How a restaurant that happens to both be vegan and serve its own beer managed to slip past my radar…read morefor more than year, I'll never know, but shortly after discovering Vaust, we made plans to eat there. Unfortunately, it was fairly disappointing.
We made the haul across town to Savignyplatz, and found the restaurant located a couple blocks further away. We'd made reservations so were almost immediately seated. The interior is dark and somewhat relaxing, though there isn't much "atmosphere." It felt kind of forced, if you know what I mean.
Looking at the menu, there weren't many options. Two starters, two mains, two desserts, plus an additional main of the day. I don't know if it's because it was the winter menu, or simply because they have a limited menu all year long, regardless of the options. But we each ordered something different, so that we could try a bit of everything.
I ended up ordering the house Pilsner, which was fine. Nothing to write home about, but it wasn't bad. Still, I wouldn't recommend coming here just for the beer.
The starters were pretty good. I got a pumpkin soup with a coconut-lime foam on top, served with a puff pastry. It was quite tasty. The fellow got these soy cheese things that were covered in sesame seeds, and came with a side of a yogurt sauce and herb salad. There was also bread with flavored dipping oil and specialty salt.
But when our entrees came, we were somewhat disappointed. I had tofu and tomato-filled ravioli, topped with nuts and arugula. It was pretty OK, but for almost €15, I kind of expected something that had a bit more flavor to it. The toppings were nice, but the ravioli themselves were quite boring.
Meanwhile, the fellow ordered the goulash, which came with sauerkraut, soy cubes, and a paprika sauce. He was starving but couldn't even finish it because the taste was so mediocre. The problem was that the soy balls were hard and tasted like nothing, and the sauce tasted like it was store-bought, i.e. very salty and not distinct in flavor.
After these options, we decided to skip dessert and go home. Our bill was €48, before tip.
Conclusion: we probably won't go here again. The service was friendly, but the food just wasn't that great. It's not that it was terrible, but I am generally opposed to paying for food that I can make just as good, if not better, in my own home. Especially when it's €25 a head. We wanted to like Vaust but weren't impressed, and there are plenty of other vegan spots in town with better food and more atmosphere.
