Campus Bräu

Review

Banker pubs of today

Photo: Heribert Corn For the time being, most of Quartier Belvedere is still a construction pit, but at the rate work is going on here, it probably won't be for long. Posters are already announcing what it will look like, with its cool glass façades, patios and shopping arcades - just like everywhere else in the world where satellite towns are being heaved out of the ground. In any case, the same cannot be said of the so-called Erste Campus, which has been under construction on the site of the former southern railway station (Trauerminute) since January 2010 and has been occupied by around 1,000 bank employees spread across 20 locations since the beginning of the year. Architects Henke and Schreieck have created an ensemble of curved glass buildings that are a pleasure to look at. And because the campus is supposed to be a bit lively, they have also thought about public catering, for example with a Café George and a lunchtime restaurant, which will be advised by the Mochi team and will offer interesting Asian cuisine from the summer. And the Campus Bräu, the only externally operated pub, which opened at the beginning of February. The Campus Bräu is a format pub of the purest school. It was designed by Derenko, the market leader in "complete gastronomic furnishings", based on the "American beer bar" model - with lots of wood, lots of bricks, lots of graffiti, lots of seating desks. And what about tiles and chalkboards, surely they can't be missing? That's right, there are tiles and chalkboards. The restaurant is huge, at lunchtime from 12 to 1.30 p.m. it's also pretty full of office workers, the service is in white blouses, aprons, jeans with suspenders and exudes an American-positive attitude to life. The guests belong to "Generation Friends", have ditched their jackets and think it's all great. The menu consists of dishes that everyone knows and that can be prepared in a matter of seconds. The prawns in a clay pot were accurately defrosted frozen shrimps in a kind of salsa, served with slices of baguette rubbed with garlic (€ 11.90), the ravioli à la Campus Bräu turned out to be six huge dough shapes with an indefinable white filling, also perfectly defrosted and deprived of their blandness by an onion and bacon melange (€ 9.50).
The menu that day consisted of a broccoli cream soup that brought back memories of the NIG canteen (campus reference, at last!), a chicken schnitzel with risipisi (made from rice that never sticks and twelve peas) and a passable mascarpone cream (€ 8.90). The coffee is mediocre, the beer is from Stiegl. Campus Bräu is a place that at least makes you look forward to going back to the office. That's not nothing. Summary: A beer pub straight out of an American TV series. With proper styling and food that won't hurt anyone. Pure mainstream. Campus Bräu 10th, Wiedner Gürtel 1, Tel. 01/769 15 89, Mon-Fri 10am-2pm,

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