Loving Hut

Forget the dated webpage, this vegan restaurant is anything but cheesy! Offering a mainly Asian-inspired menu, Loving Hut hut now has two locations open in Vienna, one in the 10th district and one in the 7th.

Loving Hut is a chain of vegan restaurants started by Supreme Master Ching Hai, a flamboyant Vietnamese woman who gained notoriety by creating her own form of meditation, Quan Yin. In addition to the restaurants (there are about 20 in the US) and meditation, Ching Hai seeks to spread her message of love and compassion through her television channel, suprememaster.tv. The channel was playing on a TV in the restaurant with (an admittedly confusing) 12-language subtitle system. I didn't much pay attention to the programming, but I applaud the effort. This is clearly a woman who possesses the conviction of her ideals.

Of the two restaurants in Vienna, I visited the newer location at Reumannplatz. The front is unassuming, and actually sits next to a butcher.

(Fleisch is German for meat.)

On a side note, when looking for the restaurant I happened upon another butcher shop which I thought had a very appropriate name:

The interior of Loving Hut was rather Spartan with just a few tables and seats for 14. The mix of patrons--while there I encountered a 60-something in traditional Austrian tights, several Goths with creative tattoos, and two high school-age girls splitting a vegan hotdog--speaks to the universality and growing popularity of vegan fare.

The man and woman behind the counter acted as both chefs and wait staff, the fairer asking (in broken German?) if I were eating in or taking out. I said I would sit, found a central seat, and perused the menu, deciding between a sweet and sour chicken dish and the vegan burger. I chose the former and intend on returning to sample the burger.

[I should here mention that I have never written a restaurant review and the only blog I kept was updated precisely once, three months later. I do look at one weblog every now and again but it's mostly pictures. So, loyal followers, if I include too much or too little detail, please let me know.]

While waiting for my lunch to arrive, I wandered over to a bookshelf which housed a modest collection of vegan cookbooks (16 titles in all), literature, and pamphlets. I grabbed a few 'zines and returned to my seat. Several were from US organizations (I pictured a dreadlocked college dropout trekking across The Continent, depositing small forests of vegan propaganda upon any willing doorstep and bumming cigarettes from homeless people) but the most impressive was from the Austrian Vegan Society. In addition to the obligatory suffering animal photos, it featured product reviews, vegan philosophy, meal ideas, and interviews--one with Peter Singer (does he speak German or did they use Google translate?) and another with an Austrian portfolio manager named Thomas. My favorite part, though, was the ads. I think they do a lot to display the wealth of vegetarian/vegan options here available. This was my favorite:

My food soon arrived and this is what it looked like:

It was delicious! The chicken (seitan) was by far my favorite part (I am not a carnophobic vegetarian). It was wokked (?) to perfection and in combination with the sauce/rice/vegetables it made for a great dish.

Well, that's all I have to say about the food. I guess this makes for a pretty crappy review. But, the food was good. I think that's the take-away message.

Name:

Loving Hut

Type:

All vegan/gluten-free

Hours of Operation:

Tuesday to Saturday: 11-21; Sundays/Holidays: 12-21; CLOSED Monday

Price Range:

€ (€3,50 to €8) see menu

Don't Miss:

Daily special (Heute Menu) on blackboard on end of bookcase. When I went it was a soup and sweet and sour chicken for €5,50. The smoothies also looked good.

Address:

10th District: 156 Favoritenstraße, 1100 Wien (in Vienna, the middle two numbers denote district; 10th district in this case), Tel. +43 01 293 8470

7th District: Neubaugürtel 38/5, 1070 Wien, Tel. +43 01 293 9182

How to Get There:

Loving Hut, 10th District: Take the U3 to Reumannplatz. When you emerge from the subway, walk up Favoritenstraße in the direction of South (away from shopping plaza) for approximately 200m (218.722 yards). It will be on the right.

Loving Hut, 7th District: Take U6 to Burggasse. Emerge and, with the library (Hauptbücherei) to your back, walk 80m up Burggasse. Loving Hut will be on the left: