Gasthaus Poeschl – Your Cosy ‘Local’ in Central Vienna

During my recent trip to Vienna for my day job, Gasthaus Poeschl, which I had never heard of before, was one of three restaurants recommended by the local work colleagues (the other two ones I had known before: Café Korb and Café Englander; click on the links for the blog posts).

Great Atmosphere

More or less opposite the street from another favourite of ours, Zum Weissen Rauchfangkehrer, Poeschl immediately took me in with the cosy vibes of a place where locals congregate to have a meal and exchange some rumours.

There was a fair bit of noise in the room. Some guests had brought their kids, others were involved in loud discussions about the sense or nonsense of the latest Covid restrictions. I admired the waiters for their agility and grace, manoeuvring three or four plates at a time through the tiny space between the bar and the tables.

My choices

Nearly every dish on the extensive menu looked to die for, so I took my time deciding what to order. In the end I went for Geraeuchertes Filet von der Wagramer Forelle mit Oberskren (smoked trout with horseradish cream for €13.80) as a starter. This was going to be followed by a hearty Gansleinmachsuppe (traditional Austrian soup made from goose stock and white roux with bits of goose meat & dumplings for €7.40). For a main I picked Feines Kalbsrahmherz mit Broeselknoedel (thinly cut strips of veal heart with cream and bread dumplings for €15.90). My Bavarian ancestors probably turned in their graves when I also ordered a Belgian “Liefman’s Fruitesse” cherry beer (€5.90 for 0.25l). I just felt adventurous that day.

Can Belgians do Beer?

The beer arrived first and exceeded my expectations by a million miles. I had mainly ordered it to confirm my strongly-held belief that Belgians don’t know how to do beer. In actual fact, this cherry beer was outrageously refreshing and very pleasant.

The Starter: Smoked Trout

A short while later, the waiter brought the trout to my table. As soon as I saw and smelled it, I knew I was going to be in for a treat. Beautiful flavours and the horseradish cream turned out to be more like a foam, still with a fair bit of firing power, but very light in terms of texture.

The First Course: Soup with Goose and Dumplings

I probably waited about 15 minutes for the soup, but that is perfectly fine in my book. I have always been a fan of goose. The most common way to prepare Einmachsuppe is with veal stock, but turns out that goose stock and white roux go together very well, too. The two dumplings were state of the art.

The Main: Veal Heart

It was only when the veal heart was delivered to my table that I realised my mistake: it looked very similar to the Gansleinmachsuppe, which made it a bad choice for blogging purposes. That aside, this dish was the favourite one of the three for me. Heart can sometimes have a strange texture, but the good people at Poeschl know their art: the little strips of meat had a texture more similar to medium-done minute steaks. The cream sauce and the four dumplings might have looked somewhat similar to the soup and two dumplings from the prior course, but were very different in terms of ingredients and taste.

Like Grandma’s Cooking

This was the kind of cooking I remember from visits to my grandparents as a kid. And just like back then, the portion was so enormous I nearly didn’t manage to finish it. There was no way I would order a dessert. This had to wait for another time. 5 out of 5. This restaurant will be one of the first ones on my list when I’m back in town.

Looking for more restaurant reviews? Check out our posts about Gasthaus Puerstner, Plachutta, or Esterhazy Keller, all in Vienna, Gruvelageret near the North Pole, or L’Ange 20 in Paris.

For action and adventure, please feel very welcome to eyeball our posts about our week in Bhutan, two days in Nepal, one month in Papua New Guinea, our trip to Nuremberg, or our rides on a helicopter, a jetski, a jetlev, and a powerboat.