Back in 2022, Dr HH and I had a fancy meal at Jola, a vegan fine dining restaurant. It was a fancy and delicious experience. We planned to revisit on our trip to Vienna last year but the timings didn’t work out for us. And on our trip earlier this year, we decided to instead try Lara, the new slightly less fancy (and accordingly cheaper) sister restaurant. We actually went twice – once for brunch and once for dinner. Bookings are highly recommended as it was a popular spot.

Brunch was a great experience with a small, tempting menu of sweet and savoury dishes. We ordered four dishes in total and shared them. We definitely had room for more food, but we wanted to visit a few more eateries that day, so we left it at that.

We had a brioche oyster mushroom sandwich, which was a bit underwhelming. The bread was nice and fluffy, but maybe needed a bit more toasting to hold up to the filling, the sandwich was lacking a little structural integrity. The mushrooms were nice, though there was one big clump that were too big to bite through. There was too much lettuce for my personal taste. The dressing provided a nice citrus flavour, but otherwise there was not a lot of flavour.

Fortunately, everything else was a hit, starting with the sensational glazed crispy fried mushrooms. They had a nice light coating which stayed really crispy despite the sticky sauce. The flavour was a good combination of sweet and spicy, and the accompanying chilli mayo was creamy and tasty. This dish was perfect in terms of both taste and texture, and was probably our favourite dish we had in Vienna.

On to the sweets. We rarely turn down an opportunity for something pandan flavoured, so of course we chose the coconut pandan brioche. The creams could have been a little sweeter, as there was a hint of bitterness to the bread at the crust, but otherwise it was fluffy and well balanced, with both flavours shining through.

And finally, the caramelized French toast was delicious! The bread was so soft and fluffy, and nicely sweetened (though we thought it could have stood a bit more caramelization and colouring). The vanilla cream was so light, it was a dream.

A quick note on the drinks front – we were happy with our cafe latte and matcha latte, but it was a shame there was no chai latte or hot chocolate on the menu. More options for people who hate coffee, please! There are dozens of us!

We enjoyed our brunch more than our dinner. At dinner we were recommended to order 3-4 plates per person, which sounded like too many but seemed accurate. The menu is divided into mini, small, and big dishes, and the big plates are really not big. On the one hand, it means you get to try lots of dishes. On the other, the cost adds up quickly! We shared all the dishes we ordered.

The glazed focaccia and white bean dip (from the ‘mini’ section of the menu) was the highlight. The bread was a really tall and airy bake with a good crust. It had a sticky, slightly sweet glaze and was served with a white bean dip that was the perfect accompaniment.

Also from the ‘mini’ section, we tried the smoked croquettes yuzukoshō. They were filled with smoked potato and tiny chunks of smoked tofu. The coating was wonderfully crisp. There was a small amount of yuzu paste on top, which was tasty, but we felt it was a bit misleading for the menu to suggest that yuzu was the main flavour (if that’s how the menu is to be interpreted). This was really good.

From the ‘small’ section of the menu, we got the brioche and faux gras. Once again, the bread was pillowy soft. The paté was thick and you could tell it was made of mushrooms, but the flavour was a bit too mild. Maybe it’s accurate for fois gras though? I can understand that they are going for a faux gras and not a mushroom paté, but we were still a bit underwhelmed. It was served with kumquats which Dr HH really enjoyed.

We shared a potato rösti cucumber dill (also ‘small’). It was already halved, convenient for sharing between two. The texture was spot on, crispy on the outside with fluffy potato inside. The cucumber and yoghurt added some nice flavours and textures, and the salad was fine too (that’s the best I can say about a salad).

Moving on to the ‘big’ plates, we got the ravioles de dauphiné smoked potato, and were disappointed to see that it was very small. The ravioli were all attached to each other in a grid formation. The pasta was a bit too thick, considering the daintiness of the overall dish. The smoky potato filling was the same as in the croquettes, so it was tasty, but the pasta parcels were so small that there just wasn’t much of it in there. The dish was covered in horseradish foam – this seems like too big a flavour not to mention on the menu. The dish was just ok for me because of that (I’m not a fan), but horseradish fans like Dr HH will enjoy it.

Our final dish was the tortilla mushroom shawarma salsa verde. This was really tasty. The bread was soft and lovely. The salad and salsa verde had lots of fresh herbs that brought some lovely flavour and freshness. The mushrooms were really soft, juicy, and flavoursome, with a meaty texture. This felt much more substantial than the ravioli. It was also easy to share between two, with the bread already halved.

Another thing which impacted my enjoyment of the evening is that tables at the back were so close together I couldn’t actually get out to go to the bathroom without struggling to move our very heavy table first. I’m an average sized person and I felt very uncomfortable with the situation. I understand they want to get as many people in as possible, but it’s not pleasant to feel so trapped in. If we go back for another brunch, I would try to request a different seating area when making my reservation.

I’m always happy to see vegan spots with creativity and ambition like this. Despite a few quibbles, I feel it is worth a visit, if you’ve got the money for a slightly higher end experience – especially for brunch. In the meantime, I’ll be saving for a return trip to Jola!