Cheap and cheerful eating in Vienna

Let's have a little look at the local, albeit not genuine, Viennese cuisine. By this we mean from the point of view of a student, whose grant isn't even enough to pay the monthly rent of the apartment. This list is based on our experience to date and we hope to fatten you (said no better way) from here to the end of our stay. At the end of each description we will make an assessment based on four factors: food, price, atmosphere and staff, scoring each with 0 (bad), 1 (neutral) or 2 (good). Finally we will add up the points and divide between two to give a final note on 4 (totally arbitrary system invented a while ago). Let's begin!

1. Pizzeria Mafiosi

Here we celebrated the end of each of our rotations in the hospital, which became a sort of tradition. If I remember correctly, it was the first restaurant we tried in Vienna, thanks in large to good advertisement. To get to Mafiosi you have to get off at Westbahnhof and leave the underground via the Mariahilferstraße exit. There, get on one of the two or three trams that pass through Kranzgasse, which all go to your destination. From this point you only have to walk about 5 minutes.

With its name, it has to be an Italian restaurant and nothing else. The décor could transport you to a western tavern or even the hold of a ship. The background music is as varied as you can imagine, although one day they put on a short Italian playlist. The staff are mostly of foreign origin and are not very talkative in general. The bathroom (something I personally value) is the tiniest we have tried in our life. As you sit on the toilet, your knees touch the door. So, gentlemen, if you exceed the average size of a Caucasian human, you're going to have to pee standing up. The place isn't luxurious but cosy, furthermore it's not totally clean, but not dirty either (just once, the mouth of a bottle came full of dust, but it's nothing a good napkin can not fix). What makes this pizza place so special is its colossal pizzas. For a price between 3, 20 euros (Margarita) and 5, 60 euros you can enjoy a juicy and abundant mass that it bigger than any plate. Although the ingredients don't vary much, the taste is remarkable.

Mafiosi's menu: http://pizzeria-mafiosi.at/#speisekarte

Food: 2

Price: 2

Atmosphere: 1

Staff: 1

Final assessment: 3/4

2. Pizzeria Vesuvio da Mario

On the same street as Pizzeria Mafiosi we found another Italian restaurant, but not any Italian restaurant, a real one. We only need to ignore one tiny detail, and that is that the restaurant is run by a married Indian couple. The couple will make sure that your visit is as comfortable as possible, almost as if you were in your own dining room. As soon as you enter the restaurant, you are greeted with a Buona sera and, if you play along, you can spend a while chatting Italian with the two owners. All of this is accompanied with the most classic Italian music in the background and the décor fits in with the cuisine. What's more, there is a Biergarten (Beer garden) that unfortunately we still haven't tried, because the Viennese climate doesn't always permit it.

The couple will always be at your table if you need something, the customer service is unbeatable and they always have a smile on their faces. Apart from the Italian food, you can also try Indian cuisine but for a slightly higher price. However, the biggest attraction, in our opinion, is the pizza with all of the local ingredients, which costs about 15 euros for two people, but really it would be a banquet even for three people. The pizzas, although costing about 1 euro more than Pizzeria Mafiosi, are without a doubt more flavoursome and they have more of a range of ingredients.

Food: 2

Price: 2

Atmosphere: 2

Staff: 2

Final assessment: 4/4

3. Wiener Deewan

It's about 5 minutes from Schottentor, if you are walking through Liechtensteinstraße, and at a certain point you will notice a whiff of curry that goes straight to the heart. It's a pay as you wish Pakistani restaurant in Vienna. The restaurant's system works in the following way: you have a free buffet of about 7-8 dishes, some change at certain points, of which you can have as much as you want. Before even sitting down at the table, (if you want, you can also sit on the floor and eat Pakistani style), a jug of water and glasses are placed down for free. The staff are also so attentive and they are continually refilling your glasses or taking away dirty plates.

There is only one dessert available, but it tastes incredible. "Suji Halwa" is what it's called and it consists of a semolina rice pudding, which you can pour over a kind of homemade custard of a lifetime as a sauce. Truly, it had us completely in love, it's a shame we don't have a blender at home.

Once you've savoured your snack, simply go up to the till and tell the employee how much you want to pay, it you want change or not, and simply give how much you think you should and then say goodbye with a Viennese "Auf Wiederschauen" (see you soon).

Food: 1

Price: 2

Atmosphere: 1

Staff: 2

Final assessment: 3/4

4. Sen Grill

In this local you can enjoy the best kebab in Vienna, according to some. They have two types of menus every day with reasonable prices and lots of food of all types. If you are a student you're in luck because for a crazy price of 3, 50€ you can get a kebab with can of soft drink and also enjoy three sauces that the restaurant puts out for you. The staff are so kind and always try to establish a family atmosphere during your visit. To get to Sen Grill you should get off at the U2 stop, Taborstrasse.

Sen Grill's menu: http://www.sen-grill.at/

Food: 2

Price: 1

Atmosphere: 2

Staff: 2

Final assessment: 3. 5/4

5. Koi

One of the good Asian buffets. Each lunchtime for 10 euros you can enjoy the most elaborate and classic Asian cuisine. It's certainly one of the few places that you can get tap water (Leitungswasser). They have have a special way of carrying the food orders: when you arrive they give you a little piece of paper with three vertical columns and a whole menu which goes across the paper horizontally with numbers by their sides. The three columns represent the three rounds in which you can order food, both repeat dishes and try new ones. There is an exception with three types of sushi that can only be ordered once at no extra cost. Be careful marking the dishes because it the gaps don't look empty then the restaurant could end up charging, according to their rules. The last round consists of a free dessert buffet which has doesn't have any rules. To get to Koi, you should take an U-Bahn to Karlsplatz.

Food: 2

Price: 1

Atmosphere: 2

Staff: 2

Final assessment: 3. 5/4

6. Suppenwirtschaft

This one's a small local, with fewer tables to sit down at, it's more of a take-away joint rather than an eat-in restaurant. By the way, taking advantage of this point, whenever you ask for something in such a place in a German-speaking country you will be asked if you want "zum mitnehmen" (to take away). The restaurant offers various menus, almost everything vegetarian, which consists of a soup, a main dish and a homemade bread roll. All for a generous price of about 7/8 euros. It's an unbeatable option for fast but healthy food.

Food: 2

Price: 1

Atmosphere: 1

Staff: 2

Final assessment: 3/4

7. Café Gagarin

For a completely alternative atmosphere we found Café Gagarin. People usually get together there to eat, have a couple of beers or simply read a book. The customers predominantly come from an urban culture, which is more transgressive, so you better not bring your parents and grandparents here. In fact, when you go in, you can't tell who is an employee or who is a customer, because they're all dressed similarly. There is a separate room for smokers, which is always appreciated in Austria. Like Wiener Deewan, the payment method is "Pay as you wish" and the menu is almost entirely vegetarian. Still we haven't found out what we ordered the first day we went, we only know that it was green and it was suspiciously tasty.

Food: 1

Price: 2

Atmosphere: 1

Staff: 1

Final assessment: 2. 5/4

8. Street food

Finally, and not least, I urge you to try all the different varieties of street food that the city offers. From Kebabs, passing by Nudeln (Asian noodles) up to the Hungarian Langos (churros dough in cake form). You will discover differences in the way they prepare everything and the different flavours between different stalls and neighbourhoods, or even countries. Seriously, the latter, in Spain a Kebab leaves K. O., whilst in Germany or Austria it becomes more bearable to the stomach. We don't know the reason for this.

As always, we hope this input will be useful and if you have any questions then feel free to ask. Auf Wiederschauen!

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