Goose No More

Location:Schönbrunner Stöckl
Website:https://www.schoenbrunnerstoeckl.com/
Address:Schönbrunner Straße 309, 1130 Wien
Status:Open (last checked on 29 December 2022)
Eaten:"Kaiserliche Brettljause," three beers (Dudak Halbdunkel)

It should have been my last goose of the year. A week ago, while passing by Schönbrunner Stöckl on my way from a Christmas market, I was surprised to see that it still served a goose and promised myself to give it a try, despite the dish’s sky-high price. Today, realizing that the end of the year was quickly approaching, I rushed to the restaurant, and the goose was still on the menu. However, to my question “Do you really serve a goose still?” the waiter quickly answered, “Thank God, no,” which made me somehow both disappointed and happy. Since I was already sitting at a table enjoying a beer, I decided to skim through the menu and astonishingly, found a Brettljause. It was as stupidly expensive as the goose.

The “Imperial Brettljause,” as the menu called it, was conventional to the point of mockery. All its ingredients – Speck, Geselchtes, Schweinsbraten, cheese and three spreads – are indeed typical for a Brettljause, but at the Stöckl they were of such a boring supermarket quality as if the cook had decided to make a joke on the tourists, who are indeed the main targets of this restaurant. On the other hand, most of the customers today were Austrians or at least spoke German. Possibly they were all having a snack before a concert at the Schönbrunn Palace, because even though the restaurant was nearly full when I arrived, hardly any table was left occupied a mere half an hour later.

The only good thing I can mention about the Brettljause is that the egg spread and the Grammelschmalz were quite tasty, but it can simply be because I like these ingredients in general. Besides, an entire egg was served, which I always find nice. In all the rest, it was an Imperial rip-off. This is kind of sad, because the restaurant specializes in Bohemian dishes, and eight years ago I ate there a Brettljause that was not particularly good but at least interesting. The one today was inferior to any Brettljause you can get in a super-touristic Heuriger in Grinzing, and that is quite an achievement.

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