Yes Madam I am fully licenced by the Turkish government to rip you off. Please step over here and empty your purse onto the table.
On Saturday we had dinner at Le Ciel.
In our quest to find the best restaurants in Wien we have been using the Gault Millau guide and working through all the ones that are highly rated. Our experience to date has been that – in general - the ratings do not refect reality.
Meinl Am Graben for example is vastly overrated. It is no surprise that Herr Meinl has been arrested on charges of fraud and bailed for €100 Million Euros. He deserves this for the mark up on his wine list – let alone the outrageous charges for very average food.
I regret to say (sigh) that Le Ciel is in the same category. It is ranked 16/20 in Gault Millau - and I am beginning to think that the reviewers have no taste buds.
Le Ciel is part of the Grand Hotel Wien and is on the top floor of the hotel. The setting is lovely, the ambience is very nice indeed. Everyone dresses up – even the Russian gangsters wear coats – but the food is so average it would make you weep.
It was very hot so I did take my coat off – and I was the only one to do so – perhaps this had a detrimental impact on the kitchen staff?
We had the Lobster foam buttons with crispy noodles, very white bland and listless fish and oh so very average chicken. The wine with each course was nice – but not sensational.
This cost €200. This is simply not acceptable in Wien. There really is good food to be had here at prices that are not outrageous. It seems that in Wien – (I am sorry to say) it is often a case of style over substance.
People seem to go to these places because they are the places to go. We go for the food because (as I am sure you know by now) we are truly sensational arbiters of food style and taste and are at the cutting edge of food technology. (Which is why Lobster foam did not impress us – these days we expect Lobster essence – taken through the nostrils – or as a suppository)
We have a few more restaurants to go in the top categories but so far we have had very few successes. To be honest – to date restaurants in general in Wien have been very, very disappointing. There have been some standouts – on which I have reported –but – overall – abysmal – and very much over priced.
In Istanbul we had – in three meals – the three best meals we have had so far in Europe – and at less than half the cost of the meals in Wien.
But I am not complaining about Wien – this is a great town and I love it!
Well – except for the smoke and the dog poo.
I have nothing against smokers per se. Cate and I were both smokers for many years and gave up on 23 November 1993. I am happy for people to smoke as much as they want. I am happy for them to smoke themselves to death – as long as they do it quickly.
I just don’t want them to smoke where I am. I love fresh air, good food, good wine and good coffee (not necessarily in that order). Smoke spoils this and gives me an instant headache.
There are signs all over Wien at the moment which say ‘Geld Scheisser’. This means what you think it means. If your dog poos on the pavement it will cost you money.
This does not seem to have made much of a difference in our area as people still bring their dogs out to shit on the footpath every day – but I guess if you are in fact that stupid and insensitive there is no sign or fine that is going to change your dumb ass ways.
I think they should give the job of policing this to the parking police. These people are the most tenacious and hardy souls I have ever seen and I reckon could stop the dog poo problem in a matter of days. I would legislate to make the owners eat the dog poo. But then I would legislate to make smokers eat their cigarette butts.
That’s the type of cruel insensitive person I am.
In our quest to find the best restaurants in Wien we have been using the Gault Millau guide and working through all the ones that are highly rated. Our experience to date has been that – in general - the ratings do not refect reality.
Meinl Am Graben for example is vastly overrated. It is no surprise that Herr Meinl has been arrested on charges of fraud and bailed for €100 Million Euros. He deserves this for the mark up on his wine list – let alone the outrageous charges for very average food.
I regret to say (sigh) that Le Ciel is in the same category. It is ranked 16/20 in Gault Millau - and I am beginning to think that the reviewers have no taste buds.
Le Ciel is part of the Grand Hotel Wien and is on the top floor of the hotel. The setting is lovely, the ambience is very nice indeed. Everyone dresses up – even the Russian gangsters wear coats – but the food is so average it would make you weep.
It was very hot so I did take my coat off – and I was the only one to do so – perhaps this had a detrimental impact on the kitchen staff?
We had the Lobster foam buttons with crispy noodles, very white bland and listless fish and oh so very average chicken. The wine with each course was nice – but not sensational.
This cost €200. This is simply not acceptable in Wien. There really is good food to be had here at prices that are not outrageous. It seems that in Wien – (I am sorry to say) it is often a case of style over substance.
People seem to go to these places because they are the places to go. We go for the food because (as I am sure you know by now) we are truly sensational arbiters of food style and taste and are at the cutting edge of food technology. (Which is why Lobster foam did not impress us – these days we expect Lobster essence – taken through the nostrils – or as a suppository)
We have a few more restaurants to go in the top categories but so far we have had very few successes. To be honest – to date restaurants in general in Wien have been very, very disappointing. There have been some standouts – on which I have reported –but – overall – abysmal – and very much over priced.
In Istanbul we had – in three meals – the three best meals we have had so far in Europe – and at less than half the cost of the meals in Wien.
But I am not complaining about Wien – this is a great town and I love it!
Well – except for the smoke and the dog poo.
I have nothing against smokers per se. Cate and I were both smokers for many years and gave up on 23 November 1993. I am happy for people to smoke as much as they want. I am happy for them to smoke themselves to death – as long as they do it quickly.
I just don’t want them to smoke where I am. I love fresh air, good food, good wine and good coffee (not necessarily in that order). Smoke spoils this and gives me an instant headache.
There are signs all over Wien at the moment which say ‘Geld Scheisser’. This means what you think it means. If your dog poos on the pavement it will cost you money.
This does not seem to have made much of a difference in our area as people still bring their dogs out to shit on the footpath every day – but I guess if you are in fact that stupid and insensitive there is no sign or fine that is going to change your dumb ass ways.
I think they should give the job of policing this to the parking police. These people are the most tenacious and hardy souls I have ever seen and I reckon could stop the dog poo problem in a matter of days. I would legislate to make the owners eat the dog poo. But then I would legislate to make smokers eat their cigarette butts.
That’s the type of cruel insensitive person I am.
