krypt. — Restaurant in Vienna

If you manage to actually find this place... you are in for a treat.

Look for a sunken door off the street, somehow brightly lit and guarded by a large man most of the time. Pass whatever regulations he has for you and you're in, except, you must first take a left and check your jacket. This seems to be quite common in Austria as this was the third place I had been to that demanded I check a small leather jacket for at least 1 Euro, even though I had not coins. I had to leave 5 Euro the smallest note I had.

Following that, venture down a couple of flights of stairs to what could only be called a cocktail oasis.

Great decor, smooth tunes and a tight little cocktail list is what greets you. I only hope you can find a seat. I went on a Wednesday, close to opening, only to find it standing room only.

Cocktails were on point, and for someone that usually gets them down, this one cocktail, 'Smokey Pear' made me slow down and really appreciate the delicate nuances that this drink delivered.

As busy as it was, the service was ok. I found it strange that the person that took my order also made my cocktail, but at the end of the day, when I gave a compliment on the quality of the drink, my server/bar tender walked away with a big grin.

Would definitely return, for me, these were the top...

I am genuinely not a horrible reviewer and don’t often leave negative feedback. But having gone out of my way to book a table here, in December 2023 for a special trip with my partner in February 2024 by emailing well in advance for a table I was shocked when we arrived and were stuck, standing, on a table in the corridor.

We at least wanted to stick it out for a drink. However the bar staff refused to serve my boyfriend at the bar after he stood there for 10 mins and told us it was table service. We flagged someone down 5 minutes later and placed an order after they very confusedly told us to order at the bar. We had to explain we tried and got told no. The guy took our order.

25 minutes later and we still hadn’t had our drinks. 40 minutes all told, standing in a bloody corridor attempting to get a drink. After the clock hit the 40 minute mark then we left. Complete let down.

The women’s toilets were also really dirty and the sink was blocked.

Significantly, prior to this we had a great table at Ulrich where we had a meal and lush drinks. Honestly should have stayed and saved ourselves the 30 minute walk.

I think this place buys its own hype too much. It shouldn’t have been that hard to sort out a reservation and table and actually give us drinks so we could...

Its a really cool place, tucked away out of sight. Shame literally every other aspect of it is a complete letdown

Cocktails are combinations of incredibly strong spirits, which does seem to be common in Austria. To summarise they taste dreadful. I’ll not get further into that. The alternatives are poor at best. 100ml measures of wine for 7-9€ or two choices of bottled beers. What is the point?

They seem to ‘sometimes’ do food if they can be bothered? What is that? Really unprofessional, either do it or don’t.

You are looked at funny and often turned away if you try to order at the bar but its massively unclear as you will wait upwards of 15-20 minutes to be served when you sit down as there seems to be only one waiter at any time, so its an effort to try and flag him down if you spot him at all. Not to mention it’s really overpriced when you consider all this and the fact the toilets smell like something out of a car park is disgusting really.

Looks good but...