Breakfast in Viennese coffeehouses is usually a drab affair. Which makes our visit to Café Frauenhuber so interesting. not only do they offer Eggs Benedict, but my friend deemed them the best he ever had in Vienna. But let’s start at the beginning.
There is no need for a reservation. The coffeehouse is big enough and at 9am only a couple of tables are occupied. But there are already people leaving again. Definitely a place for early birds. I settled on a table next to the window (not as drafty as at La Mercerie),ordered coffee, and waited for my friend.
the first guests had already left @Café Frauenhuber
The waiter was the perfect Viennese coffeehouse waiter specimen, with the charm and necessary grumpiness one expects from them. My coffee arrived within minutes and included a glass of water and a bite-size package Mannerschnitten.
Verlängerter @Café Frauenhuber
When my friend arrived he ordered the aforementioned Eggs Benedict while I got myself mayonnaise egg. Not exactly a typical breakfast dish, okay, so not all actually. But something I haven’t eaten in forever since it is a classic ’80s afternoon snack. funnily enough I associate with the mayonnaise egg the snack counter at the movies. It was always displayed at my local cinema and as a child I never ate it. Not really sure why I needed it on that morning, but the urge was there.
mayonnaise egg @Café Frauenhuber
Basically it consisted of a Russian salad, topped with a hard-boiled egg, extra mayo, two slices of ham, and garnish. A bread roll was served on the side. I just loved it. Maybe not the breakfast I envisioned myself to eat that morning, but it was just great. Not too heavy from the mayonnaise, perfectly seasoned, right amount of salad, ham, and egg. What’s not to like?
Even though I loved my dish I looked a little bit enviously at the Eggs Benedict. The roasted ham emitted a lovely smell and my friend raved about it after two bites. Thankfully he let me taste it so that i could make my own judgement about the dish. There was only one egg in these Eggs Benedict and it was not poached, but soft-boiled. Roasted ham lay on top of a thick slice of buttery brioche, then the egg, then the sauce Hollandaise, then some greens.
eggs Benedict @Café Frauenhuber
The brioche looked a bit thick but turned out to be just the perfect height for the amount of ham, sauce, and egg to soak up all the good stuff. Turns out roasting the ham before does make a great difference. Really very tasty eggs Benedict!
We had a very pleasant morning at Café Frauenhuber and its breakfast certainly convinced me to take this place on my rotation list for breakfast places. Certainly a wonderful surprise. If you want to have the Viennese coffeehouse experience with great breakfast, Café Frauenhuber is the real deal. Yours, Pollybert
Cafe Frauenhuber
1010 Wien, Himmelpfortgasse 6
Tel: +43 1 5125353
Email: office@cafefrauenhuber.at
Mon–Sat: 08:00–20:00
https://www.cafefrauenhuber.at/index.php/en/
