Hmm a little torn on this review since I only came for breakfast one day, and didn't get to try…read moretheir pastries, however felt like the experience was pretty mediocre.
Well known for being a beautiful and historic cafe established 1876 frequented by the likes of famous names like Trotsky and Freud, this traditional Viennese coffeehouse and cafe is a popular tourist destination.
Having walked by around 7:30pm the prior evening and seeing a line of about 15 people outside, the next morning arriving around 9am the line was about 15 minutes without reservations. Upon entering the inside is beautiful, cavernous domed ceilings, chandeliers and a very classic bistro vibe. Enough seating for probably 150 customers, quite large inside, and about two-thirds full. That's when I realized the line outside was more for show, which at some places I get because staffing might be hard and they want to ramp up the pacing between breakfast and lunch services. In a place like this it seems more like a marketing technique to create hype, which kinda annoyed me--it's not respectful of customers' time.
It took a while maybe 10 minutes for a staff member to pass menus, then another 10 minutes for him to come back and check in. What I'll say is he was swift to answer our questions and knew the menu well. In general service felt lacking though, after eating it took quite a long time to get our server's attention again to get the check.
For breakfast I was a little surprised by the prices for the food offered, on the high side. While the vegan spreads were very good, from the menu it wasn't clear that it was actually vegan cream cheese that was the base of the spreads. Unfortunately the rest of the food was meh, €14.50 for a small croissant (not especially good), a plain roll, a boiled egg and latte, with a pat of butter and jam.
Would I come back? Maybe to try a couple of their baked pastries and dessert, but not for breakfast.
For more info:
https://cafecentral.wien/en/
