Silvio Nickol Gourmet Restaurant in Vienna

as it was a pretty tough week we decided to treat ourselves to a very fancy dinner.  i didn't think it would be so soon that we would get a chance to try another michelin star restaurant, but i was very intrigued to experience something new, a two star michelin restaurant in vienna.

March 30 2018

they only offer pre-fixed menus, so you have a choice of five, seven, or nine courses.  from our past dining experiences and maybe eating a bit too much, we decided to do the 5 course menu with wine pairing.  we were quite right to do so as from the start there were many COMPLIMENTS from the chef.  the first three amuse bouches came out and even before we could have our first bite there were even more dishes that came out. 

My favorite was definitely the cauliflower, the dish had many different textures of cauliflower and with the mixture of the chive vinaigrette and the creaminess of the poached egg, it tasted amazing.  there was a lot of dimension of flavors and textures.  i thought it was a CLEVER idea to add the wild puff rice around the fish as it gave it that crunch factor.  the mussel, the potato dumpling, the mackerel, and the warm sourdough bread, all were tasty for what were SUPPOSED to be just small bites.  what a start to our dinner! 

Cauliflower with poached egg, chive vinaigrette

Mackerel with sunflower seeds

Mussel

Herb sour creams with Gluten free bread

Fish with wild puff rice

Potato black truffle dumpling

Homemade sourdough bread

The first course was duck liver with barberry, beetroot, mole, and granola.  well who doesn't like foie gras.  it was really good, rich and creamy, and the addition of granola was very different, i would have never thought that it could go together.  there were many other little elements that i couldn't PINPOINT but it all worked together.  we were also giving a small brioche bun which was DELECTABLY soft and buttery.

the second course was yellowfin tuna with celery, granny smith apple, and pork rib dashi.  also another delicious and interesting dish as you wouldn't think that all these flavors would go together as some elements have their own DISTINCT flavor such as celery and apples which can be hard to complement one another.  i did however feel that some of the elements did overpower the fish as yellowfin tuna is quite a mild tasting fish.

the third course was catfish with kohlrabi, basil vinaigrette, and creme fraiche.  i was very intrigued by this dish as it is not very common to see catfish on the menu.  catfish can taste very fishy.  but i was surprised at how good it was and how well the basil and herb vinaigrette complemented the fish.

the main course was luma roast beef "grain fed" with broccoli, black salsify, bone marrow oil, and veal sauce.  and as someone is allergic to broccoli they were able to substitute the beef for the lamb dish that had lamb tongue and cheek with cabbage, bell pepper, and farro risotto.  the beef was DELICIOUS and the bone marrow oil and veal sauce was ABSOLUTELY indulgent.  the lamb dish was also very good but our only complaint was the tiny amount of meat in the dish.  the tongue and cheek are not large cuts of meat but they could have put both cheeks and maybe more slices of tongue, the ratio between meat and the other elements of the dish were SLIGHTLY DISPROPORTIONATE.

pre-dessert was coconut and TAPIOCA sorbet, carrot cream, and roasted pineapple.  i would have to say that this was also another favorite of mine as it was so unique and refreshing.  i would have never thought to add carrots to a dessert (well besides carrot cake) and then mix it with coconut and pineapple.  but it really worked, there were also thinly sliced carrots that added some bite to the dish.  I will have to rethink to maybe use some carrots in my desserts.

finally we had the chocolate with cherry sorbet, hazelnut, and kefir.  not only was this such a beautiful dish but it was pretty damn good.  the chocolate cake was so rich and creamy, that you needed the cherry sorbet and kefir sauce to cut the intensity of the chocolate.  i could have had a few more bites of the chocolate, but we did ACTUALLY get another small scoop of the cherry sorbet as we liked it so much.

and finally the Petit fours of cotton candy.  Yuzu, marshmallow with espresso and nuts. and pumpkin chocolate. 

what an interesting and unexpected experience, plate after plate came out looked like a masterpiece with so many little elements CAREFULLY placed around the plate.  but somehow all the tastes and textures worked well together but i guess that's why it is a two star michelin restaurant.  at the end of the meal chef silvio nickol came out to ask how our dining was, which i found quite nice as most of the time at any restaurant you don't get the chance to meet the chef or let alone see the chef.  so this was something special and made it a bit more personal.  if you are in vienna and want something very fancy then this is the place, but as i learned the VIENNESE know food and they are very proud  so there are plenty of restaurants to choose from to get great tasting food at all price ranges.

Silvio Nickol Gourmet Restaurant

Palais Coburg

Coburgbastei 4, 1010 Vienna

http://palais-coburg.com/en/culinary/silvio-nickol/

dinner, march 2018, eat, viennaJackie Wongsilvio nickol, 2 michelinComment