Haas & Haas is an institution when it comes to tea in Vienna. Situated right behind St. Stephen’s Cathedral, it is not only a tea shop, but also a tea room with a pretty nice courtyard where you can relax.
terrace and tea shop @Haas & Haas
The tea room has rather tight seating, with the tables so close together that you can only hope the place is not full when you are there.
tea room @Haas & Haas
The courtyard of Haas & Haas has a lot more charm and looks way less dated than the tea room. The courtyard garden might also make for a nice place to sit during summer when it is really hot in the city.
courtyard @Haas & Haas
It felt a bit cool on this Saturday morning, so we stayed inside, looking at the rather drab interior, and ordered our breakfast. Since tea is their main business, I ordered a pot of breakfast tea instead of my usual Americano and was quite astonished when it arrived.
pot of tea @Haas & Haas
Brown liquid with nary a loose tea leaf in sight, much less a tea bag. From a place that prides itself on the highest quality of tea, I expected more. I think I have never been served a cup or pot of tea without the tea leaves somewhere in the vicinity. That was not really inspiring confidence in what was to come next.
My friend had ordered the English breakfast with two fried eggs, fried bacon, a small sausage, a grilled tomato and pepper, baked beans, toast and butter, as well as a second course consisting of a scone, mascarpone cream and strawberry jam. Bad news first, there is no picture of the scone. But it came warm and the mascarpone did the trick.
English breakfast @Haas & Haas
He was more than happy with his breakfast. I guess a little more color on the bacon would have been nice, and the pepper also lacked some grill marks, but overall this was quite fine.
I, on the other hand, was a bit more adventurous and ordered a Japanese breakfast with miso soup, a bowl of rice, a piece of roasted salmon and a Japanese omelette made with organic eggs. What arrived didn’t really look inviting.
Japanese breakfast @Haas & Haas
Besides the unappealing look, I started right away with the soup, as there is nothing better than a hot soup in the morning. The soup, though, was sour. It was clearly old and had gone bad. When I sent it back, the waiter tried to explain to me how it was cooked. Sorry, but I do know what miso soup is and how it should taste, and this was not it!
The seaweed was far too large, and there was so much soy sauce for so little fish. It might have even taken a lap in it. The omelet had been in the pan for too long and was on the dry side. All in all, this was rather disgusting. I think the waiter noticed it as well, because the Japanese breakfast was missing from our bill.
For what Haas & Haas represents and the prices they charge, this was a really disappointing breakfast. I am not sure if their afternoon tea is any better. I, for one, will only be back to the tea shop. But not the tea room! Yours, Pollybert
Haas & Haas
1010 Wien, Stephansplatz 4
Tel: +43 1 5129770
Email: stephansplatz@haas-haas.at
Mon-Sat: 08:00-20:00, Sun: 09:00-18:00
https://haas-haas.at/pages/teehaus
