What would Carnival be without a herring feast? In Vienna, this not-so-low-calorie specialty presents a dilemma of choice even in 2025.

VIENNA.at has gathered some venues for you that offer the traditional fish delight, which is also known for curing many a hangover during the (merry) festive season. We have focused on venues that offer these fish specialties around Ash Wednesday.

Enjoying Herring Feast in Vienna: Venue Tips

This year, the Alt Wiener Gasthaus Buchecker&Sohn im Gußhaus is once again offering the ever-popular herring feast from March 4 – 7, 2025. On Tuesday, February 11, 2025, fresh jumbo mussels in a sailor-style white wine vegetable broth will be available all day from 12:00 – 23:00, served with fresh white bread.

Alt Wiener Gasthaus Buchecker&Sohn im Gußhaus
Gußhausstrasse 23, 1040 Vienna
01 / 929 56 74

At the traditional herring feast in the Bootshaus, there is an exclusive buffet. In addition to the classic herring salad (classic and vegan), an exquisite bouillabaisse fish soup, the famous Fish & Chips “Oxford : Cambridge,” and the Bootshaus Paella are offered. When: March 5 from 6 PM.

Das Bootshaus
An der unteren Alten Donau 61, 1220 Vienna
+43 1 24 100 811 info@dasbootshaus.at

For Luxury Lovers: Noble Fish Delight in Vienna

On Ash Wednesday, Wednesday, March 5, 2025, from 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM, the Salon Vier Jahreszeiten & Kaunitz offers a lavish buffet with exquisite cold and warm fish dishes and a selected dessert buffet.

Price: € 159.00 per person including a glass of champagne, wine pairing, non-alcoholic drinks, coffee/tea, and aquavit as a digestif, and up to 4 hours of free parking.

InterContinental Vienna
Johannesgasse 28, 1030
Reservations by phone at +43 1 71122 110 or at vienna@ihg.com

To properly usher in Lent at Pichlmaiers zum Herkner, guests are offered a four-course Ash Wednesday menu on March 5, 2025. The price for the four-course menu is € 78.00 per person. There is also a five-course menu for € 86.00 per person.

Pichlmaiers zum Herkner
Dornbacher Straße 123, 1170 Vienna
Reservations by phone at +43 (0)1 480 1228 or on the website

Annually on Ash Wednesday, the Hotel Stefanie traditionally hosts a “herring feast.” Guests can look forward to a special culinary experience. In the banquet hall of the Restaurant Stefanie, the kitchen and restaurant team will spoil guests with a variety of delicacies from the buffet, ranging from oysters to pike-perch. The herring feast takes place on Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025, at 6:00 PM.

Price: € 92.00 per person, including aperitif and music, excluding drinks.

Restaurant Stefanie at Hotel Stefanie
Taborstraße 12, 1020 Vienna
Reservations at +43 1 211 50 0 or online

On March 5, 2025, from 6:30 PM, the Lusthaus im Prater invites you to a herring feast. Guests can expect a selection of matjes variations, shrimp cocktail, house-cured salmon with honey-dill-mustard sauce, and vegetable antipasti. Main courses include, among others, salmon fillet poached in Riesling bouillon, fried giant prawns, and baked Styrian poulard breast. Desserts such as curd-yogurt cream with fruit puree and oven-fresh apple strudel with vanilla sauce are offered to conclude. The price per person is 49 euros.

Donaubräu at the Danube Tower
On Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025, from 6:00 PM, Donaubräu offers a varied fish buffet focusing on the diversity of fish appetizers. The price per person is 37 euros. A reservation is required.

Fixed Date on Ash Wednesday: Herring Feast at Restaurant Handwerk

On March 5, the Restaurant Handwerk hosts the legendary herring feast. Gourmets can look forward to luxurious delights, including not only wonderful fish and seafood but also fine meat and vegetable options. In the charming guest garden, guests start the evening under the open sky with an Oyster & Champagne Bar. The Handwerk team prepares oyster bread with pomegranate and shallot vinaigrette, lemon-wasabi-yuzu foam, and ketacaviar with blinis, crème fraîche, and chives alongside Fines de Claire, Gillardeau, and Belon oysters. The fish buffet continues with three interpretations of herring, a selection of smoked fish, shrimp towers, and a salad buffet. A fish consommé with saffron vegetable pearls, salmon Wellington in puff pastry with Dijon mustard crust, and various fish variations from sea bass and cod, as well as Rigatoni alle Vongole, complement the offer.

Not only fish lovers will get their money’s worth at the herring feast in the Handwerk Restaurant: Duck breast “Royal” with orange reduction and purple potatoes and veal medallions “Milanese style” with lemon-caper sauce will delight meat fans, while those who like vegetables can enjoy fine specialties such as truffled parsnip soup with wild mushrooms, truffle risotto cakes with parmesan and arugula, and sweet potato gratin with pumpkin seeds and nutmeg. The conclusion is a buffet with desserts from the in-house pâtisserie.

March 5, 2025, at 6:30 PM | Price per person including 1 glass of champagne, excluding drinks: 101.00 EUR

Restaurant Handwerk at Arcotel Wimberger
Neubaugürtel 34, 1070 Vienna
Reservations at +43 1 521 65-840 or info@handwerk-restaurant.at

VIENNA.at wishes you a good appetite at the herring feast in Vienna!