce of the pork belly. More sauce would have been needed though, because without it the vegetable tasted bland. The fluffy white bits were something puffed, I couldn’t say what. Same goes for the leaves, but they added some flavor. Overall I loved it though!
pork belly @Nagano Wien
Carp Shabu Shabu came next, with Shabu, Shabu being a Japanese hot pot. While the fish arrived with warm liquid on the side, I can’t say it was hot enough to cook the fish. This was probably never intended, as it stayed raw until we finished it. I didn’t care for the Bouchot mussels, the French queen under the mussels, but the carp was nice enough except for the small bones in one of my pieces. The Japanese ginger Myoga, proudly listed on the menu, didn’t take center stage but hid itself on the wall of the bowl. It made me wonder what kind of ginger was in the bowls with the wasabi? Indian ginger?
Carp Shabu Shabu @Nagano Wien
A complete let down was the Broccoli & Peanut. It was asparagus broccoli, probably only meaning that it had a long stem, with a peanut sauce. The sauce must have been liquefied creamy peanut butter, because I could not detect anything else. The listed chili made no appearance on the plate and the portion was minuscule, especially for the price of five broccoli heads. Tastewise bland and uninteresting. Not even the peanut halves and the coriander could help this dish.
broccoli & peanut @Nagano Wien
Delicious and of superior quality was the sashimi Moriawase, which featured two slices of salmon, tuna, as well as Hamachi. The fish was tender and melted in your mouth. With a little bit of wasabi and a quick dip in the soy sauce the sashimi was perfect. I loved the addition of shiso leaves, which had a fine taste. The leaf has other names like perilla mint or wild basil, but I find its taste is unique so I cannot narrow it down.
Sashimi Moriawase @Nagano Wien
We finished the meal with beef tartar, which included Kimizu sauce and nori chips. Kimizu sauce is similar to sauce Hollandaise without the butter. Egg yolks are mixed with rice vinegar and the result is a creamy yellowy sauce. Funnily enough the tartar tasted overly rich after a couple of bites. Maybe the kitchen used too much of the sauce? It would appear so because the meat had a distinctly yellow coating. The nori chips had been dipped in some kind of batter and were fried. Overall it felt too rich and I didn’t really enjoy eating it after the first couple of bites. Compared to other dishes it was a generous portion.
beef tartar @Nagano Wien
Weirdly, after all these dishes, my friend felt still a bit peckish. Or maybe she was just not satisfied with the beef tartar and wanted something great to wipe the slate clean. It was kind of strange that we started with the amazing egg and lotus dish and then it went a bit downhill. So she ordered herself a Crusty Crab roll. The maki was filled with prawn and cucumber, topped with shiso avocado cream on which sat a snow crab croquette, topped with truffle mayo and Parmesan and black truffle.
Crusty Crab @Nagano Wien
I cannot say where to the black truffle disappeared, but I certainly didn’t miss it. The roll was quite high and you need to work if you want to taste all this goodness at once. But I managed and even if it was a bit difficult to chew at first, Crusty Crab has a wow factor! No doubt about it!
So how did Nagano Wien perform overall? I liked the atmosphere with the open sushi station and the bar seating around. I also found the booths interesting, which would provide some privacy. Service was friendly and efficient.
What I didn’t like were the coarse chopsticks. This meal would certainly profit from a better quality and more elegant dining tool. Also the sticks didn’t match with the pricing of everything else, which was overall on the higher end. Some things downright overprized. Maybe this is the wrong place to complain, because after all I can still afford to dine out. But most glasses of wine for 8,50 and the measly broccoli for 12,- seems exaggerated to me. That’s certainly not what Izakaya stands for. Yours, Pollybert
Nagano Wien
1010 Wien, Schellinggasse 3
Tel: +43 1 5885307
Email: kontakt@naganowien.at
Mon-Sat: 12:00-14:30, 17:30-22:30
https://www.nagano-wien.com/en/home
