Restaurant Amador Vienna Michelin Three-Star Review: Two Worlds, One Rivalry

In Austria’s fine dining scene, few rivalries are as emblematic as Amador vs. Steirereck — a quiet duel between Spanish intensity and Viennese precision, fought on the highest culinary stage. When Restaurant Amador was awarded three Michelin stars in 2019 — the first and only restaurant in Austria to achieve this — it caused quiet astonishment across Vienna’s culinary circles. A Spaniard who had relocated his restaurant from Germany to Vienna had achieved the country’s highest culinary honour within just a few years, while every self-respecting Viennese diner knew that Steirereck was meant to be the country’s true number one.

But first, a bit of history. Until 2009, the Michelin Guide Austria briefly covered the entire country before withdrawing and leaving behind a culinary landscape where Gault Millau set the tone. From 2015 onwards, Michelin returned — though only for Vienna and Salzburg, as part of the Main Cities of Europe guide. For years, Austria lacked a true international benchmark — until 2025, when Michelin finally released a new nationwide edition, granting Steirereck its long-overdue third star. Since then, the culinary hierarchy of the country seems restored — at least on paper.

So what makes Amador so special? Hidden within an old wine cellar in Vienna’s Grinzing district, the restaurant feels almost like a Spanish bodega — and that is no coincidence. Juan Amador infuses his plates with a distinctly Iberian sensibility. Between Carabineros, Percebes, and Ajo Blanco, only the occasional “Tafelspitz 2.0” reminds diners that they are still in Austria. For those expecting traditional Viennese fine dining, it may all seem a little “Spanish” — in the most charming sense of the phrase.

The Cuisine

Juan Amador cooks with restraint and precision, yet with an unmistakable pursuit of depth and intensity. His cuisine is not a study in Nordic minimalism but a decadent concentration of flavour. Here, reduction means not subtraction but distillation: butter-rich sauces, layered aromatics, and flavours that carry remarkable weight while remaining almost weightless.

The tasting menu, aptly titled “Momentaufnahme” (“Snapshot”), begins playfully with Tapas & Snacks — from “Waldspaziergang” (“A Walk in the Woods”) to “Wiener Tafelspitz 2.0” and “Mar y Muntanya”, a surf-and-turf prelude to the courses ahead. These small bites set the stage for the main act, where Amador’s distinctive voice emerges in full.

It opens with a Carabinero from Huelva in Ajo Blanco — a nod to his Spanish roots — followed by Breton Saint-Pierre with Percebes (goose barnacles), in Escabeche and finished with leek oil. The Tyrolean Schlutzkrapfen with scallop, spinach, and Alba truffle may sound Austrian, but taste decidedly Mediterranean in their concentrated opulence.

The progression continues with the main course quail, red cabbage, chervil root, and Quatre Épices, before easing into the sweet finale: “Omelette Surprise” and “Apfelstrudel 2.0.” Finally, a few Pequeñas Locuras — “little crazinesses” — bring the meal to a close: a frozen lollipop, perhaps, or a delicate Crema Catalana.

The wine pairing, however, falls short of the kitchen’s brilliance. Competent but uninspired, it gives the impression that the €195 supplement serves the margin more than the diner.

And then, of course, there’s the question of price. At €395 for the menu, Amador occupies the very top tier, even for Vienna. In the informal rivalry of Amador vs. Steirereck, the comparison is inevitable: Steirereck’s grand tasting menu costs €265 — a significant difference, and one that invites reflection. Yet Amador’s prices may reflect not just ambition, but his pursuit of a singular fusion between Austrian precision and Spanish world-class intensity.

Verdict

Amador delivers extraordinary flavour concentration in the atmospheric setting of a Grinzing wine cellar. For those visiting Vienna to experience classic Austrian cuisine, it may not be the first choice — but it is undeniably world-class culinary theatre. At times, the flavours are even more convincing than those of Amador’s celebrated peers in Spain.