Vienna - a tale of two dinners

The idea of being a Michelin inspector...now that, surely, is the dream job? I don't think that I'd be good at it though - I hate criticising people or bashing them and I am cripplingly polite. Seriously - it is a family trait and not a good one. I was musing about this because we went to two one-star restaurants on our recent trip to Vienna and one I adored and one I didn't but it all came down to a completely subjective view of the food being served and that's the thing - how do you divorce subjectivity from, presumably, a set of criteria that deigns something worthy of a star or not? I'm not sure I could do it.

I mean, there were plenty of reasons to like Apron. The service was fabulous - the most engaging, friendly, fabulous staff. The setting was gorgeous - dark, brooding, romantic...but with a table big enough that you didn't feel in constant danger of knocking your water glass over. A create your own tasting menu - yes, really! They have a menu of six starters, two mains and two desserts and you can pick your own five or seven courses for a set price which is extraordinary - I've never seen another restaurant do this. Everyone at the table can please themselves as well - you don't have to order the same thing. Which meant that D and I could cover all ten dishes between us by opting for a five course tasting menu. 

I say five courses, but Apron are out to break you as an eater. Before we even got to these there was a fabulous amuse of minestrone soup and Parmesan cream, some decadent snacks and a bread course that was just bonkers. It came with multiple accompaniments, the best of which was a candle MADE OF BUTTER that melted into a pork gravy. 

Once we got into the menu proper though, I started falling a bit out of love. I just didn't feel that the dishes were quite coherent enough, or sufficiently balanced. Of the starters - for me, the stand out was a glorious mushroom dish which tasted as bosky as you could possibly wish. But any textural contrasts were completely obliterated by the broth that was poured over at the table. Mains were good - I had chicken which is just not done often enough in high end restaurants - but not great. My chocolate dessert really needed some contrast from somewhere - the mango element on the plate was too sweet to balance out the delicious cremeux. Very pretty though.

The next night, we went to Pramerl and the Wolf. I thought that I was done with food at this point; it being the third night in a row we'd been for high end grub. I was wrong though - it turns out, when anything is this good, the stomach will find a way. Not a duff mouthful from start to finish; and I'd walk on coals to have the celeriac and scallop tartlet again, or the dinner rolls basted in bone marrow, or the squid and smoked eel in Parmesan cream. Service again was great, if a little more perfunctory than the night before, atmosphere good. Fabulous wine pairing - lots of interesting, natural wines which seems to be a really big deal in Austria, far more so than here.

One place, then, to which we will definitely return and one to which we will not, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either. I think, when it comes to food, what makes one's heart sing is subjective, and I wouldn't criticise anywhere for doing its thang when its thang just isn't my thang too.

Vienna - cake for breakfast

We have just had the briefest of sojourns in Vienna - three nights, two and a half days, and it wasn't nearly long enough. Usually after a holiday, I am ready to come home but this time...I would quite happily have stayed, even if just for another day or so. What a city! The architecture in the first district is, I think, the most beautiful and spectacular that I have seen anywhere in the world with a new delight around every single corner. 

Of course, being us, greedy as sin, our top priorities nearly all involved consumption of some sort or another. And yes, we did indeed have cake for breakfast. Twice.

The first - at Cafe Demel. This is one of two places that claims to have invented the famous Sachertorte and there is a permanent queue outside for both the cafe and the shop. It's just like you imagine a Viennese coffee shop to be though; ornate and twee at the same time. We breakfasted like kings (or emperors) on the aforementioned Sachertorte, apple strudel and a speciality of the house: Kaiserschmarrn. This last dish was our favourite - fluffy pancakes, torn up into scraps and dusted with sugar, served with apples, raisins and a side of stewed plums. So delicious! I'm going to try and make this at home (there are recipes online although I've not seen one yet that tucks spiced apple in amongst the pancake pieces).

The Sachertorte was...ok. The flavour combination of chocolate and apricot jam is lovely. The rich, chocolate icing was...well, rich and chocolatey although not as shiny as we were expecting (D clearly has absorbed some Bake Off lingo as he wondered out loud where the "mirror glaze" was to be found). And the cake was ever so slightly on the dry side - perhaps deliberately so, as it is served with cream and the moisture was provided by this, the jam and the coating. But, still, onwards.

The Hotel Sacher was just as gloriously Disney-esque inside as Demel, with be-suited waiters and a sweep of red carpeted stairs up to the dining room. Here we breakfasted slightly more sensibly - in that we had actual Viennese breakfast food rather than just cake. But, even so, along with a delicious bread, cheese and meat platter, the Viennese breakfast comes with a Sacher cube (Sachertorte in miniature form). D rather confused the waiter by asking for a slice of torte as well. He didn't feel that the cube would offer true like for like comparison.

Do you know - again it was only ok, and for the exact same reasons. In fact, there seemed to be practically no difference between the two although obviously impossible to fully tell without a side by side taste test. 

Regard that glorious meat and cheese plate, though! The truffled ham, in particular, was fantastic. 

So - Sachertorte ticked off the list - underwhelming, but only slightly so. Kaiserschmarrn introduced to the repertoire - happy days. Ridiculous practice of eating cake for breakfast - not to be encouraged in the normal run of things. 

Where The Light Gets In, Stockport

With so many amazing restaurants out there, and limited time and funds, a place has to be very special indeed for it to warrant a revisit. Last night was our third trip to WTLGI. That’s how much we love it.

It’s a combination of factors that make it so special. The food is wonderful - lots of different influences being effortlessly blended into a coherent whole which is absolutely a style in itself. The wine pairings are always thought provoking, with an emphasis on natural wines being an interesting point of difference. And the staff are SO lovely. Friendly, engaged, full of enthusiasm but not over the top. We always try and sit up at the kitchen counter, and watching the plating up and chatting with some of the chefs is a real treat. 

Last night we ate the fattest of oysters with locally grown ginger and shiso, a celeriac ragu which had so much flavour it would convert the most ardent root veg sceptic, and game seasoned with Middle Eastern spices and served with a silky baba ganoush. Fabulous dishes all. But nothing could beat a dense, dark chocolate and stout cake with chocolate creameux, marmalade glaze and pieces of crispy buckwheat which was utterly luscious without being in the least bit sweet. 

This morning sees us at Manchester Airport about to head off to Vienna where, no doubt, many more culinary treats await. But, wow, the trip is off to a good start.