taubenkobel — Restaurant in Gemeinde Schützen am Gebirge

ONLY RELEVANT FOR DISKOKOBEL “Overwhelmingly underwhelming and mediocre" would be the summation of attending their Pop-Up. We find the concept/idea very exciting and therefore decided to go last year. Last years was a great location. However, the staff were unprofessional + incredibly rude. The food was incredibly lacklustre. Nothing I ate felt interesting, innovative nor had any wow factor. After a dinner with countless faux pas’ it felt difficult to ignore that the food was uninspiring when it came with a 550€ bill attached (just two glasses of champagne,no other alcohol). We left disappointed yet felt this might have just been an off night for them. We were eager to give the experience another shot this year. We expected over the top disco interiors and an awe-inspiring dinner. WRONG. Basically a black Molton tent with an awkward layout. The "decorations" ranged from cheap iridescent fake flowers on the table to street lamps covered in aluminum foil...I mean come on...elements of the "decor" looked like a toddlers take on building a rocket ship at home. We didn't let this ruin all of our excitement but a quick glance at the short 6 course menu did. Potato, Trout, Beets, Scallops, Cabbage, Veal and Sweets...this Menu could not have been more boring if it tried. Service was slow and disorganised. Started off with a ham-toast…just a toast. This was served next to the chefs famous clay-potatoes with a side of a foam that tasted like absolutely nothing. The potato was just that...a boiled potato. Second course was Trout. Out of all the fish in the water why anyone would choose trout is beyond me. It had nice fresh hints and little discs of very crisp apple on it. Following this was Beetroot. A pink lightly pickled beetroot, sliced thinly through a mandolin and arranged as a rose. Side of warm "beetroot essence", this entire course had about as much flavor in it as an A4 piece of printer paper. The Scallop was great. Nice fresh scallop in Bergamot sauce. This was a delight to eat. Nothing to write home about but nonetheless a well balanced and executed dish! Disappointment followed with the poached egg that was for some reason served inside a cabbage. The egg was mixed with truffle which I felt in my mouth and saw, yet had no flavor, scent to it, just reeked of raw cabbage. Nice rich Egg yolk...nothing more.Following this was a nicely cooked piece of veal with a hazelnut mousse. Again, we felt as thought the flavors clashed more than worked in harmony. Served with it was a King Oyster mushroom that was filled with smaller mushroom trimmings which had great flavor profile and was the star of the dish. Meat was cooked well but had a huge layer of seared fat on it. This is a fine dining shortcut. We were escorted to the dessert station to pick from their selection. This year again we were told that Taubenkobel has a famous vanilla meringue cake. A knockoff-version of the Cipriani's one...however an easy sell for them back home in Burgenland. To finish we were served lines of "Brause" (Closest would be pop rocks in English) that looked like lines of coke. You lick them off using your finger. This however is still a step-up from the godawful ridiculous cookie we were given last year. Listen, none of the food was bad. Vienna is a village and in its infancy in comparison to the rest of the of the culinary world. 20 years ago these dishes would have stood out. Last nights caliber of cuisine was mediocre (and tired) at best. Vienna has plenty of actual fine dining options that offer a far more tantalising menu for more competitive pricing. In conclusion, Diskokobel is not worth the excitement and the food is bland. We gave it another shot and were disappointed both times with the same issues. For 224€ pp - Including a 9€ “Gedeck” which was a nice but very plain bread and butter - this experience is just not worth it. Ingredients were high quality. Concept + idea are great. Execution lacked refinement in all departments. Better off going to Steirereck (225€) or Tian (169€), among many others, for real...

This restaurant has created one of the worst experiences we ever had in a restaurant. We had to put it on our BANNED list unfortunately. To be frank - we visited the restaurant twice so far, one time more than 10 years ago (when it still had 2 Michelin stars, now it has NONE and is not even mentioned anymore in the Michelin guide). and were totally excited about the food and the service. We went there a second time in 2012 with French friends and spent hundreds of Euros but the food and the service was already not on the level we experienced the first time. Today we drove there 100 km to celebrate my birthday with my mother and my wife and were full of hopes - all thrown in shatters by a completely unacceptable and irresponsible attitude of the owner Mrs. Eselboeck. Covid-19 is dramatically increasing also in Austria. In the nearby capital Eisenstadt they are in Red colour and there is no question that this Virus is to be taken serious. We simply requested that staff is wearing a mask when serving us the food, especially important as every dish will come with a lengthy explanation and so we would eventually be exposed if the staff is infected. We know there is no legal requirement for restaurants to wear masks (unlike Supermarkets and pharmacies) but last week we went to a REAL 2 star Michelin restaurant in Vienna and every staff had a shield mask. Not so in Taubenkobel ! We were rudely told that since there is no legal requirement they won't wear any mask. We suggested to provide new masks that we always carry with us, to find a compromise - but it was refused and in the discussion that followed, we argued that common sense and caution should prevail over a "legal requirement" but in the end we were told to leave the restaurant and threatened with police ! I can't explain how we felt - but such a behaviour of the owner of this place is in our view not worthy of a classy restaurant, but more on the level of a 3rd tier beer bunker. We could not believe that we would ever come across such an insulting behaviour of a restaurant. This is the lowest level I have ever experience and we can only speculate about why they lost ALL Michelin stars. Clearly that restaurant is not a class restaurant and they completely destroyed my birthday highlight event. At 13:30 we had to drive back hungry the 100 km to home. This restaurant will never see us again, but the good news is, there are many other excellent restaurants in Austria IN and AROUND Vienna - no need to shed a tear for this low level Taubenkobel. Food is important (we can not comment on this one of course) but attitude and customer Service (a word that this restaurant obviously does not know much about anymore) is AS IMPORTANT. If I could I would give zero points, simply because it is better to leave such a place, rather than to contract Covid-19, as it happend to guests also in the Billionaires Club in Sardinia - High level is more than expensive food - it is about decent behaviour and class - both absent in Taubenkobel. As I said - last week we ate in a 2 Star Michelin Restaurant in Vienna and had a delightful experience. There are great alternatives - not worth to think about...

Der schlechte Ruf hat sich für uns leider bestätigt. Obwohl wir bereits von einigen Seiten gehört haben, dass der Taubenkobel unzureichende Qualität, Kreativität unfreundliche Bedienung (sofern du kein VIP bist), und das zu überteuerte Preisen bietet, wollten wir uns unser eigenes Bild darüber machen.

Unsere großen Kinder waren so lieb und haben uns zusätzlich dazu ermuntert und uns einen Gutschein für einen Besuch anlässlich unseres 25. Hochzeitstages geschenkt.

Also reservieren wir für einen Freitag um 14:30 (letzter möglicher Reservierungstermin) einen Tisch, damit wir auf unser Jubiläum anstoßen und das Lokal selbst beurteilen können. Auf dem Weg dorthin kommen wir, für Freitags um diese Zeit nicht ganz ungewöhnlich, im Bereich Vösendorf in einen Verkehrsstau. Wie es sich gehört rufen wir das Restaurant an, um dieses zu informieren, dass wir uns, aufgrund eines Staus um ca. 10 bis 15 Min. verspäten werden. Hier erhalten wir wenige Minuten später den Rückruf, es möge nicht später werden, sonst müssten wir im Bistro des Taubenkogels Platz nehmen. Da wir den Stau in der Zwischenzeit überwunden hatten versicherten wir der Dame am Telefon, dass wir uns bestimmt nicht mehr als 12 Min.verspäten würden.

Glücklicher Weise konnten wir das Restaurant sogar schon um 14:39, also nur 9 Minuten nach unserer Tischreservierung erreichen - doch ….. man teilte uns mit, dass wir nun zu spät wären und nur mehr im Bistro (ein einfacheres 2. Lokal direkt an der Dorfstraße nebst dem Restaurant) Platz nehmen dürfen.

Auf die Frage, ob das nun tatsächlich ernst gemeint wäre, da wir uns lediglich um 9 Min. verspätet haben, wurde vom Empfang gemeint, dass um 14:30 Annahmeschluss in der Küche sei, und wir daher nur mehr im Bistro etwas zu Essen bekommen würden.

Warum wir einen Tisch für 14:30 reservieren konnten, (es ist der letzte zeitlich mögliche Reservierungstermin), wenn um diese Uhrzeit die Küche schließt, wurde uns von Seiten von Frau Eselböck dann süffisant lächelnd mit “man darf halt nicht zu spät kommen“ und “ich verstehe, dass sie verärgert sind, dass sie sich verspätet haben, aber das ist ihre Schuld“ kommentiert.

Da wir weder VIP‘s noch Freunde der Familie sind (auch dass haben wir im Vorfeld von einigen Seiten gehört, dass man sich in diesem Fall wie ein Mensch 2.Klasse behandelt fühlt) hat sich Frau Eselböck natürlich auch nicht erweichen lassen, obwohl wir ein Jubiläum feiern, es ein Geschenk unserer Kinder ist und wir extra eine Stunde zu ihrem Restaurant hinausgefahren sind. Ihr wahres Gesicht und ihre große Leidenschaft zum Geld haben wir schließlich auch noch gesehen, als wir das Geld unserer Kinder für deren Gutscheingeschenk zurück wünschten, da wir zu 100% dieses Lokal never ever jemals wieder betreten werden.

Die Antwort von Frau Eselböck ist nicht schwer zu erahnen …. “das kann ich leider nicht machen, das hat mir mein Steuerberater gesagt …“ eine sehr seltsame Begründung, denn man kann immer einen Gutschein zurückzahlen, sofern man möchte!!!.

Inzwischen haben wir auch von anderen Kunden der Eseböcks gehört, dass der Steuerberater daran Schuld sei, weshalb man bei ihr nicht mit Karte zahlen könne - vielleicht ist es aber doch einfach die G..r keine Gebühren zahlen zu müssen, oder einmal etwas übersehen zu können ….. dies soll keine Unterstellung sein, es ist aber für ein Lokal in dieser Preisklasse und in Zeiten von Geldwäschebekämpfung doch sehr ungewöhnlich.

Ein Betrieb, der nach 2 Jahren COVID, sich nicht nur über zahlende Gäste freut und es sich leisten kann, derart ruppig und desinteressiert mit seinen Gästen umgehen zu können, der scheint von unserer Regierung mit Fördermittel überfördert worden zu sein.

Unser Fazit - Finger weg vom Taubenkogel - der ist keine Reise wert - es gibt aber zum Glück sehr viele Alternativen, auch rund um den Neusiedlersee.

Wir haben uns unsere Stimmung jedenfalls von Frau Eselböck nicht verderben lassen und auf unser Jubiläum, bei einem wunderschönen Sonnenuntergang, mit Blick auf den Neusiedlersee, im “Fritz“...