It has been a while that I have started my weekend with a visit at Café Frauenhuber, which is the oldest coffee house in Vienna. Arriving in front of it on a rainy Saturday morning it didn’t quite look so old though.
Café Frauenhuber @Vienna
The vaulted roof insides spoke of an older age, at least of the building, but the coffeehouse opened its doors in 1824. At 9am Café Frauenhuber had already some customers, but when you have a reservation your table already awaits you decked out in a clean white cloth.
inside @Café Frauenhuber
We settled into a window nook on plush red benches, which sagged a bit. As they should in a coffeehouse this old. The breakfast menu had changed since our last visit, but my friend has found its love for eggs Benedict and kind of sticks to it when this dish is available. According to the menu two soft boiled eggs would sit on butter brioche toast with ham, sauce Hollandaise, and cress.
eggs Benedict @Café Frauenhuber
The eggs were nicely boiled and the yolk was still soft enough. The sauce Hollandaise though came from Thomy or a some similar kind of ready-made product. The whole thing was unfortunately not even warm and the pea shoots overwhelmed with their distinct taste. In my opinion the sauce ruined everything though. Store bought sauce Hollandaise is something I use at home when I am too lacy to make it from scratch. But that’s not something I want to eat in a restaurant where there’s supposedly a chef behind the stove.
I got lucky that morning, because I wasn’t up for a large breakfast and ordered two soft boiled eggs served in a glass and combined it with a ‘Schnelles Frühstück’ (quick breakfast). My eggs were perfect and had a runny yolk. The roll had already been cut in the middle, what a treat. I ate half of the roll with butter and the eggs and enjoyed the second half with apricot jam. This quintessential Viennese breakfast always makes me happy. Perfect eggs, crusty roll with a squishy inside, and cold butter. There’s nothing better than this.
two soft boiled eggs and a ‘Schnelles Frühstück’ @Café Frauenhuber
Overall I was disappointed though that Café Frauenhuber had changed its breakfast menu and with it apparently its chef. There was such a marked difference to the eggs Benedict from before. Service was a bit slower as well as the waiter was on its own, but he brought the typical Viennese charm to the table. If you are looking for nothing fancy, but a rather a local experience, you still can’t go wrong at the Café Frauenhuber. Stick to the simple dishes and Café Frauenhuber delivers. Yours, Pollybert
Cafe Frauenhuber
1010 Wien, Himmelpfortgasse 6
Tel: +43 1 5125353
Email: office@cafefrauenhuber.at
Mon–Sat: 08:00–20:00, Sun: 10:00-20:00
https://www.cafefrauenhuber.at/index.php/en/
