Fischers — Restaurant in London

I had heen here a few weeks ago and it was excellent so I made a booking on Opentable last night for 7:15 to take my partner to try it out. This time however, we were met by an extremely rude host, I didn't catch his name but he had short, maybe ginger hair and a light beard and a feminine voice and was in a foul mood. I greeted him respectfully and said that we had reservations for two people that I booked on opentable, gave him my name three times because for some reason he kept getting it wrong. After finally getting my name right, he says "no booking" even after showing him the email confirmation and the opentable confirmation. Not, sorry I can't find your booking let me see what I can do, just "no booking". Now I don't know what crawled into this guy yesterday but I have never in my time living in London received such a hostile welcome. If I was not with my partner I would have pulled him aside and brought the manager over to educate him on how to speak to customers. Eventually after having to ask the host if he can do anything about a table, he lets out a huge sigh as if I just asked him to move heaven and earth and offers us a table if we can be out by 8:30, to which we accept and proceed to be taken to our table. The food was subpar, the wiener schnitzel was not seasoned and not crispy as it usually is. This experience was night and day compared to just weeks ago, all due to the host treating us horrendously. Will not be returning again, I would recommend retraining this individual to speak to people properly, especially paying customers.

Part 2: A manager contacted me and offered for us to return for dinner on them, I accepted and am updating my review with my second experience.

The experience we had the second time around was like night and day to the negative dinner I had previously. We were greeted by cheery staff who wanted us to be thrre. Albeit the second experience is tainted by thr fact the manager told his staff to treat us like VIP's, in this case I suppose the ends justify the means. The staff were especially kind and helpful to myself and my guest. We enjoyed the starters and the schnitzel was alright, albeit completely unseasoned. The negative experience was handled very well by management who really did want to remedy the situation. 10/10 work by management in reaching out and apologizing and inviting us...

Wiener Wiener Chicken Dinner!

After an unseasonably warm day, we rocked up at Fischer feeling very underdressed in shorts given the grandeur of the lovely décor and fitting of this wonderful restaurant near Marylebone Station. The staff greeted us warmly and had been kind enough to honour a COVID impacted delay of utilising a gift voucher – so far, so very good!

We had a lovely corner table, secluded yet in keeping with the vibe of a Viennese restaurant. You could be forgiven to think that just outside was the Rathaus or Wiener Staatsoper. The service was lovely and our waitress was attentive and gave us plenty of time to consider our options.

Drinks first – Laura got a wonderful glass of red wine served in a separate jug and I spotted Almdudler which I hadn’t seen since being in Austria! What a cracking touch! As soon as we were served our drinks, out came the starters. The chicken broth with pancakes went down a treat, as did the salmon on rye bread. The addition of lemon and capers were a delight.

Nothing felt rushed even though it was a busy Saturday evening and everything was running like clockwork – befitting of the large clock centrepiece in the middle of the restaurant surrounded by the dim lighting. Brightening up our meal further came with the mains. The croquettes were delightful and the Wieners went wonderfully with the potato salad and sauerkraut.

Finally, to finish things off, we managed to get through the rice pudding and Kaiserschmarnn. Both were outstanding, and having discussed with the waitress our love of ‘Nougatschmarnn’ in Vienna, she brought out some dark chocolate sauce to go with it. What a legend!

This is the place to go if you want a taste of Vienna and brought back much nostalgia for us from our time there. We’ll be heading there again to work our way through the menu…and long for the day that Tafelspitz makes...

This had been recommended to us by friends who learned of my husband's love of Schnitzels!

We arrived a little early for our booking and were sat at a lovely corner table with a great view of the whole restaurant. The decor is kitsch and cute, but not for those offended by hunting trophies!

We we brought a basket of rye breads with whipped paprika butter. The breads were delicious but we were mindful of the next course so we're very restrained! For drinks, I had a Grapefruit Fizz mocktail and hubby had a low alcohol pear drink.... I've forgotten the name, but something to do with a monk!

Mains obviously were Schnitzels, we both went for veal. I had the small and hubby the regular and we opted for one with "jus" (gravy) and one with ligonberry sauce. We both added the Holstein option (fried egg, capers and anchovies). Spatzle (noodles), carrots and pickled cucumber were our sides.

The food arrived quickly and was very nicely presented. Schnitzels were thin, crispy and golden, just as they should be. Personally I found the noodles a little bland (I guess noodles generally are!!😄), but hubby assured me they were great. I enjoyed the pickled cucumber which was tangy and crunchy. The carrots were cooked with hazelnuts and made a tasty side. I found the egg / caper / anchovy extra rather distracting from the veal so shoved that over to hubby's plate who was very happy with that! The jus was so full of flavour: rich and creamy whilst the ligonberry sauce added a pleasant sharpness. No puddings as just too full, but they looked amazing... Next time!

Our bill came to £131, so definitely not a cheap eat. The restaurant charges a cover charge per person and 15% service charge.

Really good meal and...