I am constantly searching for the perfect hole-in-the-wall family restaurant with fantastic food, friendly service, reasonable prices, a delightful ambiance and a laid-back vibe. This is more challenging than it sounds, but I have now stumbled upon one in Vienna.Goldmarie in the 12th district (Meidling, for the uninitiated) is the one restaurant in the last six months that I've completely fallen for. From the outside, Goldmarie looks just dilapidated enough to be tragically hip and bohemian. As soon as I opened the old wooden door, I knew I had arrived.
Ambience is usually challenging to describe, so I will let the images do it justice. 
Suffice it to say that I felt immediately transported to a place at the turn of the century where the traditional Gasthaus (traditional, basic restaurant) was the center of the neighborhood, where people congregated in the evenings to have a beeer or two (or three, or four). The place has what appear to be original wood floors, charming antique furniture stock-full of gorgeous trinkets, a mid-sized sun-filled dining room, a high dark-wood counter straight out of 1920, and -- white tablecloths. I'm a sucker for white tablecloths (high-end restaurants: please take notice).
Suffice it to say that I felt immediately transported to a place at the turn of the century where the traditional Gasthaus (traditional, basic restaurant) was the center of the neighborhood, where people congregated in the evenings to have a beeer or two (or three, or four). The place has what appear to be original wood floors, charming antique furniture stock-full of gorgeous trinkets, a mid-sized sun-filled dining room, a high dark-wood counter straight out of 1920, and -- white tablecloths. I'm a sucker for white tablecloths (high-end restaurants: please take notice).The prices are very crisis-friendly, with daily menus (which include soup or salad) at 5.90 Euro.
My twin sister, Dagmar, and I both ate Eiernockerln (roughly: pasta dumplings with eggs) with a green salad, and they were as good as at any restaurant at double the price. Whenever I eat out in Austria, I like to order organic, naturally "cloudy" apple or pear juice mixed with water. Goldmarie featured an especially delightful liquid -- it was fantastic: refreshing and light., very appropiate for a spring-like day. The lunch menu was solidly dominated by reliable Austrian staples (including Schnitzel, baked mushrooms, Gulasch, etc.) and judging by the happy (multilingual) voices at the other tables, everyone else was as happy as we were.
My twin sister, Dagmar, and I both ate Eiernockerln (roughly: pasta dumplings with eggs) with a green salad, and they were as good as at any restaurant at double the price. Whenever I eat out in Austria, I like to order organic, naturally "cloudy" apple or pear juice mixed with water. Goldmarie featured an especially delightful liquid -- it was fantastic: refreshing and light., very appropiate for a spring-like day. The lunch menu was solidly dominated by reliable Austrian staples (including Schnitzel, baked mushrooms, Gulasch, etc.) and judging by the happy (multilingual) voices at the other tables, everyone else was as happy as we were.As we dug in, we marveled at the fact that not more places like this exist. They should, and they deserve our business and our praise. We promised our friendly server (owner?) that we'd tell our friends about it, and how couldn't we? So, when you are in Vienna, take the U-6 metro (direction Siebenhirten) and get out at Philadelphiabruecke. From there, it's a 5-minute walk to one of the best neighborhood restaurants I've eaten at lately. Sure, it's not the first district, but you won't find a restaurant like this in a touristy area anyway.
As opposed to most restaurants in Austria, Goldmarie is open all day on Sunday.
Gasthaus Goldmarie (website in German only)
Hoffmeistergasse 7
1120 Vienna, 12th district (Meidling)
Phone: 01/817-0158
--By Judy Jenner
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