Kutsch

Review

It's not every day that a market in Vienna is enlarged. Especially a market that was on the verge of being closed 20 years ago, as was the case with Währing's Kutschkermarkt. The initiative of local delicatessen trader Irene Pöhl at the time not only saved it, but also turned it into a prime example of a Viennese street market, including a special farmers' market on Saturdays. Now the market area has been extended beyond Schulgasse and the farmers' market now stretches all the way to Staudgasse. And with the extension came something new: Max Maierhofer had already cooked his way through some of the best places in Austria and the rest of the world, and when the time came to decide whether to settle down in Austria or the rest of the world, he opted for Austria, specifically the Kutschkermarkt. This is where his father ran the Kutschkerei delicatessen, and Maierhofer also found a small corner pub that no longer had the advantageous surroundings of the extended market. And turned it into a bright bistro with unusual color accents, namely a kind of dark turquoise, but you don't have to interpret everything politically.
In the evening, Maierhofer offers a really interesting menu that oscillates a little between refined inn and modernized bistro cuisine, with a focus on bistro, such as charcuterie (meaning cold cuts) with homemade pickles, crayfish ravioli, Dukatenschnitzerl pork fillet or Bavette - a kind of veal flank steak, rarely used in Austria. At lunchtime, things are the other way round. There's a menu with Viennese menu classics such as minced roast or crumbled cauliflower plus a few simpler dishes from the evening menu. And what can we say? The lunch menu is really well received. By 12.30 p.m. at the latest, all the tables were occupied, which may of course have been due to the fact that they were serving paprikahendl. Restaurant manager Kathi Proyer disputes this, however, saying that lunchtime is generally great, "only when we had hash browns was it sparse" (mmmhhh, hash browns). The chicken knuckle stewed in paprika juice (fortunately not so plastered with cream) was definitely great (menu € 14.50), and the bouillabaisse of local fish (lake trout, char, catfish) was also very good (€ 24.50). Unfortunately, the crispy roasted, roasted pork tail with artichokes is not available at lunchtime, which is a shame! In any case, someone who knows how to cook and who also has a bit of an idea of contemporary restaurant cuisine is cooking here. The Kutschkermarkt is now also a place you can visit for the food. Market cuisine almost like in Paris.

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