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Vienna is a city straight out of a fairy-tale, and you can even travel around it in a horse drawn carriage! It has all the beauty and romance of Paris and has more opulent buildings than your phone storage will allow you to capture. I could easily write a blog post about the stunning architecture, history, culture and the music of Vienna, but the food PR girl in me simply wants to relay the food and drink journey taken by me and my taste buds!
Us foodies at Me:Mo are firm believers that you can’t ever truly experience a city without eating the food, and sampling the drinks of course. This is probably why all of us have chosen careers in food PR! With that in mind, I have collated a few of my favourite places to eat and drink in Vienna to help you truly experience this breath-taking city, and all the delicious eats it has to offer.
This place hardly needs an introduction, as the most popular café in Vienna, but I will give it one anyway! Café Sacher is a quintessentially Viennese café in Hotel Sacher, and is the birthplace of the original world-renowned Viennese dessert, the Sacher Torte. I highly recommend soaking up the authentic coffeehouse atmosphere, amidst the plush deep red velvet, gold-framed paintings and chandeliers with a delicious cup of Sacher coffee and the famous torte. The history of the Sacher torte can be found here, but all I will say is that despite the price and the queue you might find on arrival, the cake is worth it and have you really been to Vienna if you haven’t been to Café Sacher?
I challenge you to find a more beautiful café than this one, even in Vienna, it will really knock your socks off! Since 1876 the likes of Sigmund Freud and Leon Trotsky have got their caffeine fix under the cathedral-esque ceiling of this traditional kaffeehaus. Enough about the history though, let’s get to the cake, oh the cake! Deciding on which to choose took me around ten minutes of weighing up each exquisite cake and desert on display, umming and ahhing and changing my mind multiple times, it is a woman’s prerogative after all. I eventually settled on the ‘Nuss Kuss’, translated as ‘Nut Kiss’ a hazelnut and chocolate dream that I can honestly say was one of the best desserts I have ever tasted, and as a foodie in food PR I have tasted my fair share!
Zwölf Apostelkeller (Twelve Apostle Cellar) is a charmingly rustic and traditional Austrian restaurant housed in the romantic arches of cellars that date back to 1339. I’m not sure if its just me but I think that exposed brick (especially from 1339), candles and fairy lights make everything more romantic, and this restaurant certainly proved that! While being the perfect date spot, the restaurant also offers delicious authentic Austrian food such as Wiener Schnitzel, Viennese Goulash and Strüdel alongside a wide variety of local wines. The food was incredible, the ambiance unrivaled and to top it off you are serenaded with traditional Heurigenmusik as you enjoy your meal by candlelight.
DSTRIKT steakhouse is located inside the Ritz Carlton, and offers a fine selection of Austrian meats cooked on a charcoal grill. The wooden and leather furniture combined with the striking design features on the ceiling create an effortlessly stylish and timeless character and ambiance. After ordering your steak, you are faced with the crucial choice of selecting your unique steak knife. Each knife comes with its own story and design, from real Damascus knives to Güde knives, and selecting one is a key part of the DSTRIKT experience! The steaks arrived and they were everything we had hoped they would be, and certainly lived up to their excellent reputation and the recommendations we had been given. Although I had heard great things about the famous ‘DSTRIKT cheesecake’, the secret recipe of the Ritz Carlton Patisserie, we were full after a day exploring Vienna’s food scene and had to decline the dessert menu, there is a first time for everything. Next time!
Das Loft is a panoramic sky bar on the 18th floor of the Sofitel Vienna Stephenson, whose sweeping glass windows offer the best view in town, hands down. Sunset at this stunning bar is not to be missed, as you can watch the sun set over the whole of Vienna. If the view wasn’t enough, the 21,500-square-foot stunning illuminated ceiling mural by artist Pipilotti Rist makes this sky bar an unforgettable setting for a sunset cocktail.
If Dogs Run Free, yes you read it right, that was not a typo. If Dogs Run free, is a modern cocktail bar in the 6th district of Vienna, that invites you into a fantasy world of art installations and creative cocktails. From the moment you enter through a heavy velvet curtain, you realise that this cocktail bar is one of a kind. The space is created to give main focus to the cubist installation ceiling, whilst the rest of the room is a black box theatre style minimalist dark room. The ceiling is reserved for artists to design installations, and the current origami-esque design is reason enough to visit this artistic cocktail bar.
The part you will remember most about this cocktail bar, however, is the extraordinary and creative cocktails (or not, depending on how much you love them). We recommend trying the ‘Most Unusual Gin & Tonic’. This is one for the coconut lovers among you as it contains coconut water and coconut essence, as well as lime juice, mint, and of course Tanqueray and tonic. The effect is a delicious marriage between Mojito and G&T (two crowd favourites) with a twist that we are just coconutty about!
Onyx bar on the 6th floor of the Do & Co Hotel, is the place to be if you are an aspiring Instagram influencer. During our visit we witnessed two avid Instagrammers with tripods and remote clickers, both trying to get the perfect photo sat with a beautiful cocktail in hand in front of St Stephen’s Cathedral. The elegantly decorated lounge has sweeping windows overlooking Stephansplatz and St Stephen’s Cathedral.
This is an absolute must and excellent place to reward yourself if you have just taken on the 343 steps to the top of the south tower of St Stephens Cathedral. Whilst you might be breathless and unable to feel your legs afterwards (especially if you are in Food PR), the views are stunning and well worth it, and fabulous cocktails are just moments away at Onyx afterward!
This beautiful rooftop bar is located on the top floor of Hotel Lamée, and gives you breathtaking views over St Stephens Cathedral and the surrounding city. I am a sucker for a sunset, so would recommend coming here for a sunset cocktail, or three…If the view isn’t enough to persuade you, the décor should. It is beautifully vibrant and summery, however the fact that we were there in 2 degrees didn’t deter us as there were outdoor heaters and blankets galore making it the perfect romantic spot.
Set in Vienna’s historic old town this intimate cocktail bar is a real hidden gem. This smoky, dimly lit bar embraces Vienna’s café history and is slightly reminiscent of an opulent 1920’s speakeasy. Josef’s cocktail bar offers innovative cocktails, classics with a twist, and a fine selection of spirits and cigars. It is an absolute must when visiting Vienna, so much so that we went back twice in four days!
Whether it’s rooftop bars, charming wine cellars, intimate cigar bars, elegant steakhouses, unique cocktail bars, or traditional Viennese kaffeehauses, you are sure to find something about Viennese food and drink culture that you fall in love with!
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