Sachertorte

I made a trip to Café Sacher at one point early in the trip to try the renowned Sachertorte, what Hotel Sacher claims is "the most famous cake in the world since 1832." The entrance to Café Sacher is directly opposite the Staatsoper on the busting Philharmonikerstraße in Viennas first district. Our group of eight arrives and is seated almost immediately (unfortunately at four tables of two, rather than together). A few minutes after being seated, a waiter approaches us with a "bitte," and after a second of hesitation on deciding which coffee beverages we wanted, the waiter briskly walks away without a word. This is one of my first experiences with the brusque service that typifies pretty much the entirety of the Viennese food service industy.

When the waiter returned a few minutes later, after serving practically everyone in the room except for us, we each ordered the Sachertorte and a coffee. (I ordered an Einspänner.) A few minutes later, our orders arrived, the Sachertorte served elegantly on a small plate with a fork, napkin, a dallop of whipped cream, and a Hotel Sacher chocolate medallion. Pressing my fork into the slice of cake, I was initially met with slight resistance by the chocolate ganache until finally breaking through the rest of the cake. The first bite was... underwhelming. Perhaps the whole experience was just overhyped, but I found the cake to be mostly dry and unimpressive. The chocolate medallion may have been the best part. Well, at least the coffee was good.  We finished and managed to flag the waiter for a bill. my half of the bill ended up at just over ten euros, which was anticipated, but still felt pricy after the disappointing fare.

On the way out, I stopped by the restroom, where I passed by a door to the kitchen. A glimpse through the open door yielded a telling sight: there were at least 80 plates of Sachertorte on a countertop, ready to be taken away by waiters as they were ordered. I felt as though I had been scammed, to an extent. These cakes were clearly mass produced and definitely not made with the same care that they were back in the earlier days of Café Sacher; it has become a tourist trap.

As much as I would love to habe been able to experience the glory of the Sachertorte at some point in the past, ff I ever visit Vienna again, I think I'll avoid Café Sacher and advise others to do the same.