Wallse What?

What is Austrian food exactly? The only meal I remember when I was in Austria last year was the amazing fondue restaurant we went to in St. Christophe. Not the norm. I decided to check out Wallse on a whim on a Wednesday night. It’s in the middle of the west village, on the same block as the ever popular (whywhywhy) Spotted Pig and the discrete Turks and Frogs. You would think that would mean it would be good… not so much.

Not that this should deter you from going, but there was NO ONE there. We had our pick of the front or the back of the restaurant and naturally chose the back (way cooler…). It was us and a random old couple. Awesome. The one saving grace of this restaurant was that our waitress was actually great. She legitimately was Austrian (or German?). She had a great knowledge of wine and gave us recommendations for the menu. I do not fault her for the food being totally mediocre.

We started out with the Lobster Ravioli and the Pan Seared Sea Scallops with spinach salad and mandarin-ginger vinaigrette. Both of these dishes were unmemorable. I barely even tasted any lobster in the ravioli, and I love a good ravioli (check out my upcoming post on Commerce). I then, not surprisingly, had the Wild Striped Bass with risotto and herbal zweigelt sauce. The fish was tasteless, but at least the risotto was creamy and tender. One point. To make matters worst, my boyfriend had the Classic Kavalierspitz with root vegetables, potato rösti and creamed spinach. Kavalierspitz, for those of you who do not know (everyone), is beef shoulder. Yummy… I believe the comment was “I never have to try beef shoulder again.” This comment was quickly followed by “I never have to go to that place again in general.” So, needless to say, we didn’t like the place. Negative 10 points… just don’t go.