I popped into Wiener Kaffeehaus today for a late lunch, thinking it was a nice quiet place to take a phone call from the company that's currently making me a job offer. I was wrong on one front, it's not all that quiet a place, but it's certainly a nice cafe to while away some time, whether you want to curl up in a corner and catch up on your reading, or to just have a casual, romantic date here.

For my lunch, I had meat loaf (Leberkäse), followed by an apple strudel and a Wiener Melange (Austrian blend) coffee.

The meat loaf was presented nicely, with a small fried egg perched above the slice of meat loaf, served with a side of potatoes, lettuce and spinach mash. The meat loaf tasted a lot like bacon, and I particularly liked the spinach which reminded me of palik paneer, except without the cubes of cottage cheese.

The apple strudel was fantastic. I have a weakness for anything with apple sauce, and this certainly hit the spot. The pastry was nice, thin and yet still slightly crispy, while the filling had just the right amount of apple, cinnamon and raisins. I'm glad I decided to go for this instead of the other Viennese specialty, the Sachertorte, which incidentally, celebrates its 175th birthday this year.



My coffee was served the traditional way: on a silver platter, with cubes of sugar on the side and a glass of water. I didn't quite enjoy the melanges I had when I was in Vienna back in 2002 as I think I found them too light, but I must say that this time round, I had no such complaints. The coffee was nice and smooth.

Wiener Kaffeehaus (tel: 62263148) is found at 148 Neil Road (where Neil Road meets Cantonment Road) and is open from 9 am to 10 pm daily.