Julius Meinl

Description:

• This upscale and appealingly formal restaurant is the most sought-after of the three elements within the Julius Meinl trio, which includes, on the same premises, one of the most comprehensive delicatessens and wine shops in Austria, as well as a cellar-level wine bar. The restaurant occupies a site immediately upstairs from street level, with big-windowed views that sweep out over the all-pedestrian grandeur of the Graben. Although the restaurant looks as upscale as any other of the city's dining competitors -- with dark paneling, touches of gilt, a voluptuous-looking service bar, and a sense of Habsburgundian charm -- it's positioned within a few steps of the bustling and brightly illuminated premises of its associated delicatessen. Menu items change with the availability of fresh ingredients, but might include tuna with avocado cream and a carrot and ginger-flavored vinaigrette, or marinated gratin of lobster with fennel. Our favorite is a platter containing two different preparations of quail accompanied with goose liver and marinated boletus mushrooms. Desserts? Consider a praline mousse with raspberries and tonka-bean ice cream, or a semolina soufflé with plums and elderberries. And then there's the cheese trolley, a movable feast and a work of art in its own right.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010