Vienna is a city marked by the slow movement of the Prater, from the time of Strauss waltzes that often you can hear from the artists who play in the streets. You can immediately get struck by the magnificence of its buildings that surround the city center, from the colors of Klimt’s paintings at the Belvedere and the story of the Princess Sissi, which for years has been idealized in the most masterful of interpretation by the beautiful actress Robin Sneider, but that actually hides a sad life of a young girl forced to marry in a man she did not love and to give up her life.
The Austrians faces are proud and full of pride, their voices have a high tone which seems to mean that they are not afraid of anything. Wherever you go, it is full of restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and food is simple not elaborated just as genuine as the people. If you want to not spend too much, stop in the subway at the Ströck bakeries , here you will find everything: bread, brioches, pizza, sandwiches etc… Instead in the city you will find Anker another similar bakery. And if you want to taste the typical food, go in the suburbs and more precisely in Grinzing, this residential neighborhood that is full of restaurants where you can listen to good music and taste the delicious Wiener snietzel, a giant cutlet but made with pork, usually served with baked potatoes; or the tafelspitz a boiled meat with horseradish sauce apples and chives; I also recommend the Rostbraten a roast beef usually served with fried onions! You will find writing “Heurigen” on signs of the tavern and that usually that means that you eat well! Actually “heuriger” means that in this place you drink the new wine of the year and once you go this kind of places to taste the new wine accompanied by cold dishes, today, however, they have become real and actual restaurants. In Grinzing, you should go to Heurigen Reinprecht (Cobenzlgasse 22), or to Martin Sepp (Cobenzlgasse 34). For the same type of food, in the center you can go to Wienerwald (Annagasse 3) and try the Zwiebelrostbraten (a roast that I have mentioned earlier), but the wiener snietzel is also good. If in the meanwhile you fancy a sweet should try a particular one the Nuss torte and the Mozart torte by Landtmann coffee (Universitätsring 4), of course accompanied by a good Geische schocolade, a hot chocolate with whipped cream on the top of it or one schokoccino a dark chocolate with cappuccino served with whipped cream and caramel on the top; here the prices are not low, but it’s really romantic to sit inside the cafè or in the dining room that has large windows that look outside on the Rathaus and its market during the Christmas season, it is worth it, and the service is impeccable! The other dining experience is to go to have a Sacher cake and a coffee cake at the Sacher Hotel, but only because it’s a historical place, because the cake has also a story, but the service is not so great and the cake, well I have eaten better ones! Instead, I will give you my advice on a pastry that is in the center at Gerstner (Kärntner Strasse 11), try the strudel with different flavors. If you want to go to another place to taste local typical food, try Figlmüller (Wollzeile 5 / Bäckerstrasse 6) famous for Wiener snietzel. A place to spend small amounts of money and eat well is the local chain Nordsee where you will find different dishes with fresh or frozen fish: try the salmon in cheese sauce and spinach or catfish in cheese sauce and mushrooms. During the Christmas season try the spiralkartoffel in the markets, they are cut chips in a spiral, or käsenockerl which are small dumplings usually served with bacon and leeks or just cheese. In the streets try the Bratkartoffel roast potatoes that are cut very thickly. Another dessert that I recommend to taste is the apple strudel or the curd cheese strudel served with vanilla cream, usually in Heurigen slices are generous and the taste is like a homemade cake. And cannot obviously miss the Käsekrainer sandwiches with hot sausage and cheese that will warm up your winter days, you can find them everywhere in the city and they are delicious! And I finally suggest the various types of soups that
are served in huge sandwiches were to dip a spoon, try the Kürbissuppe (pumpkin soup) or goulash, you will see that after a while you will feel better!
