Restaurant Café Derbl — Restaurant in Hallstatt

This is the cutest restaurant in town! Unfortunately the charm really ends there. It is possible that I just had a bad experience because I didn't have a big enough sample of their dishes to really know the overall quality of the restaurant. I ordered a Greek salad, I know not typical, which was ok, but drowned, I mean totally drowned, in dressing. There was at least 2cm, over half an inch, of dressing at the bottom of the plate. Next I ordered a steak tartar, I'm a huge fan of steak tartar and I heard Austria is famous for it. It came totally ground to a pulp. Not sure if that's just how they make it in Austria but I much prefer my steak tartar hand sliced into little cubes. I don't want to eat raw meat loaf. And then equally disappointing was the flavor. Just bland overall. My last complaint was the service. I really miss servers working for my tip. It really shows when you consistently receive better service in a place like Chilies or TGI Fridays than you do in tourist restaurants like this one. The waitress walked barefoot all over the seat cushions on the booths up against the walls to open the windows. When I asked for the check she disappeared. For over 10 min. I was sitting by myself and I don't appreciate lingering after I finish eating as I have no...

1 star – Visit on July 27 (Late Afternoon)

The service was friendly and attentive – unfortunately, that was the only positive part of our visit. The food was an absolute disappointment and by far the worst I’ve ever had in Austria.

Everything tasted as if it had been sitting under a heat lamp for hours – overcooked, soggy, and full of artificial flavor. I am very sensitive to MSG, which seemed to be used excessively here. I experienced strong physical reactions for hours afterward, even disturbing my sleep.

In the kitchen, people were joking around and seemed completely unprofessional. Judging by their appearance and language, they were clearly not Austrian – more likely untrained helpers from abroad with no real cooking skills or understanding of Austrian cuisine.

In all my years of traveling through Austria – even at highway rest stops – I’ve never had such a poor culinary experience. Café Dell in Hallstatt, of all places, set a new low in standards.

Definitely not...

Don't ruin your lovely day at Hallsatt

Our friend's Mum had a complaint about the fish soup (there was no fish) she was quiet and polite about it.

When the waitress went to get the manager (a balding old man) he started to berate my friend's mum in an extremely rude and short tone, publicly in-front of the entire restaurant.

Then, to make matters worse, the chef (blonde pony tail) came out of the restaurant and was outright aggressive, raising his voice, brandishing his arms. (For context, my friends mum is a small lady and was sat down the entire time).

Unfortunately it was difficult to intervene as this was all in German and I don't speak German but regardless of the words spoken. The behaviour of the staff here was absolutely diabolical.

The rest of the food was mediocre

Do yourself a favour and enjoy the beautiful area of Hallstatt, have some ice cream from Muk´s Schmankerl, visit the salt mines and avoid this awful Tourist trap unless you're a fan of public...