phil - Café, bookshop & bar — Restaurant in Vienna

When we came to the place around 10:30 am it was absolutely full and we were so glad to Even sit. So one would think that this place must be absolutely amazing if it's so crowded. Except it was not. The first impression was lovely - pretty place filled with books you can read while listening to nice music, eating your toast and drinking your coffee. Well… As we were bearly set down waitress immediately came to us asking What do we want to drink without even letting us to through the menu. When I said that we don't know yet, she didn't say a word and quickly walked away. When she returned and we ordered two toasts two coffees and one lemonade she bearly looked at us, had resting b* face all this time and then, again, she silently and quickly walked away. When the drinks came We did not know What to say… The espresso was extremely sour because of the dirty lever they had in the coffee machine (as a barista I can tell, sorry you guys). And Then came the “chai latté” which was so watery that it tasted nothing like chai latté but like water from puddle… Water from puddle for 5€, thank you guys. When the food arrived it Made us calmer since it was actually Good. Anyways the waitress said absolutely Nothing again nad ran away… again… So at the end of the day thanks to this place we had slightly worse day and diarrhea from the “coffee”…...

The attempt to create a hipster cafe where people can read and drink coffee whilst making it a laptop free zone is a nice idea in general. However when making a place a laptop free zone to “read, daydream, chat and write” then make the reading area Musik free as well. I get that typing is annoying when you’re trying to read but there are some neurodiverse people out there that cannot concentrate when there is noise present, especially when it’s supposed to be a library-like space. I had my book on my laptop and the waiter was already telling me off for that, but he said would make an exception (what is the purpose of a reading area if you are not allowed to read with whatever you have). But then he also complained about bringing my own food. Bringing one’s own food to a cafe when one has not ordered anything in general I understand but when that is not the case one can say it in a more “nice” manner next time and not tell the customer off twice for being rude in their eyes with such an attitude, but then claim to be such an “open” and “free” space. I get that it’s annoying having to deal with customers not adhering to the rules of the establishment, BUT as a service provider it is also your responsibility to account for at least some amount of respect towards...

A gem of place, but the food is a massive letdown. The cafe is a great concept, a proper book café. It was hard to find a place to sit, due to the popularity of the place. When we finally got a place, the service was fairly efficient though a bit messy (3 different cleaners/waiters, and no one around when it came to payment), but ok-ish on a busy day. The food. Oh the food. It was such a dissapointment. We ordered: Rye Ham and Cheese Toast: Unfortunately, the thick rind had not been removed, which led to a scary choking incident from our 14-year old. Maybe the rind isn't removed in Austria before serving on toast? Alpinophile breakfast: The egg could not have been cooked more than a minute. It was raw. Not just runny. Raw. Also no horseradish. Philtoast: Our 12-year old had asked if it was possible to hav e the toast without tomatoes. Voilà - extra tomatoes served. Falafel: Hummus was nice, but the falafels were dryer than my dad jokes. Latte Macchiato: horribly burned milk ruined it.

Why didn't we complain? Well, at this stage no servers were around to address the issues and with so many issues we kind of gave up.

Tip for a visit: The place is cosy as, but stick to black coffee and maybe one...