Vienna Food
Vienna has come a long way in the last few years in terms of eating and drinking and the variation of cuisine available is becoming more adventurous, giving visitors to the Austrian capital a reason to come back for more.
The new-found love of Indian and Chinese cuisine means that plenty of new and interesting restaurants have opened up all over the city offering tasty and well-priced food.
A trip to Vienna would not be complete without sampling the delights of a traditional Vienese Beisl. The name is derived from the Yiddish for "little house" and these delightful little bistros offer the perfect place to dine cheaply in Vienna.
These traditional diners offer a number of typically-Austrian delicacies, including the world-famous Weiner schnitzel, along with the staple port, boiled beef and duck staples, which are often garnished with red and white cabbage and usually come with generous helpings of a carbohydrate-rich side dish such as dumplings.
In the autumn and winter, Beisl tend to serve dishes such as thick, hearty soups, with the traditional Christmas treat of roast goose served in most Beisl in the city centre, as well as the typically-Austrian goulash, which is certainly worth a try.
Visitors who wish to experience the more modern side of Austrian dining will find such dishes as carpaccio of beef, served with lighter and healthier vegetable dishes. The more modern establishments have also begun to cater for vegetarians and tasty vegetarian meals feature on most menus.
The tradition of the Viennese coffee-house is ages old but is still extremely popular today with tourists and locals alike. The coffee house tradition has now become more popular than ever and attracts young people and students and has become a part of daily life in Vienna, as it offers a place of retreat with cheaper drinks and snacks than some of the more modern establishments.
Research shows that the Viennese drink twice as much coffee as they do beer and visitors come from far and wide to sample the coffee and snacks on offer in some of the best-loved Viennese establishments such as the Hotel Sacher and Demel. Visitors who wish to sample some of the most tasty Austrian snacks should try the mouth-watering topfenstrudel, a strudel with a sweet cheese filling or Imperial and Esterhazy torte.
If it is cheap, quick and savoury snacks that you are after then Vienna has a large number of snack stands on street corners called Wurstelstand. These small stands can be found on virtually every street in Vienna and sell frankfurters, curry wurst, bratwurst and other Austrian sausages usually served on a roll with mustard.]
Visitors will also find that Vienna is one of the best-stocked cities to prepare your own food and the cheapest place to do this is the Naschmarket. Here there are hundreds of stalls which sell fresh produce, breads, meats, cheeses, flowers, tea, coffee and much more. Counters also serve a range of Austrian treats, including the trusty sausage and ready-made foods such as grilled chicken.
Tourists should be warned that unlike many other western European capitals, many of Vienna's restaurants observe Sunday closing so it may be difficult to book tables. Many eateries are also closed during the summer holidays when chefs move out to the nearby lake resorts to cater for the large numbers of tourists that visit these areas.
From Vienna's traditional eateries that serve rich goulash and hearty meat dishes to the trendy modern eateries in the centre of the city, this beautiful Austrian city has something to satisfy all appetites.
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Eating & Drinking
