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.