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Restaurant Reviews

05 Tewa am Karmelitermarkt
Levantian Nature
Vitality spreads to the 2nd District with the opening of Tewa’s second location
Jessica Spiegel
01/05/2010

Just across the Donaukanal from Schottenring, concealed in the ancient corner of Vienna’s 2nd District, the quaint and quiet Karmelitermarkt is fast becoming the new “in” place to be. Awakening from decades of Dornröschen sleep, the market is like a village market square in the middle of the city, and its obvious charms are making it a magnet for Vienna’s post-millennium bohemia. And at long last, it is emerging from the shadows of its famous sibling – the thriving Naschmarkt to the south.

05 At Eight Restaurant
Aroma ‘At Eight’
A newly renovated restaurant dresses up for the evening with an interior design complementing an imaginative kitchen
Jessica Spiegel
01/05/2010

‘Casual luxury’ may at first sound contradictory. Luxurious fine dining seems doomed to humorless waiters, stiff interiors and uninventive – if experienced – cooks and kitchens. Especially in Vienna, where tradition often takes precedence over originality, one may have become accustomed to the charm of the haughty tuxedo-clad waiters of Kaffeehäuser and consider eccentricity to be found elsewhere.

05 Tartine Landaise
Charme Ordinaire
The sort of place that might inspire you to bring along a book and snack on croissants
Gretchen Gatzke
01/04/2010

Sunday night and nothing in the fridge. And not all that much in the pocket. Need to go out, but reality isn’t going to leave much room for wretched excess... It’s a night for Le Bol. This authentic French bistro on Vienna’s Neuer Markt offers the perfect compromise: It’s delicious, it’s simple, and both you and your wallet leave happy.

09 restaurant Aurelius
Imperial Dining
Adriatic cuisine that Marcus Aurelius might have loved
Gretchen Gatzke
01/03/2010

The great emperor Marcus Aurelius – who died in Vienna in 180 AD – had a reputation for being a connoisseur of the pleasures of the table. Not only did he thoroughly enjoy his food, he was an unashamed enthusiast of all culinary delights, considering fine wine among his top priorities, to which he undoubtedly applied the measured judgments of his Stoic philosophy.

Old Times at Drei Hacken
Grießnockerlsuppe, Tafelspitzsulz mit Zwiebelringen and Mohr im Hemd; old Beisl charm, untarnished by the pressures of commercialism and so pungent Johann Nestroy could not resist
Marlies Burkhard
01/02/2010

As we headed for Zu den 3 Hacken at Singerstrasse 28 in Vienna’s 1st District, all we were looking for was the cosy atmosphere of an old Viennese Beisl, its traditional cuisine, and it’s low key comfort. No one had mentioned that it came with legends. Embarrassing to admit, as my literary dining companion Ms. Parker and I are both writers. But there you have it.

05 Liounge
Melting Chinese
A relief from the standard “Europeanized” fare of crispy-fried chicken doused in generic sweet and sour sauce: Liounge on Gumpendorferstrasse
Chris Newman
01/02/2010

For those of us who associate Chinese food in Vienna with the standard “Europeanized” fare of crispy-fried chicken doused in generic sweet and sour sauce, kraut-stuffed spring rolls and fried rice that looks like Risi-Pisi, Liounge offers an intriguing alternative. Located in the up and coming culinary mile that is Gumpendorferstrasse, this stylish restaurant is sure to win over the hearts and stomachs of foodies looking for a more authentic ethic dining experience.

05 Le Ciel
Dining in the Grand ‘Sky’
Rooftop restaurant Le Ciel offers layers of subtle elegance
Jessica Spiegel
01/12/2009

Elegance is born of craftsmanship, in beauty that seems effortless. At Le Ciel, the culinary complement to the five-star Grand Hotel on Kärnterring, elegance is combined with an expertise that only fine enterprises can afford.

Meaning “the sky” in French, Le Ciel indeed rests high on the seventh floor of the 19th century hotel, above the twinkling Christmas lights that cascade from buildings in the first district this time of year. Having first been built as a maison meublée, it today still reflects the essence of the imperial age.

05 Le Cèdre
The ‘Cedars’ of Lebanon
A culinary escape to the Middle-East: couscous, color, & quality
Jessica Spiegel
01/11/2009

Walking down the tree-lined Ausstellungsstraße cutting through Vienna’s 2nd District, you might be too repulsed by the gaudiness of the neighboring Wurstelprater amusement park to think of fine dining. Multi-colored lights of the Giant Wheels and haunted houses flash high above the newly built Admiral Casino standing in all its kitschy glory at the beginning of the street – not to mention the giant pig that houses a Bankomat machine near the underground station a bit further down.

05 Frank Gruber’s Restaurant Vincent
Maître d’Vincent
Fine dining in a reimagined traditional setting, where great wine accompanies eye-catching arrangements
Marlies Burkhard
01/06/2009

Looking for a different aesthetic, my literary dining companion Dorothy Parker and I followed a tip and headed for Restaurant Vincent at Große Pfarrgasse 7 in Vienna’s 2nd District. Once a 70’s hangout for student philosophers (in vino veritas, etc), the place has since been transformed into a decidedly up-market venue for fine food in a dramatic setting of post-modern interior design.

05 Benkei's Sushi Bar
Friendly Fish
Sushi-lovers rejoice in Benkei’s relaxed traditional atmosphere
Philipp Conrad
01/03/2009

Benkei Okasan has a proud smile on her face watching her kids run one of the city’s best sushi restaurants located in Vienna’s 3rd district.

“Good day. Nice to see you,” she greets her guests as she takes off her shoes at the corner of your Tatami room to pour you a cup of green tea.

Overseeing the family restaurant with a kind but watchful eye, Benkei Okasan has helped her kids own and run the leading Sushi restaurant in Vienna for the past decade.

Imperial Schnitzel
Good Wine, Mouthwatering Steak and Old Ornaments Make For a Delightful Evening - Not to Mention the Eventful Toilets
Darko Gacov
18/02/2009

It was a cold night. The smell of snow filled the air. The hazed windshield of my car only confirmed the presence of winter when the blurry sign "Deutsch-Wagram" emerged from the mist. There it was, 10 km north of Vienna, where the charming -- and thoroughly eccentric -- restaurant Marchfelderhof basks in the glow of the streetlights.

Italian Dining Adventure
Welcome to Ilona’s Stueberl, where pasta is nowhere to be found
Michelle Falkenbach
02/12/2008

The three of us, my aunt, sister and I, were on a mission. We needed to find a good and decently priced place for dinner without going to our usual haunts (Café d’Europe on the Graben or Café le Bol) and still have enough time to make it to our 20:30 movie.

Walking out of the UBahn, the words chianti, and prosecco leaped out from a hand written tablet. Aha! We quickly made our way to an empty table. But what was that waiter saying? I struggled to dust off my Italian…

Dining at Tbilisi
Warmth, wine, and spice - a taste of Georgia in the 1st District
Jessica Spiegel
02/12/2008

One thing I’ve learned is that political strife is one thing, and food is something else. In fact, the August conflict in Georgia may have sparked my thirst (and hunger) for more insight into this small country in the Caucasus. That hunger compelled me to the doors of Tiflis in the 1st District, which I had passed but never tried. Such is the power of the media. So making my way through the maze of cobblestone streets behind Stephansdom, I hoped to satisfy my intellectual – as well as my actual – appetite.

The contemporary ceiling at Skopic & Lohn
Big Apple Beisl
At the intersection of West 11th street and Leopoldsgasse
Marlies Burkhard
02/12/2008

 

When a New Yorker starts to feel nostalgic for home, a Viennese host can start scratching her head for just the right place for dinner…

 

Rooster
'Salut' to the Senses
At the sign of the cock: a family flourish of French cuisine
Marlies Burkhard
02/11/2008

I raised my glass from the elegantly draped table, the subtle colour contrasting with the brown benches and proposed a toast to my host, Chef de cuisine and owner of the restaurant “Salut,” Florian Cmyral. This cosy French restaurant is marked by a cast-iron rooster mounted over the d oor on Wildpretmarkt in Vienna’s 1st district.

“Salut” is an invitation to the senses; warmth and flair follow the glimmer of burning candles to each of the small, dimly lit rooms engrossing them with laughter and music.

 

Breaking the Rules
Who Says a Cafe Must Look Like a Cafe And Please Smokers? Ambience at Cafe der Provinz
Christian Cummins
02/03/2008

Converted from the abandoned cooling rooms of a butcher's shop and decorated with refreshing disregard for the rules of style, the delightfully eccentric Café der Provinz offers a welcome dose of southern European insouciance to the majestic stuffiness of bourgeois Vienna. One of the city's first smoke-free bistros, it is hidden away in the 8th District, up a narrow cobbled side street that leads to the gleaming white facade of the Maria Treu church, where you then turn in at the sweet scent of French crêpes.

Chili 'Conocedores'
In Search of Authentic Mexican Restaurants, the Vienna Review Goes On a Tour of the City's Oldest, Newest and Best Kept Secrets
Jessica Spiegel
02/03/2008

There are few things about gastronomy in America that one misses in Vienna. In a nation where a handful of mega-corporations has devoured nearly every restaurant, café and eatery in the land, finding unique and authentic food has become an increasingly arduous task.

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Imperial Schnitzel
Good Wine, Mouthwatering Steak and Old Ornaments Make For a Delightful Evening - Not to Mention the Eventful Toilets
Darko Gacov
03/12/2007

It was a cold night. The smell of snow filled the air. The hazed windshield of my car only confirmed the presence of winter when the blurry sign "Deutsch-Wagram" emerged from the mist. There it was, 10 km north of Vienna, where the charming -- and thoroughly eccentric -- restaurant Marchfelderhof basks in the glow of the streetlights.

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