As I try and remember what I did in Vienna, all that comes to mind is not being able to find a schnitzel befitting Viennese reputation, eating many a torte and because I’m so cultured (clearly) attending a concert of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Oh and of course, Vienna the home of the best brunch ever. Saying that, there is little competition in this field, with me usually conforming to the standard breakfast, lunch, dinner pattern. Go on, read about it now, treat yourself.
Am Heumarkt 2A, 1030 Wien, Austria
I spent a large/ridiculous amount of time each day finding places I wanted to eat in, this for breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner; no wonder I can’t remember much of Vienna itself! If there was one occasion in which all of this planning paid off, it was my brunch at Meierei im Stadtpark, in Vienna. Meierei is the sister restaurant of the famous Steirereck restaurant, currently ranked number fifteen in the world (according to the San Pellegrino awards). Having checked Steirereck’s menu yet again, just to make sure I couldn’t afford it, I stumbled across Meierei and like a small child discovering an easter egg on an easter egg hunt, I couldn’t wait to eat my findings.
The brunch sounded ridiculously good and for a student backpacker, I admit, stupidly expensive. At €30, for a breakfast meal, I knew it would be a big dent in my daily budget; but then I thought the Schonbrunn palace isn’t going anywhere soon; with the admission cost, it was either a visit to the palace or brunch. When I’m next in Vienna I’ll be sure to give it a visit... unless I find another fancy place for brunch that is. Well I’ll definitely look it up on google images. If there is a fancy café inside the palace, that may well change things!
Having placed my order, an afternoon tea style tiered stand was placed in front of me, containing all five dishes, yes five, yes five dishes... for brunch!
The first dish I plumped for was the poached egg with sprout salad & spiced bean créme. Not that I’ve ever tasted soil, but the dish was earthy, in a good way. It tasted healthy, again, in a good way; not like a kale smoothie flavoured with a dash of cod liver oil. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that the poached egg wasn’t meant to be runny (as it wasn’t), because everything else, from flavours to textures, were all perfectly judged. One of those dishes where I could go all Masterchef and use the word ‘mouthfeel’, which I think means it all combined nicely in my mouth and it felt nice...
Next was muesli with dried, marinated and fresh fruit. Now I’m not much of a fruit fan; when I feel I should I eat it, I tend to drown my fruit in granola and honey to the point that I’m probably doing more harm than good. Considering this, I was quite amazed by how tasty this was, the freshest of fruit, the best of muesli, simple bliss. It was exactly what it said on the tin/menu, but delivered in the form of something far superior than could have been expected.
The third dish was the star. When I saw ‘carrot yoghurt with marinated fennel’ on the menu, it intrigued, but didn’t particularly tickle my tastebuds. But my word was the dish something. A slight hint of caramel, delectably creamy was the yoghurt. A simple sprinkling of chopped nuts added texture. I would say what has changed about me most from this trip, is my feelings towards almost all yoghurt adverts (the obvious coming of age experience). You know the ones, where yoghurt, yes, fermented milk is enough to send Nicole Scherzinger into a yoghurt induced fit of pleasure (a yoghurtgasm, if you will). Before, I would tut loudly at its sheer ridiculousness; now, an enlightened man however, cultured in the art that is yoghurt, these adverts make my mind wander and I now instead dream hazy thoughts of that carrot yoghurt at Meierei. I’d like to point out however, I’ve never, repeat never had a yoghurtgasm! Let’s just clear that up now!
Other dishes like marinated smoked salmon and a citrus créme failed to quite match the heights of my yoghurt ecstasy. But then again, I haven’t eaten much to match such a food high since.
Must go rating:
9/10 - The place to go if you like eating breakfast, in parks, in Austria and if you like yoghurt as much as Nicole Scherzinger, and I, now do.
Er, yep auf wiedersehen Vienna!
No, I’ll try and expand a little. Actually despite not remembering much of Vienna itself, some of the architecture I do recall (...when looking at photos) was beautiful, their pastries and baking could be quite glorious at times and their brunches, of course, are definitely the best in Europe!