Imbiss

sobernow

top night out! 16th January 2009

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My friend could not make it to North London, so we went to this place in Central London she knew. I don't think it has been open for very long. I really liked it!!!! I wasn't too sure of the menu, I don't know Austrian food at all or drink, but we did drink a lot - the beer goes down so easily! The food is a good base, and it is tasty so I'm glad I gave it a shot. We shared a platter which is inexpensive and has a huge amount of meat on it, although you could say that the salads are healthy. Sauerkraut is not my thing, but my friend tells me it was good too, and it made her feel less guilty about having a dessert. For a Wednesday night it was quite busy, and a lot of people spoke Austrian (?) and seemed right at home there as if they owned the place - maybe they did ;-)
I like the cushions to sit on, and they had baby seats so they must have families in during the day. It seems they have a party room downstairs so guess where I will have my birthday bash?

bellaphon

Meatloaf, sausages and amber nectar... 12th December 2008

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A few weeks ago my daughter noticed the word Imbiss emblazoned on a new premises in Seymour Place when we were rushing towards the Odeon Marble Arch (for that silly and total waste of money Quantum of Solace). The word or rather more accurately Imbiß, is snack in German; see it does pay to observe that young peeps benefit from learning a second language or two. Imbiss is a new Austrian eatery, with a shop front (and for that matter, the same applies to its interiors) that’s undauntedly unassuming and very much plain jane. This plainness approach is not helped by the fact that Imbiss is unfortunately located in a nondescript back street sandwiched between Gloucester Place and Edgware Road in Portman Village (if that exists in the first place!)

Now I’m sucker for under represented cuisines in London. If a new Mongolian opens offering mare’s milk pudding or a Peruvian specialising in roasted Guinea pig then I’m all for it and at the same time if the offer of great food and good service is in evidence I’ll be gutted if the business fails. Let’s us also not kid ourselves that Austria like its Teutonic neighbour is going to take on the world with its cuisine. No it will not as it’s possesses hardly any cardinal culinary aspirations, it’s too simple and uncomplicated. It’s comfort food rather like our beans on toast.

The first thing I ordered was Leberkäse or Leberkas, ‘a sliceable meatloaf with a consistency close to Frankfurter sausages’ (from their website). The funny thing is that, if I were to present a slice of this Austrian meatloaf in a blind tasting scenario you’ll probably think it was fried SPAM. Yes that was my exactly my impression, except that with an absolute relief it tasted nothing like the tinned variety, for it was rather moreish and ultimately delicious. Leberkäse comes in a variety of flavours and the paprika version I had was perfect winter fodder. Additional discoveries scoffed were a wurst known as käsekrainer, described on their menu as smoked pork sausage with pockets of melted cheese and a paprika laden sausage known as debreziner. Both sausages, new to yours truly, tasted good enough to be included in my own sausage digest. A choice of rather superior sauerkraut or an average tasting creamy salad of potato, tomato, and cucumber accompanies the meat dishes. I must also point out that the on site baked breads like brezel or pretzel (quite unlike the hard, crunchy ones found in supermarkets) and kaiser beer roll (with cumin seeds) were stunning.

Imbiss describes their niche as beer food, I think this is absolutely spot on, the only problem is I no longer have a penchant for any alcohol. No worries, I enjoyed the food and informality of the staid ambience enough to ensure any future visits.