Page 203 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Vienna

WHERE T O EA T AND DRINK  201

An array of tasty pastries and cakes at Café Mozart (see p213)
after which they were removed were Jewish. The top end varying in strength and the
and the tavern closed for the of the Beisln merge with addition of hot milk or cream.
year. Visitors will still see such what Austrians somewhat Prices vary according
taverns, but in practice the misleadingly call “gutbürgerliche to location and type: a
larger ones are open all year Küche”, “good plain cooking”, Ringstrasse café is more
and serve an extensive buffet where the food is not just expensive than a smoke-filled
with hot and cold cuts of meat. good but rather sophisticated den with a billiard table at the
The wine is mostly white, often as well. Many Beisln have rear, or somewhere like the
a blend of the gemischter Satz gone upmarket and their Café-Restaurant Ministerium
or local grapes, and is a true prices have risen accordingly. (see p210), patronized by
Heuriger until 11th November All serve typical Viennese bureaucrats from the nearby
of the year after harvest. specialities such as Tafelspitz ministries. While coffee houses
To sample a genuine local (boiled beef), Vanillerostbraten serve a small range of simple
product, look for Eigenbau (beef cutlets with garlic), hot dishes, Konditoreien
(meaning that the grower Kalbsbeuschel (calf’s lung and (confectioners) concentrate on
serves their own wine) by heart), and of course Wiener pastries and cakes, though a
the entrance. Schnitzel, often in dauntingly few also do a good light lunch.
large portions.
To follow are some stodgy
The Viennese Beisl
but enticingly named desserts:
The French have their bistros, Powidltascherln (pasta
and Vienna has its Beisl. As envelopes with plum jam) or
befits the Austrian ethos of Zwetschkenknödel (plums in
cosy comfort, gemütlichkeit, the potato dumpling). Viennese
Beisl is a meeting place. It is as cooking also features some
close as you can get to sitting delicious soups. A popular soup
down in a real Viennese home, is Eierschwammerlsuppe, made
with grandmother’s cooking. with chanterelle mushrooms.
But before the cooking comes
the bar. A Beisl is a place to
drink – both wine and beer. Coffee Houses and
Simple wood tables and Konditoreien
wooden floors define the The Viennese are particular
interior. It is not uncommon about their legendary coffee
to find waitresses dressed houses (see pp60–63):
in traditional folk costume, politicians, for example, favour
though that is not required. Landtmann Café (see p215),
The name is thought to be of while the literati swap ideas in
Jewish origin – in the 18th Café Hawelka (see p212). Coffee Café Sacher, known for its exquisite coffee
century, many innkeepers is served in different ways and the Sachertorte (see p216)

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