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European Engagement: Vienna and Dinner at Steirereck

ByTerence Chan
a man holding a microphone in a park

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After a short 45 minute plane ride from Prague we landed in Vienna and headed straight to the hotel.  I had used points to book a room at the Hilton Vienna Plaza.  I had thought about going for either the Hotel Imperial or Hotel Bristol using SPG points, but decided to hold off since I wanted to save them up for a redemption.  Overall, we weren’t too impressed with the Hilton Vienna Plaza.  The hotel is definitely a bit older, and could use a facelift.  Our room also faced the busy street, and because the building is older the windows weren’t noise-proof and let in quite a bit of sound.  The location isn’t great either, and while it’s walkable to the main attractions, ends up being about a 30 minute walk each way.  I probably wouldn’t stay at this hotel again if we went back to Vienna.

Which may not be a problem, since I’m not sure if we’ll be back anytime soon.  Overall, I wasn’t a huge fan of Vienna.  I didn’t really get the classical charm of the city, but maybe it’s just me since many people do enjoy it here.  We had been debating between Vienna or Budapest when planning the trip, and if we could do it all over again we may have chosen differently.

But as I mentioned before, our main hobbies are travel and food, and whenever we travel we’ll go out of our way to try one of the World’s 50 Best restaurants if possible.  And as luck would have it, #11 happened to be in Vienna.  Our dinner at Steirereck was just out of this world.  The whole ambiance and level of service was truly amazing.  The food, and in particular the presentation of the food, was really special.  In particular, the bread and cheese carts each had enough choices to feed a small army, and the presentation of the desserts as jewelry was very unique.  The restaurant also overlooks the nearby lake, and made for an enjoyable walk home afterwards.

a man standing in a park
walking to steirereck
a white ceiling with flowers on it
dining room ceiling
a close-up of a table
amouse bouche
a large pile of bread
bread cart
a plate of food on a table
a plate of food on a tablea menu on a table
a plate of food on a tablea close-up of a menu
a menu on a tablea plate of food with a piece of fish and broccoli
a menu on a tablea plate of food on a table
a plate of food on a tablea close-up of a menu
a menu on a tablea piece of meat with a sauce on top
a plate of food with strawberries and marshmallows
a plate of food on a table
a display case with food on it
a mannequin with a bow on it
a group of fruit on a tray

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