Perched on one of the city’s most idyllic street corners, with a stone Nestroy overlooking colourful chairs propping up diners and drinkers in front of colourful plates of food, is Ramasuri.
The name just rolls off of your tongue, doesn’t it? Has a smooth sound to it. The kind of word you want to roll around in for a while, like a bed full of blankets (with somebody… butt naked preferably)
The garden is alone enough reason to be here on a sunny day over anywhere else. Then there’s its innards adorned with graffiti from a Brazilian street artist with a name worth dropping, but we won’t to avoid risk of averting attention from what really should be in focus when reviewing a restaurant – the food. However, we will take a moment to mention that those chairs your sitting on inside – each one of them cost a shit load of money. This says a lot about the owner – if a restaurant treats your ass so good, imagine what they’ll do for your tastebuds.
Gabriel-Raffael Alaev is the owner who’s spent the shit load of money on the chairs. He waited four years to snap up the location in which he’s transformed a down and out old Gasthaus in a 16th century building into an original-looking casual eatery.
he tells us. He’s the kind of guy that knows what to say.
The menu is simple and brief, and doesn’t allow itself to be defined by one country’s cuisine, yet rather, by the seasons. Changing 4 times a year, the menu is crafted around seasonal products that come in from regional farmers. And most things on the menu, the waiter will proudly tell you if you ask, is made from scratch, by hand. Well, of course, by hand. How else would you make it – by foot, or mind control? Imagine being able to scramble an egg with your mind – talk about desirable super powers.
Now, Ramasuri has got the swagger, and all the buzz words and catch phrases – organic this and artisan that – hanging from it that all the hipster favourite hangouts popping up these days have, but has it got the substance.
Well, the salads would suggest a resounding ‘yes!’ The Thai papaya salad is the best one we’ve tasted outside of a Thai restaurant – fresh and balanced flavours, with a dominant lashing of sesame, and textures that we’d say were interesting if we knew what the hell we were talking about. We missed more chili, but got over it quick as the flavours just worked.
As for the tomato salad – well, this can only be as good as the tomatoes used, and this is where the quality produce used at Ramasuri pay off. The soft goat cheese accompanying it is a pleasant surprise and oh, don’t forget to treat those tomatoes with some of the fancy olive oil on hand.
The homemade paprika gnocchi tastes of the field, with flavoursome mushrooms that confirm that there’s no messing around with ingredients here.
The Backhendl with its Japanese breadcrumb coating is so tender it needs to sit on something, which turns out to be a bed of chicken liver pâté. It’s a different take on the Austrian classic, with its fried chicken skin crackle and side of yoghurt cucumber salad, on the side. The nose-to-tail, use the whole animal, philosophy is practised here as much as possible.
The beauty in simplicity is understood here at Ramasuri. The menu is full of good, wholesome, healthy food, most of it coming in arrangements that look like a rainbow has crapped on your plate.
They are the kind of dishes you want to Instagram, then stuff your face with, while scrolling through your friends comments on your Instagram pic that say things like: #foodporn #foodgasm #yummy #omgthat’ssobeautifulIwanttohugaunicorn
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