Vienna - eating out
Eating cheap
You can try traditional Viennese food in one of the city’s Beisel. These characteristic places offer good food at reasonable prices. The Beisels are concentrated around Bermudadreieck, in the old part of the city between Seitenstettengasse, Ruprechtskirche and Rabensteig. The Imbibstuben, snack bars and Stehbeisel (where you eat standing) are always appreciated by the tourist. The locals frequent the Statdheurigen, city taverns, situated in the cellars of the old part of the city. They serve local wine as well as beer, and have reasonably priced food. Generally the restaurants serve lunch from 12 to 2pm and dinner from 6pm to 10pm. Many offer a fixed price menu, which is often reasonably cheap. A mid-day snack can be taken in one of the many kiosks dotted around the city: the Wurstelstande offer a variety of hot sausages, which as you will know are a speciality in Vienna and in general in German-speaking countries. They tend to be spicier and more tasty than the ones you get elsewhere. The most common varieties are Frankfurter, which is a long and thin, light in colour and boiled; and the Bratwurst, which is darker, shorter and grilled. They are served with bread and sweet or hot mustard, mayonnaise or ketchup.
Coffee Houses
Vienna is full of Coffee Houses, which are a real institution. Great places where to meet friends or sip your coffee and read a book by yourself. Many have their own clientèle, and some have a somewhat ’literary’ atmosphere. They serve every type of coffee, and some may carry the name Konditorei, which means they also sell pastry, which is coffee’s ideal companion and particularly good in Vienna. You usually get slices of cake as opposed to normal pastry, there’s a huge variety and they are extremely good, and a valid substitute for a quick lunch, especially if you have a sweet tooth.
Austrian cuisine
Austrian cuisine is particularly strong for what concerns meat. The most famous Austrian dish is the Wienerschnitzel, which is a meat cutlet, covered with egg and breadcrumbs and fried. The meat can be veal, pork or poultry. It is served with a side of French fries, mixed salad or potato salad. The latter, called Kartoffelsalad, is a typical dish of German-speaking countries, and is almost a meal in itself, with potatoes, mayonnaise, onions and salad. Another speciality, of Eastern European origins, is the Goulasch, which is a thick beef stew with a lot of paprika. The Sauerkraut is a particular type of cabbage, cooked with vinegar and sour-tasting. It might be an acquired taste for non-Germans, but it’s great with sausages.
If you go to Vienna, remember that it’s one of the heavens for lovers of cakes and pastry. Its tradition in this respect is long-established, and already at the beginning of the 20th century every good pastry cook in Europe had to come to Vienna to learn the craft. The most famous Vienna cake is the Sachertorte or Sacher, which is a soft chocolate cake with a filling of apricot jam. If it is of good quality, it is one of the best cakes in the world and an absolute must for chocolate lovers. Another speciality is the Strudel, which is prepared with apples, raisins, cinnamon and nuts.
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