Tell that to Bobby Colby. All that kid wanted to do was go home. Well he went home all right, with a crater in his colon the size of a cutlet. Had to sit him on a cork the eighteen-hour flight home!
One thing I was looking forward to eat in Vienna was to eat schnitzels. A couple days before my trip I saw in Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservation episode how he ended eating a cordon blue schnitzel in Naschmarkt. You have no idea how many nights I dreamed about having this thin tender meat slightly hammered, coated with flour, breadcrumbs, and fried.
The one in Naschmarkt
Naschmarkt is apparently the most popular market in Vienna, a central aisle in a two way street full of food, produce, and other stuff. The market dates from the 16th century and it’s one of the city attractions.
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| Produce at the market |
I got to the place thanks to Bourdain, in his episode he went to this amazing stall called Urbanek and then to a butchery nearby and got a humongous schnitzel. But for me all went south as Urbanek was closed on holidays, and the stall that made the cordon blue was no more open for business. We decided to give it a try in another stall, S’Wiener Naschmarkt Beisl, nothing to do with their sign saying it was the best schnitzel in town, but what was our surprised when we found out that our waitress Elizabeth was Venezuelan, and also she was the one that cooked the schnitzel in the No Reservation episode. She basically told us when she hear me complaining about Urbanek holidays and not being able to find the other place.
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| Urbanek |
Elizabeth mentioned how tourists still recognise her from the couple seconds she is on the screen in the episode, and then went to explain the differences between the cordon blue she used to make and the one we were going to have. Basically the other one was more expensive as they used a better cheese and ham, and also it was bigger.
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| At our table |
The veal cordon blue was ok, good flavour, decent size, to e honest nothing memorable apart from Elizabeth friendly service, it helps to be Venezuelan, but she went the extra mile, giving us even recommendations on trips outside the city.
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| Cordon Blue |
S'Wiener Naschmarkt Beisl
Viennese Beisl
Approx Damage: €20pp
Area: Mariahilf
Vienna
Figlmuller queues reminded me the ones in London to have Shake Shack and Five Guys these days. We went three times, and the last one during lunch was the only one we were luck to find a table. One thing though, they have a bigger place around the corner from the original place in Bäckerstraße, but we didn’t notice until the last day and we decided to go to the original in Wollzeile.
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| Figlmuller |
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| Wollzeile |
The place is an institution in Vienna, home of the schnitzel for more than 100 years. Fourth generations of Figmullers keeping the tradition that started in 1905. A wine tavern to celebrate the Viennese way of life, and a menu making tribute to the traditional schnitzel.
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| The place |
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| Our view |
The way to describe it is humongous. The schnitzel measures 30 centimetres. They made it from pork, and it’s beautiful. Tastes great, well executed, it’s tender, and the coating is golden crispy. Definitely worth the wait, just remember no beers in the place only wine from Figlmuller’s vineyards.
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| Schnitzel time |
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| Rose |
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| Ready to go |
Figlmuller
T: +43 1 512 61 77
Viennese Beisl
Approx Damage: €22pp
Area: Innere Stadt
Vienna
Twitter: Figlmuller
The one by luck
In one of the occasions when we avoided the suicidal queues of Figlmuller, I went to the Lonely Planet guide and decided to give it a try to a local Beisl nearby. The place Beim Czaak, opened in 1926, fourth generation of Czaak family, offering traditional Viennese cuisine.
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| The place |
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| Candlelit terrace |
We got our table in the terrace just in front of the place, a fence closed square with tables and covered by a huge umbrella. Their cordon blue is on pork again, deep-fried filled with ham, cheese, onions, and mushrooms. What you could call the Calzone of Austrian. It was amazing, the filling was top notch, great flavours, perfect execution, lovely place in the Innere Stadt. I'm just going to say it's a must to go there.
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| Cordon Blue |
Beim Czaak
T: +43 1 513 72 15
Viennese Beisl
Approx Damage: €24pp
Area: Innere Stadt
Vienna
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