Steirereck — Restaurant in Vienna

A shockingly bad experience that I would not have expected at any fine dining restaurant, let alone one with 3 Michelin stars. The food was mediocre and bland - only the amuse bouche, breads, and mignardises stood out. The cheese selection was good as well. The rest of the food was completely forgettable, the atmosphere was unpleasant, and the service was amateurish.

There was no air conditioning in our section and it was hot, about 85/29 degrees outside when we arrived. We understand that the usage of AC is more limited in Europe, but after 30 minutes, I had to dash off to the bathroom and take off my undershirt in an effort to cool down - not something I should need to do at a restaurant of this level.

With no AC, the floor to ceiling windows were open, including right next to our table. The restaurant is in a park, resulting in a constant stream of insects. There was almost no point in our meal that at least one bug wasn't on our table. Multiple ended up in our butter; I had to scoop them out. At the presentation of our second course, a bug landed on my food - the server had to stop the explanation abruptly and take the dish back to be remade (leaving my wife’s dish on the table, screwing up the timing for that course.) The situation peaked with the arrival of a massive wasp hovering at the ceiling. Imagine trying to enjoy your dainty sunflower course while constantly looking over your shoulder to see whether you're about to get stung. The staff acted as if the wasp wasn't even there despite multiple tables reacting to it. I had to let a server know. He dealt with it by bringing out a rolled up newspaper and attempting to swat it, causing us to have to get up from our table multiple times and stand awkwardly at the side of the dining room. After a few failed attempts, we sat back down, only to have another attempt happen a minute later. This time he knocked it down onto our table. We bolted again, as the wasp was still alive and angry now. At no point did anyone come over to apologize or offer us anything, we were ignored by all the passing staff. The wasp was finally caught and removed, and the head waiter pointed us to our table, with our half eaten food, as if to say “voila! you can resume eating” The whole thing felt absurd. They seemed completely unprepared for this situation despite the fact that they had their windows open on a warm day, with bright lights on.

I asked to be moved to a different table, which they grudgingly did. There was no word of acknowledgement of the incident, they simply carried on service like nothing had happened. At nearly any restaurant, a manager would have at least given a word of apology and made some gesture to improve the situation. This is basic hospitality, but this 3-star restaurant could not be bothered. I explained to a server that we were not happy about this, and he simply said “I'm so sorry” and hurried off.

The service continued to be lackluster. My knife was dull and could not cut through the rib meat course. I asked a server for one with a serrated edge and she was confused by the request and told me that all their knives are the same. This was news to my wife, who was holding a serrated edge knife at the moment. We pointed this out, and the server inexplicably exchanged both of our knives for a pair of somewhat less dull but still not serrated knives. The time between the courses began to get longer as the staff started to avoid us (while also fawning over the table next to us.) The 7 courses took nearly 4 hours - our reservation was at 8:30 and we left well after midnight.

At the very end, they brought us an extra dessert by way of apology, and I can't help but wonder why they would wait until then, instead of doing something to salvage the experience immediately. You shouldn't have to sit for hours feeling like you've thrown away your €650 only to get a cursory acknowledgement at the end. We walked away feeling generally upset about the whole thing. Do not spend your money here. Vienna is a city with so many fantastic places to eat; this isn't...

@lydieats 💕 There are several ways to lunch at Steirereck. Choose from the 4-7 course options or order a la carte! My rec is the 5 course - it’s the most flexible & you can pick dishes to curate your own experience 🤭 Whatever you decide, every meal (there’s a cover charge fyi) starts with Andreas, or Brot-Andi, explaining all the loaves (I counted 23) he has for the day. They are baked fresh daily with more variety than you can consume. You have your classic variations of baguettes, sourdoughs (SO GOOD), and ciabatta followed by some seeded ones like poppyseed and honey oat. For something more exciting, try the blood sausage (pretty good), chorizo, or parmesan!

For the first course, the signature beeswax char is a must! Fish is super delicate (almost too mild) with the char caviar adding a bit of brine. Unique texture that’s both raw & cooked? Very special esp with the table side performance 👏 We also tried the kohlrabi “bacon.” The name is misleading imo and it’s a light, slightly sweet dish with thin refreshing layers of kohlrabi & peach.

The second course is a delicate round and it best represents Steirereck. First the porcini mushrooms with summer squash!! I LOVE this 💯 Roasted spruce-glazed mushroom with steamed squash, fava beans, & sautéed veggies inside each nook covered by petals of lemon preserved squash. A dish that encapsulates summer 🫧 The fried courgette flower is just as exciting, served on top of tomato lentils and smoked eel. It has the crunch & acidity, paired with a very savory protein.

The third course is the best!! 🫶 Grilled Amur carp is an absolute delight with this amazing crispy skin and perfectly seasoned flesh. The team rly knows how to style fish. It’s delicious with the fermented radish velouté & its fatty richness is enhanced by the sour ground cherries and kohlrabi cubes. It’s so full of depth yet remains light & delicate 😌 The lamb is the perfect red meat option. I’m so impressed by the quality of this meat - tastes like a very happy lamb. It was SO juicy and didn’t have the gamey flavor, could honestly pass as steak.

The cheese trolley, equally as epic as the bread trolley!! There’s the layer that you SEE and a hidden compartment that you SMELL 😏 We don’t rly know cheese so our server curated two plates of four different types. A variety of soft, hard, mild, and stinky, served with roasted pumpkin seeds & apricot jam!

For dessert, highly recommend the heart cherries. Gorgeous rose marinated cherry slices on top of carmelized brioche with vanilla milk and poppy seed ice cream (served on ice)!! Kinda overwhelming with too much happening but each individual piece tasted amazing. Esp the brioche 💯 The strawberry dish is quite simple in contrast so doesn’t have the extra sparkle - marinated fruit, green almond, lemon yogurt ice cream with a side of semolina dumplings and meringue.

To end the 3-hour lunch, berry-themed petit fours! Blackberry mousse, beze with blueberry sorbet, pomegranate rose granita, frozen raspberries, white chocolate covered gooseberry ice cream, mirabella plum, and a beautiful heart cherry 🍒 It’s so on brand with summer and I applaud the perfectly tart & pink finale.

A lot can be said about the experience beyond the food. They bring out little descriptive cards for every dish, adding a bit of cultural context. The extra effort to not only deliver good food but also share culture is much appreciated! Also love that their building, located in Statdpark, incorporates its surrounding greenery with its reflective mirror exterior. During the summer, the windows remain open to let in a warm breeze 🌬️ Very modern & refined without being pretentious! Service is similar in that it’s structured yet warm, with staff adding personality to the script. We loved our time here & would love to go back!

💕 5 Course Lunch €175* 💕 Cover Charge €9.50 💕...

This restaurant is a tourist trap, and it's embarrassing to admit that we got trapped. Perhaps there was a time when this restaurant was a true Michelin fine dining experience, and that has become a memory only after receiving much attention from their undeserving rise to #14 on the top #50 restaurants in the world. We have had several Michelin starred dining experiences across Europe and North America, and we found Restaurant Steirereck to be an abomination. In hindsight, we should have left upon our arrival, after discovering we were seated between a 12-top table with four yelling, running children and a family taking constant flash photos of everything in the restaurant. Even the thought of unruly children or flash photography in a fine dining restaurant is preposterous. We each chose the 6 course tasting menu for 149 Euro per person, and a bottle of our favorite cava for 96 Euro. The amuse-bouches were fine - of the six, three were excellent. The wait staff was friendly and attentive, at least for the first half of the meal, and the wine was excellent. However, the wait staff needed to guide their misbehaving guests towards better manners. Our first course was the reinenke and I think it was good, but I mostly remember yelling children running around and a tourist coming to our table to photograph the bread cart as we were choosing our breads. We expressed annoyance to two members of our staff about the out-of-control children and they just laughed it off. The next two courses were not memorable, save for the tomatoes and clams which was surprisingly wonderful and complex. Most of the dishes were lacking complexity and balance in their flavor profile.

The "main" course is where it got awful. We had both the kidney and the venison and they were both DISGUSTING. My partner was barely able to swallow his bite of the kidney and the venison was nearly raw. We are adventurous eaters and typically enjoy organ meats, and I prefer my steaks on the rare side of medium-rare. These dishes, however, were inedible. In a normal fine dining restaurant, this would have been corrected. The venison would have been returned to the grill, and the kidney replaced by something less horrific. Not at Restaurant Steirereck, because they do not care if their guests are happy, because their guests are all tourists who won't return anyway. It's appalling that a 5 star restaurant would take away two main courses absent two bites, and make absolutely no effort to ensure the guest is satisfied. When the bill came, one of our bottles of wine was missing, and as we wondered if they comped it without comment to apologize for the children and inedible courses, they returned with an updated bill including our second bottle of wine and other charges they'd left off earlier.

As this was a "five star" restaurant and it was closing time on a Wednesday, we wished not to make a scene and request to talk to the manager, but in hindsight, we got ripped off by the con artist that is Restaurant Steirereck. We are fortunate to be in a position where overpaying for a subpar meal will not make or break our financial state, but I do feel for the visitors who expected a one-in-a-lifetime lavish five star dining treat. This "14th best restaurant in the world" is a tourist trap for tourists with expendable income and nothing more. Thanks for making our last meal in Vienna memorable for being so disgusting...