Let’s go swimming ? – Dinner at Badeschiff

Beef tartar with avocado

After a long time I finally made it to a location that has been on my to-eat-list for a long time: The Badeschiff. Truth to be told: Winter may not me the optimal time, but it was still a good experience.

The Badeschiff (pool ship) is located in Vienna’s center, swimming in the Donaukanal (danube channel) near the star observatory Urania. It is a project by well known cook Christian Petz, who is famous for a creative reinterpretation of traditional Viennese cuisine. The restaurant looks really nice at night, though the area is a bit shabby during daytime. It has also a club downstairs to dance off the calories later on…

Badeschiff - Outside
Badeschiff – Outside

The inside is quite spartanic and the view is definetely better during summer (we just had grey clouds). The seats are not really comfy and it may get a little bit cold, you should be prepared for that. Being on a ship you would expect nothing less than these disgusting ferryboat toilets – and basically that’s what you get when you visit the bathroom. Well, maybe that is part of the concept too, but still kind of strange.

Badeschiff - Inside
Badeschiff – Inside

First thing you realize when you get into the restaurant is the omnipresence of advertisement. Petz is not only a good cook, but also an excellent entrepreneur – having a lot of partnerships with companies that plaster their logos all over the restaurant and the menue. The service is like the interior concept: very relaxed, very informal, trying a bit too hard to be cool. In our case they were just unattentive and not particularly friendly. And unprofessional, but to that in the end. But let’s start with the evening’s star – the food:

Cover: Bread, butter and homemade chilisauce
Cover: Bread, butter and homemade chilisauce

The cover (2.5) was OK, not outstanding though. Bread was fresh and the chilisauce too sweet for my taste (but I usually eat extremely hot). For the menue, you can choose freely 3-5 courses (34-51 €) which is nice because you can customize your evening very nice. And off we go:

Marinated calf's head with mushroom tabouleh and lamb's lettuce
Marinated calf’s head with mushroom tabouleh and lamb’s lettuce

A great dish, citing an Austrian classic. The combination with the mushroom tabouleh was quite nice, giving the dish an exotic drift and also a nice contrast in texture (the grains against the tender meat). Served a bit too cold, but a great start!

Beef tartar with avocado
Beef tartar with avocado

An absolute highlight and maybe one of the best beef tartares I’ve ever eaten. Great texture, very meaty and well seasoned. I also loved the avocado under it, adding it’s nutty taste to the beautiful meat. Unfortunately it came out of the fridge and was quite cold – but still great.

Porcini parfait with calf's sweetbread and bean salad
Porcini parfait with calf’s sweetbread and bean salad

I am no particular fan of this parfait/gelatine combination, but this was quite ok. The porcini were a nice addition to the offaly taste of the sweetbread. Again too cold.

Spicy fishsoup "Holy Moly" with red curry
Spicy fishsoup „Holy Moly“ with red curry

Looks boring, but was delicious! The soup is kind of a signature dish of the restaurant – and with reason. A beautiful balance between fishy and exotic aromas, nicely balanced hotness and a beautiful twist of fresh coriander. Yes!

Duck tripe with green tea pasta and shrimpball
Duck tripe with green tea pasta and shrimpball

The Viennese kitchen is full of beautiful offal-dishes. This one here is an asian citation of this tradition, combining the great texture of the fine cut tripe with the exotic aroma of green tea pasta. A great dish! The shrimpball tasted like paper and was unnecessary.

Pulpo with black beans and white polenta
Pulpo with black beans and white polenta

My personal favorite of this evening: The pulpo was amazingly tender and nicely grilled. The combination with black beans was amazing, the mellow and vegetal taste brought out the aroma of the pulpo even more. The white polenta tasted fresh and brought another texture in play. Well balanced dish – also in terms of color!

Ox cheek in elderjus with licorice black salsify and mashed potatos
Ox cheek in elderjus with licorice black salsify and mashed potatos

Another highlight: The ox cheek was very tender and fatty, very tasty. In this dish the combination with sweet aromas was very interesting – the thick jus was flavored with elderberry. My personal highlight was the black salsify that was flavored with licorice – giving the dish the character of a childhood memory.

Handmade chocolate desserts by "Xocolat"
Handmade chocolate desserts by „Xocolat“

The dessert was disappointing. I am a big fan of Xocolat but this tasted very generic. Lots of sweetness, but no real variation.

All in all it was a nice evening with great food but mixed feelings. Location and service were average at best, the food was great and the prices were absolutely fair. A place you can go with friends to have a nice meal, so that the nice company consoles you for the rest. We paid 235€ for 4 persons (covert, menues and one bottle of wine).

Epilogue: I paid the bill with credit card. After two days the staff charged me (without asking) an additional bottle of wine, we did not consume. This is unprofessional at least. To clear it up it took weeks and endless email conversations, in which the staff accused me of having had the bottle and claiming to give me back the money as accomodation. Not nice.

Timon
Spracharbeiter. Kommunikator. Sprecher. Trainer. Historiker. Leidenschaftlicher Koch. Foodie.