After yet another lock down my first available morning, which was on Christmas Eve, lead me to Chez Bernard for breakfast. Chez Bernard (part of the Motto group) is most of all a hotel but the restaurant on its top floor is open to everyone. Let’s see how this works out once the tourism is back to normal, but on this Christmas everything was still abnormal.
The dining room is huge but still has an intimate feel. The furniture comes in warm pastel colors, the big bar is full of plants and decorative bottles. Overall, one just wants to linger here.
dining room and bar @Chez Bernard
Which is a convenient sentiment since the service, while very friendly, is still on the slow side. The French influence is obvious on the menu and also from the ‘Merci’ of the waitress. One can also overdo it, but whatever. Because on this morning nothing fazed me, I was just happy to be out of the house and get a served breakfast. Besides my usual Espresso I ordered the organic Motto sourdough bread, with an organic poached egg, avocado, bacon, lemon, and Harissa chili flakes.
organic Motto sourdough bread @Chez Bernard
The toasted bread was on the crunchy side and quite hard to cut. I was not much into the avocado cream, but okay. But I also missed the bacon. The small amount of bacon flakes on top were a bit disappointing. It’s a nice enough breakfast though, with a well poached egg, and a big enough portion to leave the breakfast table satisfied.
My friend got the Motto Brioche-Toast with ham, two organic scrambled eggs, red cabbage, Parmesan, mustard cream, and cucumber romaine salad. He was nice enough to let me taste it and the brioche toast was heavenly. Soft and crunchy at the same time, with lots of filling. The cabbage came maybe a bit strong to the front, while I didn’t even notice the Parmesan. But overall it was a lovely breakfast and a really big portion.
Motto Brioche-Toast @Chez Bernard
Even though this was a rather big breakfast already, my friend ordered another one. Since he didn’t get anything to eat until the evening, he wanted to also try ‘Chez Bernard’, the Eggs Florentine version of this restaurant. Going veggie is not his style, so he ordered extra bacon on the side. At least this time the bacon came in form of nice rashers, they looked absolutely scrumptious.
The two organic poached eggs lay on a bed of spinach and swam in a creamy sauce Béarnaise (maybe lacking some tarragon to make it that). I am not sure what happened with the beef greaves from the menu because the topping was roasted bread crumbs. All nice and buttery but not really something you expect on eggs Florentine. But also not the beef greaves.
the Eggs Florentine version @Chez Bernard
Interestingly, despite the missing greaves, my friend still deemed the dish too greasy. Although no wonder, just look at the amount of sauce. I liked the acidity of it and was sure that it would be perfect in combination with the eggs.
The restaurant hasn’t really arrived at its full capacity, there is still some air left for the top. But it’s certainly getting there. The food is interesting and very stylishly served. Overall we had a good impression from the kitchen, although there is room for improvement. The dining room is just right, so cozy and intimate. We stayed for quite a while, something we normally never do. Let’s hope spring is coming soon so that I can visit the terrace on top. Yours, Pollybert
Chez Bernard
1060 Wien, Mariahilfer Straße 71A (entrance Schadekgasse 20)
Tel: +43 1 5814600
Email: restaurant@chezbernard
Mon-Sun: 07:00-15:00; 17:30-22:00 (Sat-Sun: from 08:00 on)
https://www.chezbernard.at/
