Weinstüberl Horvath

Review

Bread and wine

Photo: Heribert Corn The Spittelberg is a strange place. The charming little streets with their perfectly renovated Biedermeier houses are so popular with tourists that pretty much any restaurant can survive here, whether good or bad, although good requires more effort, expense and ideas. And because the Advent market lasts for around a month and a half and people even travel here in buses from foreign countries, there are even pubs on Spittelberg that are only active during the Christmas hype, and not even that few. One of them is the Weinstüberl Horvath, and the fact that it was only ever used as a seasonal punch station could make your heart bleed. If you looked through the windows into the basement pub, you could see old wooden benches, an old wooden floor, a rustic brick vault, but above all a refreshingly old-fashioned bar and a charming arbour at the entrance, an authenticity that has long been a rarity on Spittelberg. However, hardly anyone remembers that the Weinstüberl Horvath was actually in operation; for a long time it probably belonged to Jürgen Stein, the then owner of Creperie Brasserie Spittelberg, and after the opening of its successor Kussmaul in summer 2014, it actually only served as its outdoor seating area. And now it's suddenly open. The colorful light bulbs in the arbor are now lit up, and the old bar has electricity again. It has been taken over by an interesting restaurateur, Hamid Ajoudan, who has amassed a considerable restaurant empire since opening Café Kafka in 2001 - eight restaurants, including the legendary Café Einhorn. Unfortunately, his establishments Kreisky and Bukowsky, both on Siebensterngasse, have shown that it is apparently enough to offer alcohol reasonably cheaply, allow smoking, put students behind the bar and stay open late to get great reviews on Tripadvisor. And that's exactly how things are now going at the charming, finally open Weinstüberl Horvath. The wine list offers a few drinks that are nicely described, but doesn't reveal which cellar they come from. And there are sandwiches to eat, which is generally not a bad idea in a rustic basement wine tavern with wooden benches. But the fact that the bread comes from the supermarket and the Liptauer, the ham, the minced meat, the Blunze and the egg spread most likely do too, is just kind of sad. Why not good bread, the Gragger branch would only be 50 meters away? Why not wine from Vienna, organic wine or at least interesting wine? The answer is well known here on Spittelberg: because it doesn't matter. Summary: A charming old basement wine tavern on Spittelberg is finally open again, but doesn't seem to be happy about it. Weinstüberl Horvath 7th, Spittelbergg. 3 Tel. 01/956 14 12 daily 4-1 p.m.

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