When we lived in Bratislava we often went for a show, concert or meal in Vienna. After the show we sat on the Schwartzenberg Café (also called the Opera Café) along the D tram line, enjoying a coffee until it was time to catch the tram to Sudbahnhoff. It is our favorite Vienna cafes.
The waiters at the Schwartzenberg got to know us pretty well. One, knowing we lived in Bratislava, asked us why we came to this café when the best café in Mitteleuropa was the Café Meyer in Bratislava. Well, the pastries at the Meyer are great, but it’s hard to top the Vienna Melange at the Schwartzenberg, especially served with a shot of Grand Mariner, after a meal of boiled beef with applesauce mixed with horseradish. Go to the Meyer for its Wiener Schnitzel:
The café was the invention of the Austrians who, allegedly, discovered sacks of coffee left by the retreating Turks at the gates of Vienna in 1529. The Austrians brewed it up, baked some croissants, (a crescent, to honor the defeat of Turkey) Bach wrote his Coffee Cantata (150 years later) and café society was born. The Landtmann Café (also called the Theatre Café) was a favorite stop to warm up between forays into two of Vienna’s best Christmas Markets, at the Rathaus and on Freyung Square. This time we ducked into the Landtmann to get out of the rain after the Easter Market on Freyung Square.
Finally there are Schokocafes featuring both coffee and hot chocolate. The Maximillian Café in Bratislava is one of the best.
