Breakfast at Stadtcafe

I feel like haven’t been out for breakfast in a while so when my friend Evi suggested a new place I was all for it. The Stadtcafe is located in the heart of Vienna overlooking the Freyung and a cobblestone street.
Saturday was the perfect day for it, sunny but cold. So what better to do than go for coffee and some great food.

The place itself looked comfortable and inviting and the tapestry behind Evi fit with the “City” theme.

Too bad that the food was so disappointing. But let’s start from the beginning. The menu offered amongst other things four different breakfast combos, Vienna, New York, Mediterranean and London. Why they didn’t call the third one after a city like Istanbul or Beirut I really don’t know. But the inconsistencies didn’t stop there.

We ordered the Mediterranean and New York combo and from the looks at first were quite pleased. The combos by the way did not include the coffee which made it rather pricey.

The Mediterranean came with the wrong bread, some sort of sandwich instead of pita or Turkish bread. It didn’t work at all and I offered Evi half of my bagel, but honestly this one was not better either. The rice and lentil salad tasted ok, the peperonata was not marinated enough and too cold; the cheese was not great, way too hard and more like supermarket quality, the hummus was self-made I think and tasted good.

The artichoke was stuffed with the same cream-cheese/herb combo that was smeared on my salmon bagel and had no added value. Neither for the artichoke nor the bagel. And last but not least the Greek yoghurt with the honey walnuts was not Greek at all. Not thick and tasty enough. Also the walnuts were added separately and did not come from the same pot as the honey.

My New York combo didn’t fare any better. The scrambled eggs tasted fine but I hate it when they leak on my plate. Always a sign for me that too much milk or mineral water was added to the eggs. The hash brownies (on the bottom right if you don’t recognize them) were grey inside and overall too big. I prefer them flatter and with more crunchiness. The bagel had a very doughy consistency which might not be their fault at all.

To be honest I haven’t tasted a good bagel since Montreal. The best ones came from the Fairmount Bagel shop and nothing here comes close to it. So that’s the one thing I won’t reproach them for. But the salmon on top which tasted just of fat and salt was their doing. Also to sell a cheesecake as New York cheesecake, it must be made with cream cheese and not with curd. A difference you can taste!

And the yoghurt with the home-made granola was ok but also nothing to rave home about. The yoghurt was actually the same as the Greek yoghurt from Evi. So much for the Greek part.

I later learned that the place is from the same owners as Freiraum which should have told me everything. A place I went for breakfast once and never came back, same as Aumann, Rochus and Rochus 1090. They all share the same concept of the divided breakfast combos. Lots of stuff on the plate but nothing tasty. Actually, there is a name for it, it’s called system catering.

So if you are in the area and look for a breakfast spot, try to avoid it. If you can’t, just go for coffee.
Yours, Pollybert