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

Tortelier Café & Patisserie (Salzburg, AUSTRIA) ★★★☆☆

After checking into our hotel and having our luggage transferred into our room, it was time to explore the old town of Salzburg. We decided to do a walking tour by leaving our car behind in the hotel garage and that turned out to be a poor decision. As the rain poured harder and harder, we ended up sitting down near the edge of the old town for a drink while we waited for the pouring to slow down a bit.

Situated just a few steps from the old town, Tortelier Café & Patisserie was the perfect place for us to rest our feet after all the walking we have done in Munich.

Tortelier is a cozy café not far from the Mozart Residence (Mozart-Wohnhaus). It’s known for its handcrafted cakes and an extensive beverage menu. The café was packed with rain-dodgers — people who seemed to be escaping the downpour just like we were.

Matcha latte — Not so much matcha flavor as I first hoped (but this ain't Kyoto!). It was very, very light.

Mandarin cheesecake — There was a fair amount of acidity coming from the mandarin compote topping. I thought the balance was slightly off.

Apfel Torte — What sets this multi-layered German apple torte apart from a rustic apple pie is its more structured base with a sponge cake and shortcrust pastry, topped nicely with a thick, juicy apple compote. Not bad and I thought it was a little better than the cheesecake.

As the rain was about to ease up, we settled the bill and started our march towards our destinations, of which there were quite a handful in the old town. Thankfully, we didn’t have a dinner plan for tonight, so we should have all the time in the world to explore this music town.

And we managed to check quite a few of these tourist spots off our list despite the poor weather conditions.

Mozart Geburtshaus (Mozart's Birthplace) — Arguably the most frequently visited tourist attraction in the city and an essential pilgrimage site for music lovers.  Located at No. 9 Getreidegasse in the heart of Salzburg, the bright yellow townhouse is the exact location where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756.

Florianibrunnen (St. Florian's Fountain) — A landmark historic monument located in the center of the Alter Markt (Old Market) square, just a short walk from the Residenzplatz.

DomQuartier Salzburg



Residenzbrunnen (Residence Fountain) — A magnificent 17th-century Baroque monument located in the center of Residenzplatz.

Food Rating: 5.7/10

Price: €€€

Address: Wolf-Dietrich-Straße 8, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

Tel: +43 664 128-2207

Website: https://www.tortelier.at/

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 6:00pm (Fri - Mon)

Die Weisse (Salzburg, AUSTRIA) ★★★☆☆

Getting our rental car at Munich’s main station took much longer than we originally thought. Since we had a lot of ground to make up, we decided to scrap our original plan to visit Hallstatt and go straight to Salzburg instead.

It’s my second visit to Salzburg, but to be brutally honest, I don’t remember much from my first trip other than the meal at Hangar-7.

By the time we crossed the Austrian border, it was well past 2:30pm. Since we haven’t had time for lunch yet, I decided to swap our planned dinner venue for a late lunch.

Die Weisse is Salzburg’s oldest wheat beer brewery and a highly popular, traditional Austrian tavern (Wirtshaus). 

Known for its historic charm, vibrant neighborhood atmosphere, and excellent home-brewed beers, it’s a staple for both locals and travelers looking for authentic Salzburg beer culture.

At 3pm, the restaurant was still buzzing with customers, so we knew the news about its popularity was true (even despite the recent change of ownership).

Die Weisse non-alcoholic wheat beer (€5.9) — A meal at a brewery wouldn’t be complete without trying one of their beers, so since I was driving, I went with the non-alcoholic version. It tasted more like a soft drink!

Small pretzel 🥨 (€3.20) — So this was the small size, huh?

Ladies and gentlemen, The Pretzel Man!

Variation of dumplings (€16.9) — Die Weisse is said to have some of the best Austrian dumplings in town, so it was on our bucket list.

For anyone Chinese who knows anything about dumplings, we like the skin to be a little thinner but the wrapper here was noticeably thicker. With crumbs, bacon, and minced meat in the fillings, it came with little surprise that there was a little crunch to go with the meat. Pretty interesting texture.

Grilled chicken fillet supreme (€14.9) — The chicken fillet was reasonably tender working well with the peppery creamy sauce.

This was a pretty satisfying first meal in Austria. We were just glad we decided to pass on Hallstatt. With the amount of rain we’ve been getting so far today, it wouldn’t have made for a pleasant drive.

Food Rating: 5.9/10

Price: €€€

Address: Rupertgasse 10, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

Tel: +43 662 872-246

Website: https://www.dieweisse-wirtshaus.at/

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 12:00am (Mon - Sat)

Dorint City Hotel Salzburg (Salzburg, AUSTRIA)

Salzburg isn’t the best place to find 5-star hotel accommodations in Austria, so during our stay, I was mainly looking for more space and easy access to Old Town Salzburg.

The Dorint City Hotel Salzburg came onto my radar largely because it offers larger room sizes. For a family with a big appetite for space, it was the top priority.

As a proper 4-star hotel in its own right, the Dorint City Hotel Salzburg is located slightly outside the city’s historic town centre. A walk to most attractions takes around 15 minutes. But since Salzburg is very walkable, that wasn’t a big issue (until we were hit with heavy rain).

Check-in was very efficient, and the staff were among the friendliest I’ve seen on this trip.

We booked a junior suite with a living-room area and a separate bedroom.

The bedroom layout worked well, but I didn’t like the yellowish lighting, which made everything feel dated.

The junior suite also had a sofa bed, which was more comfortable than it looked.

Like the bedroom, the bathroom was really spacious.

The only unusual part of the design was that the toilet was located right near the entrance rather than inside the bathroom. So, we had to walk a bit to get to the toilet.

While we were happy with the amount of space, the room itself looked tired and dated. It’s definitely due for a renovation.

Rating: ❤❤❤

Price: €€€

Address: Sterneckstraße 20, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

Tel: +43 662 882-0310

Website: https://hotel-salzburg.dorint.com/

Carpe Diem Finest Fingerfood (Salzburg, AUSTRIA) ★★☆☆☆

If you haven’t already watched Dead Poets Society, now’s the time to grab that DVD (or stream it — it’s 2025 after all). Robin Williams’ unforgettable portrayal of John Keating left a lasting impression on me, especially his now-iconic call to “Carpe Diem” — seize the day. That phrase has stuck with me ever since, becoming a kind of life motto.

So when I found out that Salzburg had a Michelin-starred restaurant named Carpe Diem, it felt like fate. Located in the heart of the city’s charming Old Town, Carpe Diem Finest Fingerfood looked like the perfect place to seize the evening.

Carpe Diem Finest Fingerfood became our second Michelin-starred dining experience in Salzburg (after lunch at Restaurant Ikarus @Hangar-7) for the second meal in a roll. Opened in 2005 and brainchild of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, the restaurant is helmed by Austrian Chef Franz Fuiko, a former "Best chef of the Year" award winner in Austria (1994). After stints in Marseille and Colorado, he brought his talents back home and now delivers a cuisine that’s classic with a playful twist — at least in theory.



The restaurant occupies a two-storey building — a ground floor café and bar, and a more refined dining room upstairs. 



Though honestly, the main dining room felt more like a tea salon than a fine dining temple.



The restaurant offers a fairly extensive a la carte menu and a few set menus differed by the number of courses. We ended up ordering the 4-course set at €75 which seemed to offer the best value for money.



Bread was first served with a special sea-salt and plain butter.



Our amuse bouche was a fun nod to the “fingerfood” concept with beef tartare paired and mashed potatoes, cleverly served in a crispy cone. 

A further amuse bouche came in the form of a poached char fish with broccoli, pea purée and radish. A bit more forgettable than the previous nibble. 



The first course of the set menu was a visually stunning starter. A sugar cracker topped with coconut ice cream, chili powder, chorizo, and edible leaves sat on top of a sweet corn pudding with poached langoustines hidden underneath.

Honestly, we didn't know where to start with this dish. Neither did our server offer any hint on how the chef thought this dish was best enjoyed.



We ended up smashing the cracker and combining bits of everything on the plate. The flavors were intriguing but clashed rather than harmonized. Creative, sure. Cohesive? Not quite.


 
The second course was less complicated this time - a Danube salmon showered with a parsley foam and served with an avocado flan and fermented garlic. This was my first time having Danube salmon. 

I have long heard about its delightful texture and taste which is quite similar to tuna but it was surprisingly disappointing. The meat was very mushy and the taste was a little too fishy for me. I didn't like this dish at all. 



Barbarie duck followed and finally we had something with a passing grade. The duck fillets were nicely roasted to medium before finishing with some lavender, peach and fennel cream.



Last in line was our dessert named "Walk through the forest". Despite the decent presentation, it was a poorly executed one that included a pistachio mousse, white chocolate mousse, black currant jelly, black currant sorbet, wild berry ragout and fresh wild berries. 

There was only sour taste in it but nothing more.



Apart from the largely underwhelming food, service was also under expectation. It has been one of the weakest Michelin starred restaurant we have ever dined at.




Food Rating: 5.9/10
Price: $$$
Address: Getreidegasse 50, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
Tel: +43 662 848800
Website: www.carpediemfinestfingerfood.com/en