5Asala Halal Food
Run by an Austrian-Egyptian family, Asala is a small takeout on Alser Straße (District 9), across from the University of Vienna's 18th-century campus. Asala specializes in freshly prepared Egyptian foods; everything is made to order – no stale discs of falafel here. My go-to is the shawarma and the askala iskandrani (roasted bits of beef liver with crunchy greens), but the vegetarian stuff is also excellent, such as the foul mudammas made with slow-simmered fava beans.
Almost everything is memorably delicious, miles ahead of what you get from the competition. Being a halal establishment means they serve no alcohol, but refreshing ayran is available. Things can get busy at midday when students from the campus mob the place, so try going outside of peak lunch hours.
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