Eugen21 — Restaurant in Vienna

The poor rating in this review reflects the experience of myself and three travel companions on the evening of 1st January, 2020. It specifically pertains to one staff member at the restaurant, and does not apply to the service quality of the rest of the staff nor the food quality; we did not stay at the restaurant long enough to be able to properly speak to those.

My companions and I had arrived late on 1st Jan, checking into the Andaz hotel. Knowing our food options may be limited at the late hour, we tried our luck at Eugen21, the hotel's restaurant, at 9:45 PM. The man at the front of the restaurant seated us, while requested that we order quickly as the kitchen was to close in 15 minutes. This was of course understandable, given the late hour. However, we were not given menus. After waiting over five minutes, and with the urgency of the kitchen closing in mind, we flagged down a waitress to request a set of menus so that we can quickly order, as requested by the host. The waitress was very courteous and quickly went about gathering a set of menus. This would have been a completely normal and enjoyable night out if it wasn't for what came next.

The host who seated us (whom I later understood to be some sort of assistant manager) was nearby and saw us flag down the waitress. He was apparently unhappy that we did this, and this was clear once he made his way over to our table. He explained that the restaurant would be able to provide better service if we had made reservations, and that the slowness of service was due to the restaurant having twice as many groups walk in (like us) that day rather than making reservations. We were astonished by this frankly unprofessional response, and a companion of mine stood up to speak with him further and explain that we asked for menus as it was his request that we order quickly. The man continued to lecture us on how many staff members (or lack thereof) he had, and therefore we just had to understand and wait. My companion explained in protest that he was being rude, and then in response she was told "you can leave the restaurant now". Of course, at this point we felt so unwelcome that all four of us left.

As in the beginning of this review, I want to make it clear that this review is not about the quality of the wait staff as a whole, nor the qualify of the food, as we were unable to experience either. I also want to make it clear to the restaurant that this review was not written because you were understaffed that night. That is not ideal, but it happens and we get it. This review is specifically about the unprofessional behavior shown by your restaurant's manager which made us feel so unwelcome that we would rather not eat that night than to spend more time there. (Thankfully, we later found the Aurora rooftop bar served some food.)

Your manager could have simply told us kindly at 9:45 PM that the restaurant was overcapacity, and turned us away; we would have very much understood. However, if you chose to seat us, then we would in turn expect the usual service from your restaurant as we are spending usual money to be there. Even if the service was slow, your manager could have simply said "we are a bit under-staffed today, thanks for being patient with us" (or even just said nothing) and we would have again very much understood.

Instead, we were made to feel like your restaurant was doing us a favor by seating us, and then somehow the slow service was our fault (and the faults of other walk-in customers) for not making a reservation that night. I am frankly astonished that someone who lacked such basic customer service skills would be made any sort of manager of a restaurant at a high-end establishment.

As a last point of interest, your manager also mentioned that if we were unhappy, we should feel free to write to the restaurant and let you know you should staff more people. So here we are. Thankfully, there were plenty of other high-quality restaurants around to choose from, and for the remainder of our Vienna stay, we happily...

Alright, pretty mixed review but left with a bad aftertaste. First the good: the bread and butter is amazing. I could just order that the tartare was really good as well. Loved it

These two came fast. The service was alright.

After, I waited for my main for 50+ minutes. The restaurant wasn’t busy the first 20, but then a big tour group from Asia came in and the waiters seemingly exclusively started serving them pre-made meals. Keep in mind the restaurant still wasn’t properly full. It was empty before (20%) and it was around 60-70% after the group came in.

The other independent couple in the table next to us got their mains before ours, despite sitting after us

I had to ask two other waiters 30 minutes in what’s happening, and it seems like only then did they start cooking my main.

My main was a super small “ribeye”, just two pieces. You can’t call this a ribeye steak by any means. My partner wasn’t having so was having a small watermelon carpaccio - just a few VERY small bites of watermelon (I didn’t capture it sorry). It’s ridiculous how little they serve for the price there, not to mention our 50 minute wait.

All in all, the food wasn’t special at all yet still took way, way too long to prepare. It was very frustrating and disappointing to wait 50 minutes for a few bites, especially when you’re on vacation and you have limited time to explore the city.

For this, I give it a well deserved 2 stars. The ambience seems ok, the food wasn’t bad by any means - but some parts are incredibly overpriced and undersized. Pair that with slow service which has no excuse to be slow… and you...

Nun wieder ein Jahr her und ich wollte nochmals hier her kommen um zu sehen was sich so im Restaurant getan hat.

Vorweg sehr viel! Schnitzely wegen dem ich eigentlich hier her gekommen bin, gibt's nur noch auf der Mittagskarte. Schade. Gerade das war letztes mal mein Highlight. Aber halb so schlimm es stehen am Abend sehr viele leckere Gerichte auf der Karte welche allesamt fantastisch klingen.

Wir haben uns für die 4 Gänge vom Chef entschieden. Kein Fehler, gerade wenn es jemanden so geht wie uns und sich nicht entscheiden kann.

Zuerst das amuse bouche. Ein vielversprechender kleiner Gruss aus der Küche vom Stockfisch. Sehr lecker. Auch das Brot ist erwähnenswert. Schön warm und knusprig auf dem Tisch dazu ein fantastischer Aufstrich.

Als erster Gang folgte die Tomate. Klingt einfach, doch ein sehr sommerlicher Teller dazu ein geeister Stracciatellatella-Käse mit Basilikum. Sehr lecker und sich interessant von der Textur her.

Als zweiter Gang folgten die Angnolotti. Über diesen Gang habe ich mich besonders gefreut, weil ich diesen schon auf der Karte entdeckt hatte. Die Angnolotti sind mit Ricotta gefüllt, oben drauf die Ackerbohnen und die Stücklein der Rinderbacke. Hervorragend und trotzdem nicht zu schwer.

Es folgte der Heilbutt. Optisch ein Highlight. Habe ich so ähnlich auch schon mal in einem Sternelokal gesehen. Die Rouladen war sehr schön. Das ganze auf einer Scheibe Kohlrabi ein Schaum von Zitronengras rundherum und ein paar salty fingers (eine essbare Sukulente). Optisch nur ein Hingucker? Nein, sich der Geschmack war hervorragend und das ganze Gericht war stimmig. Perfekter Garpunkt beim Fisch wie auch vom Kohlrabi.

Es folgte ein kleiner Vordessert. Ein feines kleines Sorbet auf Granola mit (ich glaub) Kirsche. Eine tolle Kombination.

Zum Abschluss folgte eine kleine Kombination aus Eis, Mouse und einem Küchlein. Das ganze mit Limette und Szechuanpfeffer. Geschmackssache. Mich persönlich hat dieses Gericht nicht ganz überzeugt. Aber wie gesagt Geschmackssache. Meiner Begleitung hat das ganze gut geschmeckt.

Über alles gesehen hat sich das Eugen 21 gesteigert und traut sich am Abend auch mehr zu. Die Gerichte sind köstlich.

Das Ambiente? Ja ein Hotel Restaurant und am Abend doch ziemlich leer. Schade, dass keine Laufkundschaft vorbei kommt. Das Eugen 21 wäre ein Besuch wert! Und der Service war dieses mal von Anfang bis Ende konsistent gut. Sehr freundliche Kellner, die speisen wurden gut erklärt. Also was wünscht man sich noch mehr?

Das Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis? Hervorragend! Gerade wenn man sich für die 4 Gänge entdcheidet macht man nicht viel falsch. Wo bekommt man heute noch 4 Gänge in dieser tollen Qualität für 79 Euro?

Zu meiner obligatorischen Schlussfrage ob ich wieder hier her kommen würde? Auf jeden Fall! Auch ohne Schnitzel am Abend ist dieses Restaurant ein Besuch wert! Dazu noch eine schöne Flasche österreichischen Wein und der Abend wird perfekt. Auch die Weine sind...