Zum Friedensrichter

Review

Peace be with you!

Photo: Heribert Corn At some point in the 1990s, the Falter once had a Christmas party here. There was plenty of room, because the Gasthaus Zum Friedensrichter is quite large; perhaps some people didn't realize at the time that it is also incredibly beautiful. But the Gasthaus zum Friedensrichter is not only large and incredibly beautiful, it is also quite old. The Gottwald family ran the restaurant for 75 years, and as is the case when something stays in the family, the inn held up quite well. The lamperie (with windows between the second and third room!!) is immaculate, the floor made of red and gray linoleum blocks is perfect, the Löfler refrigeration system is as good as new, the frosted glass screens set into the windows with the milled grape motifs (I'm sure it has a name, if you can tell me, I'll buy you a coffee) look like they've just come from the glazier's, the wooden benches and Thonet armchairs are in top condition, the Resopalt tables are unscarred.
The Gasthaus zum Friedensrichter is a 75-year-old inn that looks as if someone has tried to recreate a 75-year-old inn from scratch. It's great. Nevertheless, it was abandoned a few months ago and immediately taken over by Johannes Bischof, a former Glacis Beisl man, and Roland Trappmaier, whose family ran the great Brückenbeisl on Mexikoplatz for a long time. A bit of renovation work was done, especially to bring the kitchen up to contemporary standards. The result is terrific, and without any marketing fuss, consulting bags or concept bells and whistles. It's simply a wonderful restaurant where you can now drink tart Weitra beer and eat really appealingly prepared Viennese cuisine. Okay, the "pumpkin seed falaffel with beetle bean hummus" sounded dangerous and reminded me a little of the culinary confusion I recently had in Burgenland over a "Burgenland sushi" and a "Blunzentascherl dim sum with ginger sauerkraut". But it was good anyway, because Trappmaier makes the chickpea mixture himself, they just need to be a bit crispier (€ 6.90). The Viennese baked meat and the roast onion were quite hard to resist (not least because Trappmaier buys whole quarters of beef, cuts them up himself and cooks them to the last shred), but the roasted free-range chicken "Wiesenläufer" and "marinated in yoghurt" sounded just too tempting. And it was so insanely good, are you daft! Juicy, tender and with a breading that I take my hat off to (finalized in lard, high school of breading), the potato and lamb's lettuce salad not too sweet, not too oniony and not too little seed oil as usual, but simply perfect. I'm already looking forward to the next time. Summary: An inn that has always been wonderful, it still is, but now also cooks very well. Zum Friedensrichter 2, Obere Donaustr. 57 Tel. 01/214 48 75 Mon-Fri 11-22 hrs

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