When we were in Salzburg, we tried the famous Sacher-torte chocolate cake at the Sacher hotel. According to history, it was invented by Franz Sacher, who made the cake in 1832 for royalty. He later completed his training as a chef, moved to Budapest before settling in Vienna.
Sacher's eldest son Eduard carried on his father's culinary legacy, completing his own training in Vienna with the Royal and Imperial Pastry Chef at the Demel bakery and chocolatier, during which time he perfected his father's recipe and developed the torte into its current form. The cake was first served at the Demel and later at the Hotel Sacher, established by Eduard in 1876. Both the Demel and the Sacher hotel claim their cake was the original, and taste much better. Stephen wanted to taste and judge it for himself.
When you walk inside Demel, you'll first smell butter, then you'll find glass cases filled with desserts. It seems this is for those who wish to take food away, as they ask you to move on upstairs. To dine in, head to the end of the walkway and wait to be seated, or go upstairs for a better chance of seating. Don't be surprised if there's a line at both places. Don't be surprised if non tourists skip the queue and find their own table!
Service is not this place strongest asset. They treat tourists poorly, or at least that is what I discovered. Before you say I have no clue on "European Service" I've already been traveling Europe for weeks, so I do comprehend that American service and European service is different. Even the Europeans from my group said that this place sucked in service, so I am glad I wasn't alone in that thought.
We were first given a table next to the waiting line. Dim, full of foot traffic... No thanks. I want some natural light please! When asked for a table with sunlight, we were told to wait, despite all the empty tables we saw... And wait we did, for a good 15 minutes until someone finally got us a table. We also noticed the "nicer" table has the "reserved" sign on the table... when a tourist tried sitting down, the table is taken. When an Austrian sat down, the reserved sign was removed.
We ordered the famous Sacher cake, plus some famous Viennese coffees. I got the Melange, Stephen got the Espresso with cream. The coffee was good, but no different than any other European coffee we've had.
Stephen said this cake was moist compared to Sacher Hotel, but lacked a thicker layer of apricot. He prefers the Sacher Hotel cake more.
There you have it, its off our bucket list. Next time I will just take the cake for "Take Away" and avoid the bad service.
To give this place 4 or more stars means you're lucky to have received good service, or, you have no clue what good service means. read more