Vienna - Part II

as promised, part II on vienna - food! (: perhaps you've heard me mention this a couple of times already, but one thing i loved about vienna was its cuisine. MEAT!!!! in italy, i had such an overdose of carbs, that i was simply feeling terribly unhealthy and fat, yet rather unsatisfied because there was this gnawing feeling that something was missing. i didn't quite realise what it was till i stepped into our first dinner restaurant in vienna. and *eureka!* i found my love. meat :D 

there is no doubt that Schone Perle (the first restaurant we went to) was probably the best out of all the meals we had there (: not because i had been so deprived previously (although that probably constituted part of the reason), but because of the quality of their food, and also the most-delicious-chocolate-cake-ever that we had at the end. *swoooooons* it's been so long ago that i can't remember exactly how it tasted, but i was completely melting in my seat as i automatically reached for the next forkful of cake, unable to resist it, and not wanting to anyway ;) 

(lousy photo quality because the place was so dark >.<)

we started with the vienna potato soup with mushrooms (€4.50) which was a lovely thick, warm broth that was perfect for the cold outside.

then came the meats! HEHE :D this was the home made sarma (cabbage rolls filled with meat) served with sour cream and boiled potatoes (€6.50) and it was absolutely delicious!!! the meat was super tasty, and it was nice to have the cabbage to balance out its flavour so that it wouldn't be too overwhelming.

 haha i'm so terrible, i can't remember what i ordered already bcos it was so long ago :P but i think this was the organic "tafelspitz" (boiled beef) with viennese potatoes, chive sauce and apple horseradish (€11). absolutely loved the huge slab of meat, and the apple horseradish was a delicious accompaniment to it! Tafelspitz is one of the specialties of vienna, so be sure to try it! ^^

another specialty of vienna which we weren't a huge fan of, was the "Wiener Schnitzel" (heehee got inspiration for my doggie's name from here :)). we ordered the small one for €7.50. it's basically a deep fried pork cutlet, and since i'm not a huge fan of too oily food, i wasn't impressed with it. we just ate it because it's one of Vienna's signature dishes. if you want to try it, i'd recommend that you do not order it here, but at the next restaurant below though! i didn't try the version there, but almost every single table ordered it, and they were all locals! so i'd place my bets that you can find a better version there ;) 

aaaaaaand for the star of the meal!!!!! the "SUISITORTE" chocolate cake with mousse au chocolat topping (€4.50). this was literally the BEST cake that i ate during my entire exchange. it was so rich and chocolatey, smooth and creamy, yet not overly heavy because it was largely a mousse cake. it was so so so good. we wanted to go back another day for a second round of it, but couldn't because of time constraints. wish jiayee could have brought some of it back!!!! haha LOVED IT ^^

Schoene Perle

1020 Wien

Grosse Pfarrgasse 2

Tel.: +43 664 243 35 93

the other place we dined at for dinner was a very traditional viennese pub, which was a great experience because we were surrounded by mostly locals and could completely soak in the viennese pub atmosphere ;) tried to order some traditional viennese dishes again, but i think we had little mix ups haha. but the food was still pretty good anyways! 

we accidentally ordered the fried egg dumplings (€8.70) when i think what was recommended was actually the fried dumplings with egg :P lol. so it turned out to be this dish that looks uncannily like our singapore carrot cake! :P 

we had the beef goulash (small, €8.90) which sam was absolutely drooling over hehe ^^ it was hearty, tasty, and meaty. everything you could ask for in a goulash ;)

also, the beef bouillon soup with noodles (€3.90), seemingly boring, was a hit amongst us! (: probably because we've missed the light, clear chinese soups we have grown up with - this was exactly what we needed! food for the soul ^^ it was simple, but delicious, and we were so happy drinking it! 

Gastwirtschaft Schilling

Burggasse 103, Wien 1070

Tel.: +43 01 524 1775

when in vienna, you've GOT to try the pork knuckle ;) it's hugeeee! and one of the best you can get is at the Naschmarkt - look out for the store called Radatz. it was so shiok to just tear this apart and devour it :D 

two famous desserts in Vienna are the "sachertorte" and "apfelstrudel". we got them both at Cafe Griensteidl at €4.10 and €3.40 respectively. honestly, i wouldn't really recommend having these two desserts at this place though. the sachertorte is a chocolate cake, but from all the reviews from friends i've heard so far, no one seems to like it much. definitely not as much as the AWESOME suisitorte above ;) the apfelstrudel here was just a bit 'blah' because it was kinda soggy. i think they have better versions elsewhere though! so it's probably a better idea to check out some other cafe. 

and who says only italy has gelato? ;) we found a super yummy gelato store with tonnes of flavours in vienna!!! i can't remember what flavours we ordered, but they were all soooo awesome ;) it's super crowded there though!! so don't expect to be able to test the flavours. be sure of what you want to order and just go! ;)

Eissalon Am Schwedenplatz

Franz-Josefs-Kai 17, 1010 Vienna