My Favorite Austrian Meals

How is Austrian food different than German food? That is what I asked myself in my week or so in the country. Sure, there are a lot of similarities, but here are a few of my favorite dishes from my visits to Innsbruck, Vienna, and Salzburg.

Hungarian Style Goulash, Stubaier Gletscher, Fulpmes

What could be better than soup with a view? While I may have picked this because it was the cheapest item on the menu, I was definitely glad I did. It had a rich tomato broth and pieces of pulled beef, rather than the basic mince at other places.

Beef Broth Soup with Cheese Dumpling, Stiftskeller, Innsbruck

I was on a major soup kick in Innsbruck because it’s cheap and kept me warm. This one was a beef consomme with a fried cheese dumpling served at the chain Stiftskeller. The dumpling was odd to say the least, but I enjoyed it.

Fondue, Doug’s Mountain Getaway, Fulpmes

Jamie, ringleader extraordinaire of Doug’s Mountain Getaway, arranged an authentic fondue dinner for the guests of the hostel. I wondered how many things you could reasonably dip in cheese, but you would be surprised how filling fondue can be! My favorite part of this meal was the social aspect, chatting with my new Australian friends while stabbing bread with forks.

Wiener Schnitzel, Pauli Stubm Restaurant, Salzburg

You can’t go to Austria without having the signature dish, wiener schnitzel. When I was visiting Christine and Joey, they took me to one of their favorite places in town, Pauli Stubm, a cozy restaurant tucked into the hill next to the fortress. I had a couple of local beers to wash down my giant cutlet of pork, which was served with a cranberry relish and a cold potato salad.

There are a few meals I scarfed down too fast to photograph, including a fantastic caesar salad from Neni in Vienna’s Naschmarkt. I needed something borderline healthy after the madness of Oktoberfest and this places makes their croutons out of pitas.

I also had chili coconut noodles from My Indigo, one of the few Asian places in Salzburg.

Which dish sounds best to you?