Restaurants

Lucky are the folk of Smithfield that they get such a thoroughly modern Austrian café on their doorstep. Somehow this small square gem doesn’t feel crowded, every inch of the light, airy space being used well. Pale wooden tables run along inside the shop’s glass window. An L-shaped counter juts into the room, displaying freshly made open sandwiches on rye, a gorgeous strudel crammed with wafer-thin slices of apple and almond, stacks of vanilla kipferl (a traditional Austrian biscuit) and a moist doorstopper apfelkuchen (Jewish apple cake). The meat and cheese counter completes the L with wiener, debreziner and käsekrainer sausages. A back corner is given over to shelves full of imported Austrian food and drink – wines, beers, Staud’s pickles, pumpkin-seed oils, baskets of fresh bread. The coffee is outstanding and comes beautifully presented: a double espresso served on a small tray with petite glass of water and piece of chocolate. Lunch specials change daily and might include frittaten soup (fine strips savoury pancakes in clear soup), cold pasta salads and hot sausages.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009