Visiting Vienna

Saturday, July 13th , 2019

 

Vienna has some handsome architecture and a central district that these days is mostly pedestrianised. There are some fine palaces and art galleries to visit, a fine cathedral (pictured) and the city now has a three star Michelin restaurant. This is Restaurant Amador, with a German chef who had previously earned three stars for his place in Germany before he moved here. His new venue, set in a winery, was not having a great night when I visited. There were a string of good savoury dishes, but a hideous pre-dessert and nothing that really set the pulse racing. Moreover the service was a complete mess, which you don’t expect at this level. 

I preferred the pair of two star meals that I had in the city. Konstantin Filippou serves quite modern food and featured one really breath-taking dish.  Of course not everything was to that level it showed that there is some genuine talent in the kitchen. I have no problem with its two star rating. 

Steirereck is the best known place in the city, soon coming up to its fiftieth year, and recently having had a major makeover in its location in a central city park. This was everything Amador was not in terms of service, and I liked the fact that there were dishes on the menu that clearly had a local origin. These days a lot of multi-starred restaurants serve a kind of “international” cuisine that could be plonked down just about anywhere, with plenty of caviar and truffle but not much connection to the locale. At Steirereck you can eat schnitzel and goulash, as well as fancier dishes, and I really like that.