L’Osteria (Salzburg, AUSTRIA) ★★★☆☆

With the rain pouring harder and harder, we decided we should find a quick lunch spot rather than leaving Salzburg for Augsburg immediately. Luckily, L’Osteria was conveniently located close to where we parked our car.

Ideally located in the city centre of Salzburg, L’Osteria is a casual Italian restaurant and bar, best known for its exceptional large, thin-crust pizzas and freshly made pasta. This place is huge.

Their wood-fired pizzas are obviously the calling card, and there were plenty coming out of the kitchen.

Beef orecchiette with lemon (€15.9) — The al dente orecchiette pasta came with beef fillet strips, sweet peppers, and rocket leaves. I love the firm, slightly chewy texture of the pasta, and the extra kick from the sauce was a great match.

Degli Artisti pizza (€16.5) — A deluxe wood-fired pizza topped with fresh mushrooms, cheese, ham, salami, pepperoni, peppers, and more. Watching closely at our neighbors’ pizzas right out of the kitchen, I could already tell what was coming — and just how generous the portions would be. No wonder our server told us that one pasta and one pizza would be more than enough for the three of us.

Little nugget was trying to measure how big it was with his arm!

The dough was probably a little too soft for me, especially in the middle where all the toppings were sitting, but it wasn’t bad at all.

I have to admit, it was a real jaw-dropper when the pizza landed in front of us. I didn’t think we could finish it even with empty stomachs — and in the end, we didn’t.

Food Rating: 5.9/10

Price: €€

Address: Dreifaltigkeitsgasse 10, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

Tel: +43 662 8706-5810

Website: http://www.losteria.at/

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 11:00pm (Sun - Wed), 11:00am - 12:00am (Thu - Sat)

Gelateria La Romana dal 1947 (Salzburg, AUSTRIA) ★★★☆☆

We have one last mission to accomplish before leaving Salzburg for our next destination — Augsburg.

Situated on Linzer Gasse, a vibrant, historic pedestrian street in the heart of Salzburg, Gelateria La Romana dal 1947 is an artisanal gelateria celebrated for its exceptionally smooth textures and traditional recipes originating from Rimini, Italy.

At 11am, the gelateria had just barely opened, so it wasn’t surprising that there was no one else around.

Some of the signature flavors here include their rich Pesto di pistacchio, Crema dal 1947, and the traditional Stracciatella Grand Cru.

Little nugget went with two scoops of gelato on a cup, including their signature Crema dal 1947 — essentially vanilla with lemon peel and strawberry.

Gelato brioche (€7.5) — We didn’t have breakfast this morning, so I was in need of something heavier. This came with three scoops of gelato, and I decided to go with Crema dal 1947, Pesto di pistacchio, and salted caramel.

I thought it would taste a bit like an ice-cream sandwich, but I was wrong. The gelato actually acted more like a big slab of butter inside the brioche. Interesting mouthfeel, but not exactly what I had imagined. If the brioche had been slightly toasted, I think it would’ve tasted even better. Of course, the gelato would melt much faster too — a double-edged sword.

Crepes with gelato (€8) — Jelloman had the crepes with gelato, and she reported back that it was nothing special. She thought the Nutella was a little too overpowering for the gelato.

Our last mission in Salzburg was to climb the stairs to Aussicht Kapuzinerberg Nord, a vantage point with stunning, postcard-like views of Salzburg and Salzburg Castle (Festung Hohensalzburg).

With sore feet and rain pouring down, I thought we wouldn’t make it. In fact, a couple of ladies we met along the way told us they decided to give up midway.

We stopped for a breather halfway up…

But our perseverance finally paid off. The view from up here was truly magnificent, overlooking the entire town of Salzburg and there it was — the castle, just like we have seen on the postcards.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: €€€

Address: Linzer Gasse 3, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

Tel: +43 662 243376

Website: https://www.gelateriaromana.com/75-gelateria-salzburg.php

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 9:00pm (Mon - Thu), 11:00am - 10:00pm (Fri - Sun)

Dean and David Makartplatz (Salzburg, AUSTRIA) ★☆☆☆☆

I thought Sunday would be the hardest day of the week for us to find a dining spot, but it turned out that Monday wasn’t any easier. As the official “rest day” for some restaurants that open on Saturday and/or Sunday, Salzburg’s dining scene on Monday was at a standstill.

After our extensive tour covering many of the city’s top attractions, we returned to the same area we started — near Makartplatz — to look for our dinner venue. But we soon found out that more than half of the restaurants weren’t open due to their regular closures.

Uncle Van, a popular Vietnamese restaurant, was one of the few that opened. However, as soon as we sat down, we realized they had a special “queuing” mechanism—not only for tables, but for taking orders as well. Apparently, their kitchen was way over capacity, and our server told us to sit back, relax, and wait our turn to be served.

After about 10 minutes, we sized up the situation and didn’t take long to realize that all of our neighbors were still waiting for their turn to place their order. It wasn’t hard to estimate that the wait would be a long one so we knew better and decided to look for supper elsewhere.

So the search began again, and we finally found a branch of Dean & David at Makartplatz, just across the street from Mozart Residence (Mozart-Wohnhaus), for a quick bite.

Dean & David is a restaurant chain focused on healthy eating and drinking. With around 100 branches across European countries like Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, it’s a melting pot of different cuisines serving everything from fruit juices and salad bowls to more.

We started with a couple of juices… Then we ordered two chicken teriyaki wraps.

I used to have these kinds of wraps all the time when I was in Vancouver, but this one was a totally different experience. Inside the super thick wrapper, there were all kinds of vegetables, including carrot, zucchini, and greens mixed with some pretty bland chicken fillets. But what really got us puzzled were the patches of rice.

With a wrapper as thick as our car tire, and a lack of teriyaki sauce, the whole thing really didn’t taste like something you’d want to put into your mouth. I’m okay with eating healthy, but even then, the healthy dish has to taste decent.

I'm glad we kind of overachieved with our sightseeing schedule tonight. Tomorrow, we can enjoy a late start.

Food Rating: 3.3/10

Price: €€

Address: Makartplatz 3, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

Tel: +43 662 230895

Website: https://shop.deandavid.at/

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 8:00pm daily