The gourmet price list

This is how much you pay in Austria’s top restaurants

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Falstaff magazine has just named the best restaurants in the country. The creations range from pine cones to caviar eggs, with no limits to creativity - but neither are the prices. But where do you pay the most and is it worth the money? A foray through Austria's top gastronomy ...

A bank without money: Have you ever heard of the delightful village of Ehrenhausen, which has a population of less than 2,500? It forms the gateway to the South Styrian Wine Route and is home to a very special bank: the Weinbank. Here, chef Gerhard Fuchs and sommelier Christian Zach have made it their mission to enchant their guests with culinary delights - with an inn, a wine shop and a fine dining restaurant.

The latter has been unanimously voted the best in the state for years by the relevant trade magazines - and of course their guests. The menu is based on what gardeners, farmers, livestock breeders, hunters and gatherers, i.e. their suppliers, bring to the table. Regionality and seasonality are reflected in the price of 195 euros per person for the "Grand Menu". 

A culinary bench: chef Gerhard Fuchs and sommelier Christian Zach

(Bild: www.bigshot.at/Christian Jungwirth)

FromLake Neusiedl to Lake Traunsee: Not far from Lake Neusiedl, in Schützen am Gebirge in Burgenland, at the Eselböck family's Taubenkobel, where Alain Weisgerber works in the kitchen, prices are only slightly higher than in Styria at 198 euros per person for the menu.

Prices are similar at the Bootshaus on Lake Traunsee in Upper Austria. There, the seven-course menu by Lukas Nagl costs 199 euros per head.

Lukas Nagl cooks up a storm at the Bootshaus am Traunsee.

(Bild: Georg Kukuvec Photography)

The 200-euro mark: The gourmet restaurant Hubert Wallner in Dellach, Carinthia, then cracks the 200-euro mark. Wallner's cuisine, inspired by the alpine region between lake and sea, is available in seven courses for 208 euros per person - including a view of Lake Wörthersee.

Prices for a multi-course menu per person

• Weinbank (Styria): 195 euros
• Taubenkobel (Burgenland): 198 euros
• Bootshaus (Upper Austria): 199 euros
• Hubert Wallner (Carinthia): 208 euros
• Ikarus (Salzburg): 225 euros
• Rote Wand Chef's Table (Vorarlberg): 225 euros
• Steirereck (Vienna): 225 euros
• Landhaus Bacher (Lower Austria): 228 euros
• Stüva (Tyrol): 234 euros
• Amador (Vienna) : 395 euros

This is followed - ex aequo in terms of price - by Ikarus in Salzburg (run by Martin Klein), the Rote Wand Chef's Table in the Schualhus in Lech in Vorarlberg (which has only recently been run by Julian Stieger) and the long undisputed best restaurant in the country, the Steirereck in Vienna's Stadtpark (where Heinz Reitbauer works his magic). All three charge 225 euros per head.

Legendary inside and out: the Steirereck in Vienna's Stadtpark

(Bild: Cathrine Stukhard / laif / picturedesk.com)

Steeped in history: Just above this is Landhaus Bacher in Mautern, Lower Austria, whose cuisine Lisl Wagner Bacher has turned into a cult and has now placed in the gifted hands of her son-in-law Thomas Dorfer. For 228 euros per person, you can enjoy a piece of Austrian culinary history - and the legendary caviar egg, which has been on the menu for 30 years. At 234 euros, the menu at Stüva in Ischgl is only slightly more expensive - but combines French-inspired cuisine with Tyrolean craftsmanship by Benjamin Parth.

On the menu at Landhaus Bacher for 30 years: the caviar egg

(Bild: ServusTV / Markus Christ)

The most expensive restaurant: For the price leader of top local gastronomy, it's back to the Austrian capital. For an evening at Juan Amador's, you should not only come with plenty of hunger and great anticipation, but also with deep pockets. For a menu at the restaurant, which has been awarded four forks (100 points) by Falstaff, five toques (19 points) by Gault&Millau and three stars by the Michelin Guide, you will have to fork out 395 euros per person.

Top class in terms of price - and cuisine: Juan Amador

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Juan Amador at Amador's Wirtshaus & Greißlerei

(Bild: Herbert Lehmann / picturedesk.com)

Is itworth it?
 Is it worth spending your hard-earned money in a toque, fork or starred restaurant? Of course, it's not essential for survival, but if you have the privilege of being able to afford it and enjoy it, the answer is clearly yes! The craftsmanship on offer in top-class local restaurants is in a class of its own and goes far beyond the mere consumption of food. It should rather be seen as art that, at its best, makes you full and happy.

Whether you like this kind of art is, as with so many things in life, a question of taste and, as we all know, that's a matter for debate ...