Foodle

Austria’s highest ranking gourmet restaurant is located in the middle of the Stadtpark in Central Vienna. It is housed in a glass cube- building with a minimalistic but elegant decor.
The cuisine is traditional Austrian with chef Reitbauer’s innovative, modern cooking style.
This restaurant was on our bucket list for a while. We love Vienna, so on our recent winter visit we have reserved our table for dinner. The first half of the evening was very good, we have received a genuine warm welcome by the owner. We have opted for the 7 course menu and a bottle of Martin Muthenthaler Riesling. Service while we had our amuse bouches and starters were attentive with a really good rhythm. Special thanks to the gentleman who was offering the amazing bread selection from his trolley and also he was looking after us with the remarkable cheese selection.
Unfortunately something must have happened along the way because we had to wait 45 minuted for our main course which was pigeon and veal. In the meantime for a good 15 minutes there was no staff visible in the dining room, we were left unattended. Tables where guests have finished their dinner and left were not cleared, we had no water and no wine served. While we have been waiting and waiting for our main course, the last starter had not been cleared and when the main plates eventually arrived there were still empty plates and used cutlery in front of us. This under no circumstances can happen at such a high ranking restaurant. As good as the starters were, the main meals left lots of question marks…really undercooked meat (both the pigeon and the veal), no texture, under seasoned and very much under portioned.
Our favourite starters were the Beets diversity with tiger trout & eucalyptus, and Jerusalem artichoke with mushrooms, swede & green almonds.
As our reservation was for 8.30 pm we were the last ones left at the dining room, so we could enjoy the young trainee waiter clearing the tables and lifting the glasses by sticking his finger from the top. Just like a real professional barmen would do anywhere around the globe in a pub. Unfortunately this have happened at a two Michelin star restaurant.
Walked in happy, left disappointed Less

Austria’s highest ranking gourmet restaurant is located in the middle of the Stadtpark in Central Vienna. It is housed in a glass cube- building with a minimalistic but elegant decor.
The cuisine is traditional Austrian with chef Reitbauer’s innovative, modern cooking style.
This restaurant was on our bucket list for a while. We love Vienna, so on our recent winter visit we have reserved our table for dinner. The first half of the evening was very good, we have received a genuine warm welcome by the owner. We have opted for the 7 course menu and a bottle of Martin Muthenthaler Riesling. Service while we had our amuse bouches and starters were attentive with a really good rhythm. Special thanks to the gentleman who was offering the amazing bread selection from his trolley and also he was looking after us with the remarkable cheese selection.
Unfortunately something must have happened along the way because we had to wait 45 minuted for our main course which was pigeon and veal. In the meantime for a good 15 minutes there was no staff visible in the dining room, we were left unattended. Tables where guests have finished their dinner and left were not cleared, we had no water and no wine served. While we have been waiting and waiting for our main course, the last starter had not been cleared and when the main plates eventually arrived there were still empty plates and used cutlery in front of us. This under no circumstances can happen at such a high ranking restaurant. As good as the starters were, the main meals left lots of question marks…really undercooked meat (both the pigeon and the veal), no texture, under seasoned and very much under portioned.
Our favourite starters were the Beets diversity with tiger trout & eucalyptus, and Jerusalem artichoke with mushrooms, swede & green almonds.
As our reservation was for 8.30 pm we were the last ones left at the dining room, so we could enjoy the young trainee waiter clearing the tables and lifting the glasses by sticking his finger from the top. Just like a real professional barmen would do anywhere around the globe in a pub. Unfortunately this have happened at a two Michelin star restaurant.
Walked in happy, left disappointed Less

I have eaten at Juan Amador's restaurant in Hagen, Mannheim and now Vienna. In Hagen, he was in his molecular phase with lots of deconstructed dishes topped with all kinds of foam. Since then his cuisines became more and more classic. This meal, my fourth one, was surprising as there was not one course which was a throwback to his "Spanish" phase. On the other hand every dish is a "safe" one. The ingredients are classic, from John Dory to pigeon, the construction of the dish is classic, well calibrated and with one exception, the John Dory which was ever so slightly overcooked, perfectly executed. Where the operation falls down is with the desserts. Seven servings of pretty much useless to uneatable productions. Juan Amador needs to find a new pastry Chef, fast!

However, all of this could not have prevented the meal to go south and become somewhat of an unpleasant experience. There were various components which did this:
1) The dining room, locate in the former barrique cellar of the winery which houses the restaurant, became so hot during the meal that it almost became unbearable. Even the ladies started to sweat and those in the know brought their fans to get some relief.
2) The whole front office is not even close to be part of a 3 star operation. There is nobody in charge, the waiters do have very little knowledge of the dishes and some of them have a very bad attitude. When we arrived nobody asked us if we wanted something to drink. We had to ask for a glass of champagne after the first snack had arrived. Once the glass was finished we had to beg one waiter to serve us some wines as the main menu started.
3) They have a very good wine list of more than 1,000 positions, a very deep selection of Austrian and German wines. However, they seemed to only sell their wine pairings as all three (!) bottles we ordered had to be chilled down for us because they are stored at 15C. It took each bottle more than 15 minutes to get chilled only to arrive at our table at a barely drinkable temperature.

Normally I am very lenient with flaws like this, trying to seek benign explanations, explaining them with the occasional off-day etc. but here we have systemic problems with the operation which completely destroy the very solid cooking of the kitchen. What a pity! It is fixable but it needs to be done. So, just do it!

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