Tag Archives for Austrian cuisine

That soup tasted funny

The one thing people need to know about me is, that from time to time I am surprisingly spontaneous. So the other day I was on a bus and was passing by this one restaurant called Thai Kitchen. No, this post is not about this restaurant. Hm, you see. Very spontaneous.

The taste of this soup was rather unexpected

The taste of this soup was rather unexpected

Anyhow. I jumped off the bus and walked back only to find out that the restaurant was closed due to vacation reasons. Damn. Now, I had to find another place to get my lunch. Luckily I was close to Naschmarkt around U4 Kettenbrückengasse. And yes, this is some sort of a China Town or better Asian Town. In this area of Vienna there are many rather authentic Asian restaurants, shops, haircutters etc. So I thought: no problem, I find something else. And so I walked towards Naschmarkt.

Eventually I ended up at Pho Saigon on Naschmarkt. Now this restaurant is connected to the restaurant called “Saigon” on Getreidemarkt und is more or less the mini version of that one. It also has a small Asian grocery store. During lunch time you get special meal offers and they are all Vietnamese food. Each lunch special consists of the daily soup, main course and dessert. In the beginning I was unsure what to take. I always think that Vietnamese dishes sound completely unspectacular. It is like “beef with basil and lemongrass”. Doesn’t sound fancy, or? But when you order it it is soo delicious! For me I chose the tofu with veggies. I had to take Vietnamese rolls in addition to the soup. I love Vietnamese rolls – no matter which one.

I love Vietnamese rolls - any whether they are cold or warm.

I love Vietnamese rolls. Any kind whether they are cold or warm – it doesn’t matter.

But first came the soup – the unexpected star of the whole meal. In the end I came to the conclusion that it was the Vietnamese variation of a sweet n’ sour soup. It had chunks of pineapples, it tasted chili spicy and sweet and unexpected. I have to admit I never tasted something like that before and I have tried a lot in my life. It had really nothing to do with anything I ever tried. It didn’t even come close. I have to say although I liked it I would not order a soup like that on purpose.

The Vietnamese rolls pretty much came with the main course. They were filled with seafood and covered in fried rice noodles. I always love the dip that comes with them. Fish sauce here we come. I really don’t mind that entree and main course sometimes come at the same time at Asian restaurants. I just eat cross-course.

The tofu with veggies was just as good as the other two courses.

The tofu with veggies was just as good as the other two courses.

And of course, I also enjoyed the main course. I think they put oyster sauce. It was really yummy. I really like that restaurant. Right at the spot where this restaurant is located you also have a number of other Asian restaurants. One is right on the opposite. It has Japanese, Chinese, Thai food. But don’t fall for that when you are at Naschmarkt. It is always much better not to choose the trans-Asian restaurants that offer all cuisines at once. They all have the same food and the taste is like an instant-food-jolly – all but not exciting.

Info: Phò Sài Gòn, Naschmarkt, Stand 191 – 194, phone: 01 585 02 24, internet: www.saigon.at, opening hours: Mo – Sa 11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. in summer and winter 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., they take credit cards, I am not sure about smoking but I guess it is non-smoking, you can reach the restaurant by getting off at U4 Kettenbrückengasse and walking towards the city centre on Naschmarkt, take the aisle of stands that is the furtherst left one and there the restaurant is on the right side.

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The green cottage that is no longer green

Today, I was already pretty hungry. First I thought I would go to this one vegetarian restaurant but then I thought: “No, I need some typical Austrian food that is not healthy at all but fills my stomach”. And you can find that food in Vienna pretty easily. One of the restaurants that serve you just that is “Die grüne Hütte” which translates to “Green Cottage”.

Since its renovation the Green Cottage is no longer green.

In the past the Green Cottage was really green and a cosy place not the most exclusive to put it more diplomatic but cosy. Then they build the subway and it turned from green into light brown. Today it is less cosy but still very typical Viennese. It is also pretty easy to reach. Just get off at U2 “Messe – Prater” take the “Prater” exit and you are standing right in front of it.

I did the same today because, remember, I needed some food to fill my stomach. The restaurant was almost empty when I arrived. It was already 3:00 in the afternoon. The waiter was there, maybe the boy standing next to him was his son. I don’t know. I don’t go here that often. The prices are decent still I would not come here every day. Those that were sitting at the tables were all Viennese. When tourists go to the Prater they usually go to the Schweizerhaus, which has adapted its prices accordingly. This place is not so much a place where tourists go.

During the week they serve lunch specials but since it was friday they had the usual fried fish which I don’t like. The menue itself was not very extensive. Maybe because of the time of the day, I went there.

The menue at 3:00 p.m. was limited. In the evening they have a more extensive one.

Somehow I already knew what I would take. I just had to decide whether I’d like to have the Schnitzel or the Berner Würstel. I decided for the Berner Würstel. Now, Berner Würstel just means sausages filled with cheese and rolled in bacon. They usually come with fries, tomato ketchup and mustard with chopped onions. It is very typical Viennese food – not very fancy. You just need to get some sausages, put cheese in them and then put the bacon on the outside. I like them and it is usually the food on a menue which falls into the lower price category. In most restaurants they also serve pretty large portion when it comes to this kind of food.

Berner Würstel: sausages somehow Viennese style … the kids like them, I like them too

And after I ate all this food I was pretty stuffed. Yes, I think it was the right decision to go for this instead of the vegetarian restaurant. I do like vegetarian food though but maybe next time. It is nice to have some typical Viennese once in a while. And the “Grüne Hütte” is really a good place to go. If you visit the Prater I can truly recommend it. It is off the beaten track, not very touristy.

Info: Restaurant zur Grünen Hütte (http://www.gruenehuette.at), Prater 196, 1020 Vienna; phone: +43/1/729 27 10, fax: +43/1/729 27 10 – 12; mail: office@gruenehuette.at; opening hours: Mon – Sun from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.; right at U2 “Messe – Prater” exit “Prater”

Anything but Sacher Torte

No, us Viennese don’t go to Demel and probably not that much to the Café Sacher either. And there is the traditional café where you get all these traditional cakes for which Vienna is somehow famous and there is an alternative – much nicer, much more for people that like to have a nice piece of cake at a cosy place.

Close to Schwedenplatz there is a nice little cake shop – the Fett und Zucker

Yesterday I wanted to visit this one restaurant at Rotenturmstrasse which I hadn’t visited for some time and which I loved a lot. It is a Chinese restaurant which served not this transfusion Asian food but the owner tried to offer really great food like vegetarian chicken and so on. Turned out that this place changed considerably. The nice owner was no longer here instead there were two faceless waitresses. You probably know that when you go to a restaurant and the waitresses don’t relate to the restaurant at all. They are just there to make their job. Some even go that far that they don’t care much whether you are here or not as long as they get their pay check. And so after having some rather disappointing lunch I had to get something to cheer me up again.

Since I was at Schwedenplatz already I thought I just walk over the Salztor bridge to the 2nd district and go to Hollandstrasse. There is a little shop close to the Karmelitermarkt which opened a bit over a year ago and which is just the idea of a few people that love to bake cake and sell it.

And so from the beginning this place was a hotspot for the young people – mostly students. In summer they just sit outside in front of the shop but the interior is quite lovely and individualistic as well. When I last visited the shop it was not quite finished, there were tons of people and hardly any space.

The interior of the Fett und Zucker – where probably no chair is like the other

The one serving me I guess she was one of the owners. She was really nice when I got the cake and did not insist that I pay immediately but told me I should make myself comfortable, eat my cake first and pay whenever I am ready. Of course, as always I did not know what to take at first. Fortunately they have a menue and it turned out that they not only offer cake like when they first opened the shop but also other things like breakfast and salad as well. Still, I had to get a piece of cake. Remember: depressions because of my bad lunch experience. So I decided for a poppy seed cake with plum jam and something that tasted like a vanilla cream. It was a glutenfree cake.

The cakes are really simple somehow but just so yummy. Here the poppy seed cake.

Like with all cakes you get here they tell you whether it is a vegan cake or lactose-free or whatever dietary information you need. That is really cool. I know of hardly any place in Vienna where you get vegetarian cake on purpose. And so I think this place is really a tip for all of you who like to get some nice vegetarian or vegan cake. They also have a changing selection of cakes also depending on seasonal fruits or whatever they like to bake.

I think this place to be really nice. Far from the over-fancy cafés where you get a piece of cake which turns out to be a chunk of sugar cause it is so sweet.

Info: Fett und Zucker (http://www.fettundzucker.at), Hollandstrasse 16, 1020 Vienna; phone +43/699/116 60 092; mail office@fettundzucker.at, I don’t provide you with the opening hours here since they are different in summer and winter, I guess it is best if you visit their homepage to the find out about them, no credit cards

Viva Vivus Crispy Chicken

The Vivus Salettl in Prater opened almost two years ago. The concept is simple: serve typical Austrian cuisine but modern and not inn style. And so this restaurant is a simple wooden building and in summer you can sit on a wonderful terrace outside.

Getting some Austrian style crispy chicken at Vivus Salettl

I have to admit that the first time I came here I did not like it – probably I just did not order the right stuff. Since I really like Bruschetta with tomatos and basilicum I ordered that here as well. That was a mistake because the bread was not toasted and so I already had a bad start.

So the other day I thought I give it another try and I just felt like crispy chicken. Just for your information: crispy chicken is an Austrian speciality. We usually serve it really crispy with a slice of lemon and a potato lettuce salad and then it is called “Backhendl mit Vogerlsalat” – it is the small bird salad. In Vienna we have this habit of making things even smaller than they are by adding the ending “-erl” to words and so we have the “Vogerl” which is a small bird even smaller than small.

The lettuce in this case is called “small bird salad” – Vogerlsalat

Ok, that’s it – a small excursion to the Viennese language. Back to the important stuff which is the food at Vivus in Prater. It is good food. You need to have patience though as the service is not very fast. Maybe because there were just two waitresses to take care of the whole terrace. That might be the reason. But that was ok, cause I was not in a hurry. It was a wonderful afternoon and the sun was shining.

To drink I ordered something very Viennese – it is called a Himbeerkracherl. You recognize the “-erl” at the end of the word. Again things smaller than small. Because it is a beverage for kids that is why. They just get small things. The taste is raspberry and it is very traditional and carbonated.

Himbeerkracherl (carbonated raspberry soda) – more for kids but I love the raspberry taste

I thought it was the perfect match to the crispy chicken. And so I enjoyed my big portion of crispy chicken while I watched the people at the Prater pass by with their bikes and inline skates. It was lots of food and it justified the price which is not low. No, this is not a cheap restaurant but you get something for your money – that’s for sure.

In summer they have a BBQ disco every Monday evening – meaning they have BBQ and a DJ invited so that you have some music excitement as well. Then they serve grilled steak (Rib-Eye or Porterhouse) and bratwurst and stuff like that. If you like to get breakfast you can come here as well. I never tried that one because I am not eating breakfast. But they serve it until 1:00 p.m. so you might even take that one as lunch.

Info: Vivus Salettl (http://www.vivus.cc), Prater Hauptallee 1, 1020 Vienna; phone: +43/(0)699/144 14 040; mail: salettl@vivus.cc; opening hours: Mon to Sun 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.; you can pay with credit card at least Visa; you can reach the restaurant by getting off at Praterstern and then heading towards Prater and there is the Prater Hauptallee which is not the amusement park part of the Prater but the park and there is a very long straight street and there you find that restaurant on the left side pretty much at the beginning. There is a mini golf close by.

And so my motto was?

No, it was not one of these scandals in Vienna when they build something new – but almost. The mission was: the twincity liner – a boat that connects Vienna with Bratislava – needs to get a proper harbour and with that came not only a big new construction at the Donaunkanal (Danube Canal) but also a new culinaric destination – the Motto am Fluss.

The Motto am Fluss (= motto at the river) is both a restaurant and a café. And the café is on top of this building right at Schwedenplatz. And so the other day I was thinking of getting some lunch and I was thinking the weather was not too bad so lets go for some outdoor location and I decided for the café as they serve daily lunch specials.

And let me tell, before I continue with talking about food, if you have not climbed the stairs you do not know how great the view is from top and I truly recommend going up there and if it is just to take a look because you can see from the centre of Vienna right to the outskirts of the city. When I first did that I did not expect it.

There is a marvelous view over Vienna from the top

As soon as you reach the top you’ll find the café which is kept more in a Provence mediterranean style. As for the price range I would say both the restaurant, which is one level below, and the café are at the higher end. But you get something for your money.

From the terrace you get a fantastic view over Vienna but in summer there is hardly any chance to get space.

For the lunch special there was the choice of either soup or entry salad and chicken and the other main course was asparagus risotto. I am not so much of a risotto fan and to some extent I was suspicious about the chicken too. It said lemon chicken and I do not like artificial lemon flavor. Did I make the right decision to go here? Well, first order something to drink. I look around somebody at another table got some red soda with mint in it or what was that green leaves inside? That was may guess. So, I searched for it on the menue. You know, I could have asked too but speculated that it was the raspberry with carbonated water. Well, wrong guess. It was red but no green leaves inside. But anyhow.

Raspberry Syrup with carbonated water is something very typical in Austria and of course also Vienna

But back to ordering food – in the end, that was what I came for. Even though I was suspicious about the chicken I was really curious about the watercress soup – and who knows maybe the chicken is ok. It had pine nuts with couscous … yes, I love pine nuts. So, I took the meal with the soup and the chicken.

The soup was green – very green. But it was nice except that it missed some salt. Maybe watercress does not have much taste to begin with and better too little salt than too much.

The watercress soup was ok - at least I know now how it tastes

But then came the highlight. The one course that I was suspicious about before it turned out to be the absolute highlight. I have hardly ever had such awesome chicken before. Of course, in the end I should have known – I love cooking myself and know that if you marinate something with real nice lemon it tastes awesome. But this topped my expectations. The chicken tasted wonderful. The idea to leave the green onions whole and to just saute them is something great. And of course, the couscous with the pine nuts gave the extra kick.

The lemon chicken with the green onions and the couscous with pine nuts was the highlight

And even though the weather turned out to be pretty called while sitting outside on their terrace to have my lunch I did not want this meal to get finished. It was really great. And my motto now is: I will eat whatever they got on the menue even if I am suspicious because, in the end, fortunately I am wrong.

Info: Motto am Fluss, Schwedenplatz 2, 1010 Vienna; phone  +43/1/252 55  –  10 (restaurant), +43/1252 55  –  11 (café); mail restaurant@mottoamfluss.at, cafe@mottoamfluss.at; opening hours (daily) 6:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m. (restaurant), 6:00 p.m. – 4:00 a.m. (bar), 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m. (café); credit cards accepted

Austrian Food with a Twist

It is about the restaurants that are off the beaten track and it is about those restaurants that kept the tradition of serving Austrian food while making the Austrian cuisine more modern.

One of this great examples is the “Gastwirtschaft zum Weissen Tiger” meaning the “Inn to the White Tiger” – wait? A tiger in Austria?! Well, the name comes from the white tiger that flew from a circus (Circus Renz) that was located in the street close by, the Zirkusgasse, and was captured pretty much in front of that restaurant, which after that incident changed its name to “Inn to the White Tiger”.

All that happened in the mid-1800s and today after some people decided to re-invent this traditional restaurant we got the “Inn to the White Tiger” again but as mentioned in the title with a twist. And that twist is the transfer of the Austrian cuisine to the 21st century. The ingredients they use are also to some extent ingredients that have been forgotten in the Austrian cuisine, like rhubarb, and they are also seasonal.

So today as I was deciding for where to go for lunch I thought it would be great to sit outside as it was sunny and warm enough to do exactly that. So it did not take me long to decide: I went for that restaurant as it is great to sit outside plus they have lunch specials at the price of 7,90 Euros which is decent considering the prices they usually charge.

The entry was a creamy carrot soup with croûtons. It was definitely yummy and very creamy. I loved it and was sad that it was gone too soon. When it comes to soups they always great ones.

Creamy Carrot Soup with Croûtons - that soup was definitely worth it

The main course was something very typical. In German it is called Surschopfbraten and this is pickled pork and the side order was mashed potatoes with roasted onions. That was yummy too although it could use some additional salt.

Pork Austrian style with mashed potatoes and roasted onions

It was really delicious. This is definitely a restaurant to go to and you can find it when getting off at U1 Nestroyplatz (exit “Komödiengasse”) and walking towards the hospital “Barmherzige Brüder”. In summer it is quite packed outside since they serve lunch-specials and people from offices close to the restaurant go there for lunch. So you might consider reserving a table.

Info: Gastwirtschaft “Zum Weissen Tiger”, Schmelzgasse 9, 1020 Vienna; Phone +43 1 968 17 23; Mail gastwirtschaft@zumweissentiger.com; Internet http://www.zumweissentiger.com (Website only in German)