Ok, this is the final Vienna post! I wanted to try Trzesniewski, a little sandwich shop that Charmaine had written about, and the only opportunity we could find was on Monday morning. We went to their original shop on Dorotheergasse (on the same street as Café Hawelka) and at first thought it might be closed as their imposing doors appeared to be firmly shut. A quick glance at the opening hours stated that it should have been open – we tried the door and well…yeah, it was open. I blame it on the lack of windows!
Sandwich shop doesn’t describe them well; they sell delicate little open face sandwiches and upon entry, we were immediately before a long glass display of them – so many from which to choose! If it’s one thing I’ll remember about Vienna, it’s the seemingly endless choice one is confronted with in the cafes. They very helpfully have a list of their sandwiches all translated in English at the end of the counter….and I only noticed it after I’d ordered, meaning that I’d had to work everything out in German. I now know that Zwiebel is onion.
We selected a few to share as a small snack (each open faced sandwich is €1.10) along with a couple of tiny juices. Tiny they may have been but that was just enough juice to quench our thirst. The sandwiches were made of brown bread topped with chopped mixtures. I particularly enjoyed the sardine with onion and the dark red one at the end that was supposed to be tomato but tasted mostly of pickle. A creamy egg mayonnaise mixture features in many of the toppings; I quite like it but there is the chance that you could have it on everything if you don’t choose wisely.
It’s not a place to while away the time – most locals don’t even bother sitting down, preferring instead to perch by one of the counters. Many also order a Pfiff (a tiny glass stein of 1/8 of a litre of beer) to drink with their snack.
On our way out, this egg with egg topping made me laugh.
We only managed this short visit but then how happy was I to discover that a new branch of Trzesniewski had opened at the airport?! It’s in Arrivals and so you’d need to buy your sandwiches before security. We asked to takeaway our sandwiches and the stern lady at the counter (no, not stern, actually very unfriendly) packed our sandwiches into the cutest box with a handy string handle. They made for a delicious light dinner on the airplane.
They were certainly much nicer than the egg sandwich served by our airline. On the takeaway box was their web address and I was amused to see that it’s www.speckmitei.at – I think many people must have trouble spelling its name!
Trzesniewski
Dorotheergasse 1
1010 Wien
Trzesniewski
Flughafen Wien Schwechat
Ankunftshalle A
There are other branches – do check out their website.
That brings my Vienna posts to an end – all my photos from this trip can be found in this Flickr photoset. That’s not all from Austria though – I’m heading to Innsbruck next month and I welcome any and all suggestions for the city please.
Wed, 10 Aug, 2011 at 09:54
Admirable self restraint on the box of sarnies to take on the flight. I would’ve been tempted to take at least twice as many. For myself.
Thu, 11 Aug, 2011 at 10:01
I love the Viennese open sandwiches! We had some amazing ones at zum schwarzen kameel and I still remember how good they were! 🙂
Fri, 12 Aug, 2011 at 06:20
The sandwiches look good but don’t they get a little soggy, especially the creamy eggs ones if you do a takeaway?
Fri, 12 Aug, 2011 at 14:49
The sandwiches looks so pretty. Glad you enjoyed Vienna!
Sat, 13 Aug, 2011 at 13:29
I’d call that smørgasbord … truly, food recognises no national boundaries!
Wed, 17 Aug, 2011 at 17:15
Mr Noodles: After we finished them, I looked at the empty box very sadly and yes, I wished I’d bought more!
Lorraine: Just looked up your post and they look absolutely fantastic there! I definitely need to return to Vienna!
ChopinandMysaucepan: They did not…I wonder if that had something to do with the brown bread used or perhaps butter on the bread – I cannot recall.
Robert: Loved it! They are indeed so pretty…and luckily so tasty too!
travelrat: 😀 Northern Europe really does love its sandwiches!