360° Ocean Sky is located on top of the ‘Haus des Meeres‘ in Vienna, a huge aquarium which gave a former anti-aircraft gun tower a new lease on life. When we arrived early in the morning there was already a line up to get into the aquarium. But thankfully there is a separate entrance for the restaurant, so we rode up the elevator by ourselves to the top.
360° Ocean Sky is all the way at the top @Haus des Meeres
The place looked still empty at 9am, but two tables were already busy in one corner. We were lead, you guessed it, to the exact same corner, so that everyone crowded together with the rest of 360° Ocean Sky being empty. I’ll never understand what’s the reasoning behind this. But at least I got the seat with the view.
inside looking at the busy corner @360° Ocean Sky
the empty restaurant @360° Ocean Sky
The menu held no surprises, featuring all the Viennese classics including eggs Benedict which already belong on every ‘good breakfast menu’. I opted for the breakfast burger to spruce up my morning routine. According to the menu it included pastrami, cheddar cheese, an omelette, avocado, and tomatoes.
It took about five minutes for the coffee to arrive and not a minute later the breakfast dishes appeared, which made me immediately apprehensive. That a kitchen works so fast is almost unheard of except if everything is ready made and only needs to be assembled. Which is unfortunately the case at 360° Ocean Sky and you can also taste this.
breakfast burger @360° Ocean Sky
Let’s start with the obvious, the burger was too thick and therefore difficult to eat. I know it was meant well to put half an avocado inside, but that doesn’t work when the avocado is unripe and tasteless. The omelette was warm, which I appreciated a lot. The brioche bun was a tad too sweet and overpowered much of the rest. Especially in combination with the unlisted cocktail sauce. The cheese and the pastrami showed up, but made no lasting impression. Overall this was a filling breakfast I could have done without. It lacked seasoning and flavor. Sometimes less is more.
My friend had ordered the eggs Benedict, which included only one organic egg and lay, incomprehensibly, on a slice of rye bread. Maybe the kitchen of 360° Ocean Sky just wanted to put its stamp on something. It would have made more sense to just put the kitchen to use and actually cook something there.
eggs Benedict @360° Ocean Sky
The egg arrived cold, nothing on this plate oozed a smidge warmth. While I do understand that the sauce Hollandaise is prepared, it is normally kept warm. Not so at 360° Ocean Sky, which might even explain the rather pudding like consistency. Maybe now you understand why I was happy that the omelette in the burger was warm. Needless to say, this was not great dish. The sauce was quite acidic, so at least gave some flavor to the composition.
amazing view over Vienna @360° Ocean Sky
360° Ocean Sky lives from its view and in this regard its unbeatable. But I wouldn’t come here just for the view again, there are other places which offer that and better food. Think Chez Bernard and OBEN. I might come up for a coffee or a drink in case I visited the aquarium, though I am currently not even sure about this. Quite a shame if a restaurant doesn’t live up to its location. Yours, Pollybert
360° Ocean Sky
1060 Wien, Fritz-Grünbaum-Platz 1
Tel: +43 1 5871417450
Email: reservierung@oceansky.at
Mon-Sun: 08:30-23:00
https://www.oceansky.at/en
