Finding a new Brettljause location in Vienna is a rare event. More often than not, my monthly Google searches for untried Brettljausen in each of the 23 Viennese districts yield nothing. Yesterday, however, my search resulted not in one, but two previously unknown restaurants. The only way to celebrate that extraordinary luck was to visit one of the restaurants without delay.
Weinstüberl Horvath is a city Heuriger in its purest sense. Located in the busy but lovely Spittelberg area, which is frequented by both tourists and locals, Horvath is surrounded by eateries of all kinds and for all tastes, so how it manages to survive by serving only wine and very simple Heuriger food is a bit of a mystery. I sincerely hope it does not succeed by simply being the last resort when all the other restaurants are full. When I arrived in the late Saturday afternoon, Horvath was absolutely empty, and only two other visitors joined for a glass of wine while I was eating. Perhaps the long weekend (Monday is a public holiday) was to blame, because the wine and the Brettljause were anything but bad.
Undeniably, the Jause did not look particularly rustic. Actually, it looked like – and ultimately was – a plate filled with sausage and cheese slices. Encouraging was the variety of the above – I counted ten types – as well as the fact that none of them came from a plastic package; I actually saw through the restaurant’s window how the cook cut the slices off the loafs from the buffet. I also quite liked when the waiter asked me for the type of spread I wanted: a Liptauer or a pumpkin seed spread (the latter, obviously). Oh, and the horseradish was super-strong, which is always a sign of a good Brettljause for me.
I am still not convinced that Weinstüberl Horvath totally fits in the atmosphere of Spittelberg, but I am very glad to have discovered it. It is a perfect, if slightly lazy, option to have a non-too-commercial Heuriger-like experience in the center of the city.
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