Hey foodies!
I am still speechless – it was such an amazing experience to dine at Taubenkobel. It is in Burgenland which is the east side of Austria. As I live in Vienna it was not that far away - roughly one hour. But you will see as you scroll down that the distance is not worth any reason to argue to travel there more often or not. If you decide to visit the Taubenkobel it is more a question of money.
My mother gave me a dinner, room for one night and breakfast as a graduation present. I went there with my boyfriend, of course. It really is something one does not do every now and then. Except if one is super rich if you know what I mean. Because of that I was stunned by the place but I also felt a little bit awkward and out of place. Maybe I need to visit such places more often to become more at ease with this kind of lifestyle. Truth be told, that is not my goal for life. I am completely satisfied by "normal" food and restaurants. It was an amazing experience. But that is it for me at the moment.
Within this post I want to show you guys what the seven-course dinner looked like. Yes, you read right – seven courses. It was exceptional! I will also share a post about the hotel itself and one about the absolutely delicious breakfast we had at the end.
Pigeon feed
It was crispy corn and sunflower seeds slightly salted with different spices. It was a reference to the name of the restaurant Taubenkobel which can be translated to a pigeon shack or dovecot.
Zander fishbone
The next course was something I have never seen before in terms of food presentation. It was a fried fish with branches on which the food was skewered. Sadly, I was so amazed by this kind of presentation that I forgot to take a picture before eating. Three different things made out of fish where served: raw fish, fish chip and a baked fish ball. Have you seen something like that before? It was so interesting for me that we had to eat with our hands. If you go to a fine restaurant you do not expect this.
Crispy chicken skin with meadow cream and celery
That was quite delicious but hard to eat. They served this with a cold soup with different herbs that you simply drink like something to drink. So, eating soup the normal way was not possible which was very interesting.
Goat milk yoghurt with unidentifiable toppings
This course was not on the menu. It was very delicious. The sourness of the yoghurt was perfect to refresh the taste buds for the upcoming courses.
Poppy seeds with royal agaric and poppy flower
This one tasted extremely good. It was a salty poppy seed cake with delicate mushrooms. The cake was wrapped with marinated mushroom slices and decorated with poppy flowers. There was also a really tasty cream underneath. All together it was a treat for one's taste buds. We both think it was the best course of all savoury courses.
Artichoke
An completely edible artichoke presentation composed by parts of the artichoke and other foods. This one was a piece of art to eat.
Snack
As we talked about that we missed some bread at the beginning which is commonly served at fine restaurants in Austria they served THIS - really good homemade sourdough bread with butter, browned butter, mangalitsa lard, herbs with thistle oil, sausage, prosciutto and stone salt. This course was so great because we had to eat with our hands.
Duck with radicchio and charcoal
The duck was the star of the show. At the beginning of the menu one of the cooks showed us the duck before they started to prepare it for us. That was something I have never experienced before. Then the cook came a second time with the semi cooked duck (cooked in the own fat) to show us the process - really amazing. I think I have never eaten a piece of meat that was prepared that good. The radicchio was filled with something like pulled duck. The charcoal smell fitted perfectly.
Spinach with almonds and sour cream
No one would expect this but this course was sweet. I was so amazed by this one. Sweet spinach?! Yes, you read right! Underneath the spinach leaves was a sour cream ice cream which was so delicious.
Lemon meringue cake
They presented us the desserts in this way. This one was so beautiful - but also delicious - so we had to eat it.
Apple cake
This one was served hot with vanilla ice cream on the side.
Apple cake with vanilla ice cream, "browned butter cream layered with puff pastry" (I did not came up with a better name), lemon meringue cake
Oh my god! As I see this picture I feel the exact same way as before when I saw these huge dessert plates served in front of me. We asked for all of them because were so curious how it would taste. At the end, we ate it all because we are pigs. All three desserts were extremely delicious. They were very sweet which was interesting for us because we asked us before if sophisticated desserts would be discreet or "in your face" kind of desserts. I could not decide which one of the three was the best.
Sunflower
With this course the journey ended. It was a chocolate ganache truffle with sunflower seeds. Because we ate so much desserts before I did not taste so much. It was okay for me. But the presentation was really great.
Afterwards, we were so full. It was a great (and three hours long) evening that I will never forget. I have to mention that it is not only a form to eat there but also a matter of presentation. The waiters used every moment to serve the food the perfect and entertaining way by ripping up a big piece of bread or by scooping the foam onto your plate before you started to eat. That is also something I have never experienced before in my life.
My résumé: If you get the chance to do it, do it. Otherwise, it is not worth the price - for me. Thank you, mama!
