We have just returned from our pleasant stay at Esterhazy Keller, located inside the wealthy Esterhazy family’s Viennese pied-a-terre, to this day the largest privately owned palace in town. In the olden days the Esterhazys were famous for their lavish parties which took place in this building complex (not underground, but in the large first floor halls, of course). The dress code was very simple: come naked.
The emperor apparently was so pleased with these events that he rented a five-storey building just on the opposite side of the street, so that he would not have to go through the trouble of being driven to his main palace, ten minutes away, in his carriage. Being the boss of the second larges empire of earth at the time (after Russia) came with certain benefits.
Viennese have never been very big on beer. At some stage the emperor even prohibited the production and sale of beer. It was always about the wine. And if you wanted to store wine, you needed cellars. If you wanted to store a whole lot of wine, you needed very large cellars.
Esterhazy Keller very much profited from these facts of life, considering that it is located in one of the largest of these beautiful rustic cellars.
It is impossible not to fall in love with the atmosphere. What’s even better is that the prices seem to have halted some time in the early eighties. Vienna is a very expensive place, so €4.50 for clear beef broth with liver dumplings, €16.90 for the famous local dish called “Tafelspitz” (boiled prime beef with horseradish) or €13.90 for chicken cordon bleu are great value for money.
Service was quick, professional, and very friendly. The food was decent. 3.5 out of 5.
Looking for adventure? Check out our posts about skydiving, our rides on a helicopter, a jetski, two very fast rubber boats (on the Thames and near the North Pole), an amphibian Vietnam War vehicle, a hot air balloon, and a jetlev.
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