Sweet Treats and Eating in Vienna

Sacher Torte at Cafe Sacher, Vienna, Austria

Coffee and cake is essential in a Viennese experience and Sacher Torte (one of the most famous Viennese desserts) was invented by an Austrian. So we tried to hit two birds with one stone and had coffee and cake at Café Sacher. Many have said that the quality of Café Sacher’s Sacher Torte has deteriorated. Also, it was quite expensive. But, I have never met a cake I didn’t like so that did not stop us from giving this a try. The Sacher Torte was made up of two layers of cake with apricot jam in the middle and covered with chocolate icing. It was not very moist, but I also did not find it as dry as others have declared. The dollop of whipped cream was needed, though, and the cake was perfect with Verlängerter (Café Americano).

We also got some chocolate from Demel, said to be the Empress Sisi’s favourite chocolate shop. Sadly, my hips do not agree with only subsisting on cakes and Viennoiseries. So, here are other local dishes we had:

• Schnitzel (veal or chicken, flattened and deep fried)—we had a couple of schnitzel meals. One from a chain, Wienerwald which not bad for a fast food. We had another in Lubella in Kärntner Straße which was just ok. Easy enough to make or find somewhere else as this is available in most restaurants there.

Wiener Schnitzel in Vienna, Austria

• Leberkas--like a bologna sausage in a loaf. They slice it for you and it is sold by weight. We had some from Leberkas Pepi. This one was surprisingly good. Service was fast and it was a great value. I will have to look for this back home!

Leberkas from Leberkas Pepi, Vienna, Austria

Ok now back to sweet treats:

• Mozart balls (marzipan balls, also with pistachio and nougat, covered in chocolate)! I really liked these treats which we got from Salzburg! Of course, this can be bought in Vienna and even in Prague—we even saw this in the Prague airport.

Mozart balls from Salzburg, Austria

• The Neapolitan wafers (from Manner) were also yummy. It was hard to stop eating these bite-sized, crunchy wafers layered with a creamy chocolate and hazelnut spread. 

I realized that I had more of the goodies than actual meals, even if we already chose to skip the apple strudel. But hey, we were on vacation so indulge we did!