Best Viennese Chocolate Cake (Sacher Torte) Ever
5 August, 2009Cafe Sacher – Sacher Torte (Vienna’s Chocolate Cake)
Now I finally can answer anyone who asked me “What is the best chocolate cake you had ever tasted?’ – Definitely Vienna’s Cafe Sacher – Sacher Torte! (Sidenote: why anyone would ask me that question, I also don’t know.)
The Sacher Torte (pronounced Sa-kei Totei) is a chocolate cake, invented in 1832 by Franz Sacher in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties.
The cake consists of two layers of dense, not overly sweet chocolate cake (traditionally a sponge cake) with a thin layer of apricot jam in the middle and dark chocolate icing on the top and sides. It is usually served with whipped cream without any sugar in it as most Viennese consider the Sacher Torte too “dry” to be eaten on its own.
The ambiance of Cafe Sacher (where we had the Sacher Torte) is also very classy. Even better than the Schonbrunn palace! Eating here makes me feel like a king!
We ordered apple strudel to complement our Sacher Torte (Chocolate cake) while our travelling mates ordered a yummy looking fruit ice-cream salad.
We rate Vienna Cafe Sacher:
- Food (Excellent Chocolate Cake!): 5/5
- Ambiance (Classy): 4.5/5
- Location (just behind Opera House, Karlplatz U-Bahn stn.): 4/5
- Value (expensive – €4 for a slice, but worth it): 4/5
- Service (Waiters ok; reception/cloakroom staff to improve): 3.5/5
You will be requested to deposit your coats in the cloakroom when you enter. It will cost you €1 per coat. However, if you promise the reception/cloakroom staff that you will keep your jacket/coat on while you dine at the cafe, they will allow you to do that.
However this was not made known to us, perhaps due to language barrier (reception staff could not communicate this in English)

See below for a video of the famous Sacher Torte. FYI. A 1kg cake with 16cm diameter cost about €30 !
Map of Cafe Sacher
Walk towards the back of the Opera building and look out for this Cafe Sacher entrance…
Comments (28)
kelvin
5 August, 2009 at 1:09 pmThe Sacher Torte looks delicious…is it affordable price? And is it only available at Cafe Sacher?
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Zhiqiang
5 August, 2009 at 1:44 pm@ Kelvin, oops forgot to indicate price – for that small piece, it cost €4 = S$8. Quite expensive but definitely worth it for this wonderful experience.
eunice
5 August, 2009 at 5:19 pmnever tried that before when I was in Vienna! hmm if it’s S$8, I think it’s reasonable cos it’s original, from Vienna! 😀
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Beijinger
5 August, 2009 at 7:36 pmPrice of the cake sounds expensive, but when you take the atmosphere, experience … into count, it really worth it.
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Zhiqiang
5 August, 2009 at 8:49 pm@eunice, @Beijinger
I totally agree with your comments on paying for the experience of eating in such a Viennese classy cafe and such a yummy chocolate cake. 🙂
ZQ
Jessen
6 August, 2009 at 1:01 amlol… no need to say we also know the food is expensive… :p
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26 February, 2010 at 5:10 pmI want a piece of that cake! I have no trouble paying good money for good food!
.-= Chocolate Covered Pretzels´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at =-.
dina
14 August, 2010 at 2:03 pmThe chocolate cake on its picture looks delicious. I hope I can visit that place so that i can taste it myself.
nerja
16 November, 2010 at 7:39 pmfor a cake like that i would happely give them all my monies :), it looks soo good!
auri
5 December, 2010 at 8:31 amThere is still some debate as which whether Sacher or Demel produce the true Sacher Torte. It is quite interesting to read about it.
andra
24 December, 2010 at 2:10 amHi guys! i ma from romania ..and i was in Wien…..it was amazing! I didn’t stay at this hotel but i enjoiyed the travell! Wien it’s an amazing place. I visited a lot of meseums and i ate a lot of delicious sweets!
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22 January, 2011 at 12:01 am[…] (Good Fish Fillets, dessert not as good as Vienna’s Sacher Torte): […]
Arielle Newcomb
9 April, 2011 at 12:31 amThis last summer, I left the States and headed to Austria for a study abroad tour there in Graz. Of course, I visited Vienna while I was in good ol’ Österreich. Interestingly, when I brought up the Sacher Torte, most Austrians will look at you and suggest that you try a less-commercialized version of the same cake to know its true potential. This seems like a strange concept, but many Austrians argue that the cake is actually better if you make it yourself!
That being said, the next time you go to Austria, you should try a couple other very traditional Austrian desserts, if a traveler wants “Truly Typical Austrian Sweets:”
– Marillenknödel (a treat made with sweet (as in flavoring, not type of) potato dumpling-like balls with an apricot in the middle, coated in bread crumbs) – this sounds bizarre, but it’s something everyone’s got to try! They can also come with strawberry, whipped cream, other berries, etc.
– Heisse Liebe (vanilla ice cream with warm/hot raspberry compote and whipped cream)
– Kastanienreis (a whipped cream-chestnut concoction with cinnamon squeezed through a potato-ricer)
But if you’re in for something chocolate, the Sacher is always a good choice! 🙂
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
9 April, 2011 at 12:34 amthanks for sharing – i tried most of what you suggested but i guess i am in for something sweet – thus Sacher will always be my top choice!
summerhathway
14 December, 2011 at 7:53 pmthis post so nice and interesting one to read.
vposting
24 January, 2012 at 2:21 amThis website is my inspiration , rattling fantastic style and perfect written content .
Grace
7 May, 2012 at 9:27 pmDear Zhiqiang & Tingyi,
May I know how many days should I stay in Prague & Vienna?
Is Prague like Melbourne & Vienna like Sydney in Australia, whereby the latter is more cosmopolitan?
Regards,
Grace
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
7 May, 2012 at 9:31 pmPrague – about 2-3 days to explore the city at a leisurely pace + cater 1-2 days to explore the neighbouring towns e.g. Karlstejn and Kutna Hora like we did
Vienna – about 2-3 days to explore the city at a leisurely pace
Prague and Vienna both are very old cities and are in no way like sydney and not very cosmopolitan.
greg
11 May, 2012 at 12:20 amhi there,
got back from a trip to prague, budapest and vienna a few weeks ago. while planning, i found ur site most helpful 🙂 thank you for sharing!
Stacia Abrew
10 June, 2012 at 1:41 amI have been checking out many of your articles and i must say clever stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your website.
Susannah Carloni
10 June, 2012 at 6:39 amIts like you read my mind! You seem to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a little bit, but other than that, this is great blog. A fantastic read. I will certainly be back.
Banan
10 June, 2012 at 4:59 pmPretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I’ve truly enjoyed surfing around your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again very soon!
Beth Nassimi
11 June, 2012 at 8:43 pmSuper-Duper website! I am loving it!! Will be back later to read some more. I am taking your feeds also
DanielFoodDiary
20 August, 2012 at 11:27 pmI had a really good experience at Vienna and this cafe. Service was very good, and the staff did speak okay English 🙂
Zhiqiang & Tingyi
20 August, 2012 at 11:51 pm@DanielFoodDiary – the service we received back then was just alright but the chocolate cake is definitely something worth talking about.
Fel
12 April, 2013 at 2:38 pmI’m drooling by just looking at the photos. Looks really yummy 🙂
Dominga Measheaw
15 October, 2015 at 8:09 pmGreat post