During our time in Vienna over Christmas, we had some really good food. Although a lot of places were closed we managed to get into a couple of really good restaurants. We dines at 3 2 michellin star restaurants: Restaurant Steirereck, Konstantin Fillipou and Silvio Nickol at the Palais Colburg. The question as to which was the best? In family polling the answer was actually quite different than what we expected coming into the trip. Our highest expectation, Steinbreck, polled last with Silvio Nickol and Filippou in a close race for first – maybe Fillipou for food, Silvio for ambiance and we call it even? Below a pictorial diary of the food we had at the three restaurants and my thought on each. At the end some other great food that was had in Vienna.
Steirereck : The best thing about the restaurant, the location. It is absolutely gorgeous. I was also obsessed with the fact that they left you a little card with the description of each dish before they brought it. Most restaurants should implement this, it takes away the need for me to ask the waiter to repeat himself multiple times! The food was really good as you will see below, and the best part all of the carts (which is quite a trend in Vienna). We had the bread, cheese, herbal tea, drinks and cookie cart. The service however was not up to par. We waited quite a bit for the start of our meal, and they had some confusion with my gluten free meal which is never a good thing. They were very apologetic, and gifted us some nice stuff in the end, but that doesn’t completely erase the errors. Here’s what we ate:
- Eating culture
- Young Celeriac with Summer purslane, Walnut Leaf
- Pompoe Pumpkin with Caviar
- Tench with Kale, Parsnip and Salted Apricot
- Pheasant with Krim Onion , Jerusalem Artichokes and Radicchio
- Venison with Bittersalads, Hazelnuts and Shizo
- Roter Mond Apple with Pomgranate, hibiscus and Anise
- The carts:
- The outdoor of the restaurant, absolutely spectacul
Konstantin Fillipou This was a surprise discovery. The ceiling was spectacular, and so was the food. I especially liked how they mixed land and sea. although most dishes were sea based the sauces were all made with land based broths, really enjoyable. Here is what we ate:
- Amouse bouches:
- Red Prawn. Rice. duck. balsamic vinegar
- The surprise dish; caviar and potato: amazing!
- Sweetbread. hazelnut. Mushroom. Ruffle. marrow
- Loch Diart Salmon. Shiso. Saffron. Kohlrabi
- Unagi. mangalitza. Mustard. Fennel
- Croatian Langostino. Veal toungue, Cochayuyo. Citrus
- Strawberry.coconut. Rose
- Cherry.Apple. Ginger. Chocolate
- Banana. Kumquat. Sherry
- The Wine:
Silvio Nickol This was a hidden gem. I am hesitant of hotel restaurants, even if they have two michelin stars, but this was great. The location was spectacular, the hotel has so much history and beauty. Then you walk in and you have a full wall of Petrus and romane conti bottles on the wall so you know that you are in a good place. We had Christmas lunch here as we couldn’t get a table for Christmas Eve and it was amazing! I kind of wish we would have come here at night to get the full menu and not just the four course lunch menu. Here the picture diary of what we ate:
- The amuse bouche
- DUCK LIVER with Chocolate – This dish was perfect. Beautiful (do you really want to break up the cute snowman) and absolutely tasty. I was hesitant when i saw Duck Liver on the menu, but thankfully it was terrine de foir gras and it was spectacular. Also their gluten free bread was top notch to eat it with.
- BLUN CATFISH with pumpkin
- VENISON with celery and fragolino – Venison in Austria is just so tasty. Melts in your mouth.
- RICE PUDDING – I was very happy that I got a dessert change. The dessert was Chocolate and I’m not a big fan of Chocolate. However it had gluten so I had the best replacement, a Rice Pudding that was so tasty!
- The petit fours
- the wines were the highlight of the meal
- The wall of bottles
- I was also obsessed with the pillow tree decorations
Tati's Tidbits 