A Series of Unsuccessful Renovations @ Fabios, Vienna, Austria

MalContent: Fabios Restaurant, Tuchlauben 6, 1010 Vienna, Austria

Fabios has enjoyed the unspoken title of Vienna's most glamorous restaurant for quite a number of years. There was nowhere quite so cool, so trendy, so in and so lust worthy to dine, see and be seen, as Fabios. Even its sleek doors shutting down for a few months, during the summer of 2012, for extensive renovations, was accompanied by innovative and funky billboards advertising the various supplies needed to complete the renovation process, all in restaurant menu format! How very London and how super imaginative! So far, so fantastic! Well, not really. My very first meal after the grand re-opening, was a fantastic flop. Yes, the service was attentive as always, but that's really where I have to cease with compliments. The restaurant seating area was expended, but the atmosphere was somewhat colder, more austere and canteen like. Absolutely no flowers or decorative touches, just a sea of empty tables. At 8pm on a Thursday night, this would be unimaginable in the good old-Fabios days!

My party of five and I were plied with many baskets of very Trattoria-ish, stale-ish baskets of bread, to make up for the ridiculously shrunk portions of food! Serving my Branzino with only a sauce of pureed vegetables and no accompaniment on offer, even at cost, is not cool, it just feels like there is a serious case of food scarcity! My summarizing impression was lots of water, bread, minuscule (in size and number) calamari in the 'Calamari Fritti' starter, white table cloths, and a shockingly expended price point, which properly sank in when I faced a 400 Euro bill for six, with no alcohol and two people sharing starters! We are not know for the size of our appetites, but not a single member of my party was satisfied!

The bar area has not fared better. The trendy bar booths have been reupholstered in cheap looking, flower reliefed purple velvet!! Go figure!! The atmosphere was more Italian village bar, than cosmopolitan chic, coupled with dense clouds of cigarette smoke, as apparently the renovation budget did not include a more efficient ventilation system! Please, restaurant Gods, please bring old Fabios back!!