Vienna: Discovering its restaurants, food, and wine

Visit the Schonbrunn Palace and my favourite museum the Albertina. Take a romantic walk along the New Donau at night and see the stars at the nearby Urania Sternwarte, even take a ride on the Ferris wheel.

What more could there be? As a European capital, it can celebrate food and drink of quality and variety. The history of the region influences the cuisine. Many invaders came to conquer - the Turks tried and failed. The proximity to Eastern European countries gives the spice mix alongside western style cooking The Habsburg monarchy, high society and the ordinary people of Vienna have been and still are well looked after with the food and drinks on offer.

The Viennese Coffee House

The Viennese coffee house has endured since the 1800s and many like the Sperl at Gumpendorer Strasse 11 are unchanged. You could be mistaken when walking through the doors, as there is a hushed library like atmosphere with little sign that it is an eatery. The billiard tables are piled high with books and newspapers. Sit in the upholstered seating and a server will appear to take your order of coffee and torte. You can stay all day as a leisurely pace is expected.

Top of the list will be apple strudel but also try the lighter topfenstrudel. The Sacher torte is a chocolate feast first produced in 1832. The Aida cafe chain with bright pink decor was originally set up to serve the worker who had limited time to eat. Try the Demel Confectionery founded in 1786 and watch them at work and then sample the sweets.

Drink the Wine

Vienna is renowned for wine created within the city limits to a quality on par with the rest of the world. The easy drinking white Rieslings have a fruity bouquet and a depth of flavour. Visit more than one Heuringer, 'wine of that year' and take their house wine in a carafe with good valued food. Look for the bough of pine over the doorway.

There are over 700 hectares of vines with 70 percent given over to white wine grape varieties. The City of Vienna even owns one, Weingut Cobenzi. In October, the wine festival welcomes in the first harbingers of the new vintage.

Take a tram and bus to the wine districts of Nussdorf or Grinzing and enjoy!

I visited the Winegut at Klosterneurburg Abbey lying on a hillside overlooking the Danube, where wine has been made since 1114. There is an array of award wining reds and white wines to sample after the daily tours of the massive cellars.

Food and Dining (and Desserts, too)

The Viennese are big eaters just as their German neighbours with enormous portion sizes. Two 3-course meals a day is often the norm. They also take their time. Food has to be savoured along with a drink or two.

For food try the more recent microbreweries where good hearty food in massive portions can be ordered along with home brewed beer.

The Schnitzel, veal escalope pounded to a few millimetres of its life and then fried in a coat of breadcrumbs has its origins in Milan. Tafelspitz consists of thick wedges of boiled beef, fresh fiery horseradish sauce, fried potato cakes and spinach.

Game meats such as boar and venison are traditionally hunted in the autumn. All are usually served with the ubiquitous sauerkraut and dumplings.

The Kaiserschmarrn - a torn pancake with raisins and fruit chutney was created for the Kaiser by his personal chef. Mohar im Hemd - chocolate pudding with cream - literally means Moor in white and the Verkuhlter Mohr - with added ice cream - a frozen Moor. This is definitely one for the chocoholics.

The street food stall - The Wurst sausage is a staple fast food for the locals who eat it on the run or propped up against the counter bar. Wurstelstand run by the Bitzingers on Albertinaplatz, is this year’s top dog.

Particular Favourites

The Soho Canteen at Am Josefplatz 1 offers a two-course meal in a vibrant atmosphere for less than six euros. There is a daily choice of two menus only. You will be given a die or marble to present at the kitchen once you have paid. It is tucked away at the side of the National Library with no signage but just a menu board.

Breakfast at Meierei, a bright modern eatery nestled in the Stadtpark, overlooking the Wien River. It is a calm oasis of white and green decor.

Each table bears a milk bottle as a legacy of its origins as a milk parlour. The food is of excellent quality with service to match. For breakfast, I cannot think of a better destination. Dine at the adjoining Steirereck restaurant - at number 27 in the top 50 of the S Peligrano world restaurants it now has a second-generation family chef providing the best food in Vienna for fine dinning.

A visit to the Naschmarkt in the Wienzeile area is an experience not to be missed. Take the U Bahn 4 line to Kettenbruckengasse station. Lunch among the stalls of fruits and spices. There is a wild array of cuisines from around the world.

If You Go I recommend you buy the Vienna Card at 18 euros as soon as you arrive. You then have 72 hours of free travel on the totally integrated travel network. Have fun jumping on and off the buses, trams and underground. The 100-page accompanying booklet lists all the points of interest and discount coupons to use.

For more information visit Vienna Tourism