Well there is no doubt that Austria can be expensive but when you’re visiting a new country it’s important to put your sensible head aside and taste some of the local cuisine.

So I did just that starting with Austrian beef goulash that I’ve been wanting to try since I got here.

I met an English guy named Duncan through couch surfing and he managed to find us a local bar that was known for its great goulash. Besides this it was very obviously also known for its collection of beers! 21,000 beer cans can be found lining the walls of this bar. If you want to check it out for yourself the restaurant is called Bier and Bierli.

I ordered the small beef ghoulash with dumplings, a well known dish originating from Hungary but a popular dish in both Austria and Czech Republic. I’d tasted it before so knew what to expect but was very satisfied with trying it outside of England. The dish is flavoursome and the beef cooked perfectly so that it falls away on your fork. I really do like this dish and was able to finish it all unlike the salty Slovakian food I tried earlier this week!

For dessert I suggested we tried the original Sacher Torte which is, to put it bluntly, a form of chocolate cake. It is best served with whipped cream and originated from Hotel Sacher in Vienna. So of course we had to go there to taste it!

Because of its world wide presence, despite the cake being very pricey and the restaurant rather fancy, there are a lot of tourists inside with the same idea of just tasting a slice of the cake.

At €7.10 a slice this could be the most expensive cake I ever taste. The elegant decor, well presented professional waiting staff and beautifully rich taste of the cake somehow make the price tag worthwhile.

Besides, when in Rome… Or in this case Vienna.