Labstelle — Restaurant in Vienna

The food was the star of our visit. Excellent value lunch menu with a wide choice of dishes. The smoked fish soup was delicious, the homemade bread outstanding. Fried chicken was a nice twist on a classic schnitzel and the pork two ways was stunning.

Unfortunately, a star is removed for the rather inconsistent service. When at the table, the staff were excellent, but we had a number of issues that added up. We were left waiting with food menus but no wine list for about 10 minutes after we arrived - not even any water was offered. The wine menu was presented on an iPad which I assume was so that it would be kept up to date, but when we ordered two glasses from it, the waiter returned to say neither was available. He brought replacements, and said they were both similar to the ones we ordered, and when presenting the rose he said it was the same price - perhaps it was naive of me to assume the same about the white wine, which turned out to be more expensive when the bill came. Our starters arrived and it was not what we ordered - this was quickly rectified after a bit of back and forwards, and could be put down to miscommunication, but given the waiter wrote nothing down while we ordered, and did not read back what we had asked for, it is perhaps not surprising it happened. Due to the delay we ordered extra bread with our soup, which never arrived.

These were maybe little things but I hope that the restaurant can look to tighten service up a bit - with the food as good as it was we definitely will be visiting again.

Edit - 30.05.22 - 5 stars restored! We did visit again, this time for lunch with my parents while they visited us. I'm pleased to say the service was outstanding this time (apart from a bit of a wait at the end to be able to find someone with whom to request the bill). The food was also excellent once again. A bill of about 140 Euros for 2 courses each, bread and butter, one coffee, a good bottle of wine and a tip, seemed very reasonable. The meal was again surprisingly filling and everyone enjoyed every aspect of each dish. We can't...

In general I would like to give a 4.5-star to this place, because even though most of the dishes were outstanding, there was still one dish that was a bit plain, and we had some misunderstanding with the service. The homemade sourdough bread was warm when it was served, with crispy outer layer and super soft inside. The lentil hummus was vegan and amazingly it tasted like almost meat sauce. The beef tartar was chopped instead of minced, which was to my preference. The texture of the small dices of beef mixed very well with the creamy sauce, and the various toppings offered a refreshing taste for the heaviness of the meat. The steak was in perfect pink color and very tender (except the tendons), and the side potato buns were warm and spreading the whole table with freshly baked aroma. The green tea ice was a must try as a dessert. After a heavy meal it was exactly what we were looking for. The green apple and pickled cucumber were so crunch and juicy, with a hint of creamy coconut flakes. The dish that was a bit plain to my taste was the fish and shrimp sashimi, somehow I felt that the peppers and strawberries sauce didn’t match with each other, and the peppers couldn’t bring out the flavors of the seafood. Their cocktails were not bad either. As for the service, when the bread and rice rolls were served, we asked if they were complimentary, and the waiter said yes. However when we received the bill, the bread was still charged per person (the table next to us got double the portion of the bread and we wonder if they were paying double the price). Also there’s one thing that I really don’t appreciate about Vienna, all the restaurants we went to for dinner, including this one, asked us if we want to give tips when we...

I’ve never had an experience like this in my life. We entered through what used to be the main entrance, and the staff yelled at us to go to the other side. There were three adults and two small children, and the waiter gave us a dirty look because of the kids. I told him about three times that we were a party of five, and he seated us at a table with only two utensils! I looked at him in disbelief. The menu had only six options, one of which was gazpacho with pesto! Help! What is that? If you’re going to use ingredients from Italian cuisine ( our cuisine our culture ) at least use them properly!

Then I politely asked if they had anything for the children to eat, and he looked at me in disgust and shouted a disrespectful “NO.” I got up and left! This restaurant is pathetic, putting on a Michelin sticker ( of 2018 ) and some slow food when it’s nothing of the sort! The staff was extremely rude, and places like this should be shut down! People who have no respect for children, animals, and the elderly are unacceptable, and to the waiter, if you’re reading this, you’re worth nothing.DOESNT...