Eating out in ..., Europe, Food, Food on the Road, Travel

Eating Out in Vienna

ellieslondon

Voted the most livable city in the world for an impressive ten years (2009-2019), Vienna is a city synonymous with wealth, opulence and all things exquisite. It is definitely not a city that would be high on the list of places to go for a budget break.

However, I visited Vienna just before Christmas last year and managed to return with over half of my spending money budget. Eating out in Vienna and travelling around the city does not have to be expensive, and I’m talking about eating out well, in the famously expensive European city – none of this international chain or junk food nonsense.

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I stayed in a hotel in the buzzing 6th District of Mariahilf. The neighbourhood was peppered with eclectic Viennese stores, quirky eateries, lots of coffee bars and a wide range of restaurants. I really liked staying in this area because it allowed us to see Vienna as a busy, working capital city, and not simply a super commercialised, Christmas market hot spot.

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On our first evening in Vienna, Le Burger provided us with dinner. Located on what is apparently one of Austria’s biggest shopping streets, Mariahilfer Strasse, Le Burger is set over two floors. If you want to serve yourself and get a quick bite to go, sit on the ground floor. Here, the decor resembles that of a warehouse – think lots of grey pillars and concrete posts, and seating is offered in the form of stools, with sofa like swinging seats, suspended from the ceiling on worn silver chains. Upstairs, the atmosphere is more relaxed, with table service available and soft armchairs around each table. Needless to say it was upstairs that we decided on after a busy first afternoon, exploring Vienna.

While the burgers might not look like the most appealing, they tasted amazing and were served piping hot. There were lots of options for a range of dietary requirements and preferences as well and lots of sauces available to add as much as you like. Upstairs, the sauces were the only things you had to bring to the table yourself. There was a station with a huge selection of sauces to try, from conventional ketchup and mayo to more heavily spiced sauces and flavoured condiments.

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The next day it was off to explore the city of Vienna and our first stop for a winter warmer was Café Eiles. Even though we were in Vienna to explore the Christmas markets, they were ridiculously overpriced and all of them seemingly offering the same blends of mulled wines and blended spices. A few minutes walk into the back streets behind the Austrian Parliament Building, Café Eiles has been some form of coffee shop since the mid 1800’s. Very popular with locals, it was here we sampled some Viennese hot chocolate and a quick Austrian coffee.

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As the sun set on our first full day in Vienna, we headed to the Hundertwasser Village and to the Village Art Bar. A former tire factory, transformed by Mr Hundertwasser to house shops, cafes and a roof top forest, the Village Art Bar was one of the more festive moments of the trip.

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Blogger: Bottom left, balancing on a pile of bricks for that ‘not-looking-at-the-camera’ shot…

This building had the odd blogger outside taking the obligatory posed picture next to the pretty pastel paintwork on the outside of the building, but it seemed as though few actually ventured inside, as the Art Bar was mainly littered with locals enjoying the traditional Christmas music and a glass of something mulled and heavily alcoholic.

For a fraction of the cost of the Christmas markets, a lot less people and even inside in the warm, it would be interesting to see what this ‘Village’ environment would be like when not decorated like Santa’s grotto.

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Heading to one of the most famous Christmas markets in all of Vienna at Rathausplatz, all of the walking around the city had meant we were getting pretty hungry. We picked up an “überbackene fladenbrote” – known more commonly as a baked flatbread. Craving something hot on our journey back to our hotel, the soft baked, tuna filled flatbread oozed with bubbling cheese and was well worth the €5 price tag.

Once back to our temporary home in the 6th District, Mythos Restaurant had really caught my eye when passing the previous evening. A charming Greek restaurant, again abundantly popular with local people and the after work crowd, the food here was flavoursome and tasted a lot better than it looked in pictures. Their red lentil soup was some of the nicest outside of Istanbul.

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The next day we caught a train from Vienna to Bratislava (more on that soon) so the Greek dish was effectively our last meal in the city, not counting of course breakfast in our hotel which delighted us on a daily basis. I adore the simplicity of Greek food when it it is done really well it has to be one of my favourite cuisines. Hard to get right, especially outside of the Greece, I found myself relatively impressed by this characterful little jaunt.

With its first coffee house opening in 1685, Vienna has a generous amount of places to stop for refreshments. You can easily spend upwards of €30 on two hot drinks and two slices of cake or something sweet, and no doubt this would be as fabulous as you would expect it to be. But it doesn’t have to be like that. None of the meals we had in Vienna cost more than €30 between the two of us, often including cocktails and beer.

Have you visited Vienna? What did you think of the food there? I’d love to know what it would be like in the middle of summer, since everything I tried was something of a winter warmer. Let me know in the comments. 

Published by ellieslondon

A London based content writer with a little corner of the internet for ramblings that spring to mind. On a quest to meet fellow creatives!

41 thoughts on “Eating Out in Vienna”

    1. It is really a wonderful city to explore – I think it would be amazing at any time of year, but really something special around Christmas! I was a bit worried that the pictures didn’t do the food justice but I’m glad it didn’t put you off! x

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  3. Great post! Food posts are my favorite. Isn’t eating just one of the greatest parts of traveling!? And Vienna looks like it has so much to offer. I’d really be interested to go and check out the similarities and differences between the cuisine in Vienna and the cities in Germany that I’ve visited.

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    1. It really is one of the best parts! That is why I don’t like to go to international chains when I’m in a new place – I really like to try local food and local ‘versions’ of things! Ooooh, I would love to know how Vienna compares, as I have never visited anywhere in Germany! x

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  4. This was such a nice reminder of my trip to Vienna! I went with a couple friends back in 2017 and we managed to find a fairly cheap place to stay – it was right by a park with lots of fairground rides which was a lot of fun! I don’t remember much about what the food was like (my memory is bad) but the parks and buildings were so beautiful there! We went to the mismatched house too – it’s very cool :)) thanks for sharing your post – makes me want to go back again!

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    1. That little house is such a lovely place to visit – I was surprised by how quiet it all was (maybe b/c it was December). I love when we are able to find an affordable place to stay and budget friendly things to do in countries or cities that are famous for being super expensive. It’s like a special kind of travel challenge! I would love to go back to Austria – perhaps in the summer time! x

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    1. Right?! I know exactly what you mean – it is such a special city! I’m glad that you think the food looks okay, because I was really apprehensive – it’s hard sometimes to make things look as yummy as they are! I can definitely share prices – what would you like to know? ♥

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    1. I would really love to see the city in the summer sunshine – I think it would feel very different to when I was there! It can be quite a challenge in a city so famously expensive, but I have a tips post coming soon! Have a fab time in Vienna ♥ x

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    1. The Christmas markets were exactly what we needed after such an average experience of ‘Christmas’ in Warsaw! I would love to see more of Austria, maybe try another city with you! x

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  13. I’m going too if you are going again maybe in the summer months …… Christmas is at the wrong time of year it would be better to celebrate it in warm weather
    Great information again
    🍸🥂🍜🍨

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    1. Thank you so much – I’m glad you found it useful. Vienna is definitely your type of city. I would love to explore it in summer, but it just so perfect when everything is so festive! x

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    1. It was an incredible city! I was very impressed with it for sure. There were some great places for eating out as well, much more affordable than what’s typically associated with Austria! x

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  19. Only had about 24 hours in Vienna so not much chance to eat my way around the city. That said I enjoyed the little food I had there. I definitely have unfinished business with the city so intend to return, I’ll keep some of these places in mind for then 🙂

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