Fine Dining in Salzburg: Michelin-Starred The Glass Garden

During our recent stay at the fabulous Hotel Schloss Moenchstein in Salzburg, we had dinner at the hotel’s own Michelin-starred restaurant, The Glass Garden. Apart from the prestigious star, the hotel received an impressive rating of 17/20 from Gault Millau. The restaurant is small, with space for a maximum of 40 guests. A huge glass sculpture by one of our favourite artists, Chihuly, dominates the dining room. There are floor to ceiling windows throughout, with magnificent views over town and the other nearby hills. Part of the restaurant is covered by the stunning L-shaped, hose-like glass and steel structure, which also covers some of the outdoor seating area of the hotel (not The Glass House, which does not have outdoor seating) and the very stylish Apollo Bar.

 

NEW CHEF AT THE GLASS GARDEN RESTAURANT SALZBURG

32-year old chef Simon Wagner, who became a father a few months ago, previously worked under Andreas Caminada at the three-starred Schloss Schauenstein in Switzerland. In March last year, he took over the helm from the longstanding previous chef Markus Mayr, who moved into quality control at a large food corporation. While there is an a la carte menu, most guests choose either the standard (with meat) or the vegan option of a four- (€140/€110 – £115/£90) or six-course (€190/€140 – £160/£115) menu. Wine-pairing comes at a very reasonable €86/£72 for the four- respectively €99/£82 for the six-course menu.

 

ARRIVING AT THE GLASS GARDEN

The well-trained, friendly staff greeted us at the entrance, near the Apollo Bar and reception area, and led us the short distance to our table. We were immediately made to feel welcome and at ease. The knowledgeable waiter answered a few questions about the menu, while we were ordering our drinks, two Campari Orange (€14.50/£12 each), and a large bottle of water (€10/£8).

 

OUR ORDERS AT THE GLASS GARDEN RESTAURANT SALZBURG

Because they only accept one reservation per table, it is up to guests to choose the time of their reservation (starting anytime between 12 noon and 1pm, respectively between 6 and 8pm) and there is no rush to gobble down all courses before the next party arrives. Considering that we had indulged in various snacks at the Christmas Market, we opted to limit ourselves to sharing one starter, duck liver three ways (terrine, roasted, ice cream, €46/£38), and have two mains, char with saffron fennel, vadouvan, fregola sarda (€54/£45) and entrecote with short rib in onion red wine sauce (€46/£38). No desserts. We hadn’t realised, that all the amuse-bouches and petit fours you’d expect at a place like this when ordering a multi-course menu, would also be served to us. Slightly unconducive to our intention of not overindulging, but utterly delicious and very generous of the chef.

 

THE AMUSE-BOUCHES ARRIVE AT THE GLASS GARDEN

The first amuse-bouches that arrived came on four tall mini-presenting plates that sat on a standard-size plate. Not sure if I still get all the facts straight, but I believe there were pikeperch tartar tacos with little blobs of aioli and topped with a few sprigs of dill. There was marinated radish with drops of emulsions and some small leaves on top. Moreover, there were two cauliflower snacks and a pair of sepia crackers with anchovy mousse.

 

THE GLASS GARDEN DELIGHTS WITH A LONG LIST OF TREATS

Next up were burnt cauliflower bits with chili sauce, which were followed by cold potato soup with vinegar pearls and potato crisps with crème fraiche. The small but still surprisingly substantial loaf of homemade sourdough bread with creamery butter, olive oil, and fleur de sel was another winner. It had a nice touch for us, that we had seen the fleur de sel harvesting grounds in the salt marshes of the Provence only a bit over a year ago. It almost felt like a sin, to leave so much of the beautiful bread in the basket, but we had no capacity.

 

OUR SHARED STARTER AT THE GLASS GARDEN RESTAURANT SALZBURG

We didn’t wait long for our starter, which arrived on several dishes and with an additional plate for sharing. The duck liver three ways came with a large brioche bun and was a true delight. Ellie was partial to the ice cream, on which a dried slice of apple had been placed, and which had hints of salty caramel. My clear favourite was the roasted duck liver, which came with an unexpectedly intense flavour and great texture.

THE TWO MAINS AT THE GLASS GARDEN

When it came to the two mains, it turned out that we each had made the right choice. I adored my super-juicy, perfectly medium-cooked entrecote in a thick onion red wine sauce, that was added at the table. There were a few roasted spring onions and shallots as well as pureed root vegetables on a separate plate to go with it. The short rib didn’t do much for me, but that’s probably just personal preference. Ellie, who is not much of a steak aficionada, loved her chunks of char fillet with roasted fennel, fregola sarda, pea-shaped Sardinian pasta drops lightly covered in a buttery saffron concoction, to which the waiter added a subtle but flavoursome vadouvan sauce at our table. Vadouvan is a spice blend also known as French curry, which combines traditional Indian spices with French ingredients, and is much milder than the Indian masala variety vadakam, on which it is based. The menu didn’t have any details, and we forgot to ask the waiter, but presumably the out-of-this-world texture of the char had to do with some kind of poaching process, possibly sous-vide.

CONCLUSION OF OUR REVIEW

As petit four, a selection of 7 different home-made traditional Austrian Christmas cookies and two pralines made for a marvellous finish to a memorable meal. This was easily the best dining experience we’ve ever had in Salzburg. We’ll definitely make sure to be back on our next visit to town, probably this coming Christmas.

Looking for more restaurant reviews? Feel welcome to check out my blog posts about Helene Darroze in London (then two-, now three-starred), Lafleur in Frankfurt (two stars), Gruvelageret near the North Pole (in Spitsbergen), Ekeberg in Oslo, Il-Horza in Valletta, Her Name Is Han in New York City, or Benoit in Paris. I’ve also blogged about our trips to Bhutan, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, about peasant food turning posh, Everest Base Camp Trek, and my recent attempt to row the Northwest Passage.

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