Vienna Dining

[becky]

Hello, going to Vienna, would love to have opinions about sophisticated dining places. Thanks

[mogsob]

The best restaurant I have been to in Vienna is Drei Husaren, right around the corner from Stephensplatz. Very expensive for Vienna, very reasonable for the rest of Europe. They have what might be the best Austrian wine list in the world, full of wonderful GVs and Kracher sweet wines.

[marktynernyc]

Korso at the Hotel Bristol, Mahlerstabd 2. Beautiful setting - old world elegance - dark woods - plush carpeting - crystal chandeliers - piano player descreetly playing in the background - beautiful flower arrangements - beautiful dishes and glasses - definitely reserve a table in the main room. The food was excellent. Go for the taster's menu - order a bottle of wine - sit back and enjoy. The fish dishes were fresh and clean - the venison was cooked perfectly - dessert hit the right note without being heavy. The waiter suggested a moderately priced bottle of wine. Service was attentive without being stuffy or rigid. The meal was expensive but - I think- definitely worth it. Will go back next time I'm in Vienna

http://www.starwood.com/redir/we

[Aurora]

Though I wouldn't rate it as "the best," the Sacher Torte at Café Sacher(in Hotel Sacher) was memorable. Many people say Café Sacher is overrated. I wouldn't go that far. I thought it was pretty good -- not great. Still, the history alone made it a memorable experience.

Edited March 10, 2003 by Aurora (log)

[mogsob]

Though I wouldn't rate it as "the best," the Sacher Torte at Café Sacher(in Hotel Sacher) was memorable.  Many people say Café Sacher is overrated.  I wouldn't go that far.  I thought it was pretty good -- not great.  Still, the history alone made it a memorable experience.

The sad truth is that Cafe Sacher no longer has the best Sacher Torte in Vienna. Lovely setting, though.

[peterpumkino]

One of the things you MUST do when in Vienna is go to a typical 'cafe' which the Viennese love. They read papers, chat, drink coffee, dine, have wonderful cakes (much better than Cafe Sacher IMHO). Very Vienna.

My favourite is Cafe Schwarzenberg next to the Hertz office on the corner at Karnter-Ring 17. Marvellous for a real taste of Vienna and great for people watching, great food too (NOT Michelin but very very genuine - I had one of the best omelettes I've ever had here).

[KatieLoeb]

Niky's Kuchelmasterei (Weissgerberstrasse 6, 1030 Wien) is brilliant. Lovely wine cellar, great wine selections and the food was TDF. There was a tasting menu, as I recall, that was really a bargain for the caliber of food. Service was impeccable as well. Without a doubt the best meal I had in Vienna.

Restaurant Sirk (at Hotel Bristol across from the Stadtsoperahaus) is also a very nice restaurant. I didn't find the food as "daring" as at Niky's, but very good as well.

But really you should take a short car ride out to the Wachau and check out the various winery/bistros known as Heuringer. The drive along the Danube is lovely, and the wine is fabulous. Prager, Nikolaihof and Pichler are a few of my favorites. Check out the castle in Durnstein where Richard the Lionheart was held captive. The monastery in Melk is quite impressive. If you're there in the springtime there could be nothing better than stretching out in the sunshine and enjoying a few glasses of wine in the garden at one of the many Heuriger and taking in the scent of apricot blossoms that are on all of the trees. {sigh} Truly a fabulous experience.

[anil]

Hello, going to Vienna, would love to have opinions about sophisticated dining places. Thanks

I do not know what you expect of sophisticated dining ? But I'll tell you what we do (depending on number of days we are in Vien)

Have a late-night dinner with booze at the open-air dining stalls by the university area - just outside the inner ring (Walking distance from Stephanssplatz.)

Enjoy Viennese desserts [They are in some places a meal in themselves]

Wrenkh, avegetarian speciality, this restaurant is in the centre so is Korso which offers traditional viennese dishes (whatever that means The thing to do is sit in a beer or wine garden. and spend the time.

Where you are staying and how many days you'll be in Vien will also help. On my first trip to VIE, a greatful grad student, who was home for the summer, helped us navigate and explore things that we would have otherwise missed. The second time, was much better because we had a head-start on many things.

[Wimpy]

As a kid who grew up in Vienna, allow me to suggest a MUST EAT that is far from sophisticated: go to the Naschmarkt, Vienna's largest open air market and after you've had a good look at the variety of produce, have a bit at the local sausage stand. One of the country's best is in the Naschmarkt. It offers a variety of sausages (frankfurter, kaesekrainer, bratwurst, etc.). It comes with a dollop of tarragon mustard and a slab of dark and moist ryebread.

My two cents.

[anil]

As a kid who grew up in Vienna, allow me to suggest a MUST EAT that is far from sophisticated: go to the Naschmarkt, Vienna's largest open air market........

This is an excellent advice. Actually most tourists miss things like this.

[KatieLoeb]

Oooohhh yes! The Nachtsmarkt IS fabulous. The beautiful produce, the huge barrels of sauerkraut, the fish and oyster vendor that has a Scandinavian sounding name, and the best oil and vinegar stall ever! Go and buy your lunch/snack and other canned and bottled goodies to take/ship home with you. There's also a very good Italian gourmet products and wine shop right across the street from the Nachtsmarkt as well. Sorry - I don't remember the name, but I could find it I were there.

[wgallois]

Print this thread if you're going to Vienna! Thanks to all those whose splendid suggestions above really enhanced my visit to the city.

The best suggestion of all was to visit the Naschmarkt, which must be one of the world's great markets. The quality and variety of fruit, vegetables, cheeses, breads. olives and pickles is very, very high.

The eating-out highlight was a great place called Wiebl; a beisl in the Inner Ring. Our meal there was pretty perfect, and had that fantastic coming together of tasty food, great service and a good atmosphere. One indication of the quality came when our waiter brought us a nice-looking amuse of cured meat and sald and, when apologetically informed that we were both vegetarian, came back ten minutes later with a lovely tart of sheep's cheese and dried tomatoes. We had seen this as a starter on the menu, and having skipped having a starter for that meal, I thought it was very generous of them to serve this is an amuse, and an alternative one at that. We both had plates of well-cooked white asparagus as mains. These juicy monsters were accompanied by some melting potatoes, and jugs of Hollandaise and wild garlic sauce. The latter sauce was particularly interesting and satisfying. We finished with a plate of cheese, which was fine, though it didn't have quite enough local cheeses for my liking. This was in marked contrast to the wine list, which contained a great number of Austrian wines, many available by the glass. I'd offer a very string recommendation for this place as all involved clearly cared about what they were doing. It's a place where you get robust flavours, best washed down with lots of wine.

On our second night we tried Wrenkh, a vegetarian restaurant mentioned earlier on this thread. It was fine, but after Wiebl I found it something of a let-down, perhaps partly because it was clearly less committed to seasonality than Wiebl. We shared a starter platter of lentils with smoked tofu, zucchini in tomato sauce, creamy couscous with carrots, and glass noodles with a pepper sauce. All were serviceable, but none stick in the memory. For mains one has a choice of 'hearty' or 'fine' dishes. My rosti with vegetables and a sheep's cheese dip was indeed hearty, and tastier than our waitress suggested (she recommended not having this dish as it was a bit boring!) Becky had a zucchini risotto with Styrian pumpkin oil and carrots. The oil was a nice touch. We then shared a pudding platter which was the highlight of the meal. It contained: banana mousse, carrot cake, poppy seed dumplings, caramelized grapefruit with chocolate, and a tiramisu. Most of these were very good. I would not want to sound too negative about this restaurant as it is reasonably good, but it suffered from the glories of the night before, and our general lack of interest in vegetarian restaurants...

[cmling]

This is a very belated reply, but it might interest latecomers.

It is my considered opinion that the best restaurant in Vienna (perhaps in all of Austria) is the "Steirereck".

I live in Vienna and spend far too much money on food, so you can trust me a little bit!

[pirate]

Weinhaus Weibel and Steirereck are my two favorite restaurants in Vienna

[tkrongold]

Hi. Going to Vienna in November. Can you give me the address & a little more info on Steirereck? Any other recommendations? We'll be there 4 nights. Thanks.

[cinghiale]

I, too, will be in Vienna in November and have been researching various sources for several months. Steirereck is on my list. Here's the info from Fodor's.

[cmling]

The "Charley" quoted on the Fodor's site is me. I have not changed my opinion since then.

Charley

[tkrongold]

Thanks! We will try it.

[Mark Sommelier]

I will second the recommendation for Zu dem Drei Husaren. Elegant, old world service ( the waiter even carved my knodl tableside!), famous cold buffet. The pianist played everything from Scarlatti to Gershwin. Memorable dining experience. Demel's is the famous pastry shop. Fun eats and drinks are found everywhere- we used to love the Albertinakeller, under the Albertina Museum. This is where normally straight-laced Wieners let their hair down and drink and sing silly songs.

[cmling]

I just see that you are in Vienna for four nights (should have noticed that earlier, sorry).

That leads me to imagine you might like a second memorable meal.

My number-two suggestion would then be Mraz & Sohn. It is situated where one would not expect a very fine restaurant (the Steirereck is also not quite central, by the way), but it is quite superb in many respects. Highly inventive cooking that generally works, excellent wine pairings available for all courses, cheeses in great profusion and perfect condition.

They are no longer cheap, alas, but still excellent value for money.

Charley

(available for any additional information, if wanted)

[tkrongold]

Thanks, Charley, for the great info. We want as many memorable meals as possible! We will add your latest recommendation to our list.

[KatieLoeb]

This is where normally straight-laced Wieners let their hair down and drink and sing silly songs.

If this be your only criteria then any heuringen will do. Enough of the local wine and not quite enough of the local food will make for silliness, oom-pah music and singing at any one of a number of spots, particularly in Grinzing, the tourista capital of such behaviour in Vienna. However, if you seek a quality dining experience, then the locals may not necessarily be your yardstick. I'd suggest sticking with the advice you've received from various eGullteteers and try Steireck or Nicky's.

[cmling]

Heurigen... that would require a separate thread, I think. One thing I would like to state, however: many (perhaps most) Viennese avoid Grinzing like the plague and leave it to the tour buses. (They go to Heurigen in other outskirts of the city.)

One more thing: I cannot recommend Niki's Kuchlmeisterei unless it has improved hugely over the past year or so. Undistinguished food, erratic wine list (almost entirely overpriced, however; consistency is demonstrated there, at least). Pleasant, albeit slightly corny atmosphere, though. If I were forced to rank Vienna's restaurants, it might make 40th place or so. Unfortunate, as I live more or less around the corner from it.

Charley

[Arikson]

I, too, will be in Vienna in November and have been researching various sources for several months.  Steirereck is on my list.  Here's the info from Fodor's.

I had lunch in Steirereck last November and it was superb. I'd recommend you to dress up for this establishment.

[tkrongold]

Just returned from a wonderful week in Vienna; the highlight of which was dinner at Steirereck. We had the 5-course menu with accompanying wines. The food & the service were fabulous. Thanks to Charley & the rest of the e-Gullet folks for recommending it.

We also went to Korso in the Bristol Hotel which was very good.

Of course, being a dessert freak I had to go to Demel & as many other cafes as possible. Loved the ambience of Demel (& the Sacher Torte was great), but the service left a little to be desired. I was disappointed we didn't get to Cafe Hawalka for the nighly Buchteln, but it gives me a reason to go back!

Had a great casual dinner at Konigsberg (I think that was the name), a couple of blocks from the Bristol. Great Weiner Schnitzel. Sampled many Gruner Veltliners.

We loved Vienna. Thanks for the recommendations.

Terry