Travel Truth 101: Restaurant Review : Ikarus, Salzburg, Austria

Wow, what can I say? This is a SERIOUSLY good restaurant! One of the best, if not the best, we've ever been to. Not only is the food amazing, the set up of the tables means you get to see what everyone else is getting, and you know that you're going to get that, it provides a sense of theatre.

There were only 8 tables (yes, you NEED to book), set around the edge of the restaurant space, with the fabulous staff moving through the middle of the space. There is at least one member of staff per table, probably two, and they are fantastic. Everyone speaks English and they know their stuff, they are incredibly professional yet personable.

The tables were topped with black leather - very tactile!

Ikarus is located in Hangar 7 on the edge of Salzburg Airport, in part of the Red Bull Museum, which is itself worth a visit (free entry). There is also a great bar on the ground floor, outside the Museum, which is up next to the edge of the airport fencing - amazing for watching the planes and having a drink or two.

Ikarus is an unusual restaurant, in that it runs with guest chefs. Each month they have another international chef running their kitchen. The month of June was Daniel Patterson from Coi in San Francisco. Daniel combines high quality seasonal products from his region with the most advanced preparation and cooking techniques. Daniel's amazing cooking has been recognised by Michelin and awarded two stars.

I could go on and on about this restaurant, it's exceptional. Not only do they have a champagne trolley to start you away and a cheese trolley (there are actually three cheese trolleys!) to finish you off, they also have a bread and butter trolley. Really. A trolley to offer you different breads and FIVE different house made butters - amazing. We couldn't decide, so they sliced generous serves of all of them onto a slate for us to try - the seaweed one was astonishing.

The menu is a degustation of 9 courses, each priced individually so if you want to drop a course out, they will drop it for you. I dropped the Asparagus, Oyster & Wheat Grass course, but hubby kept it in and said it was fabulous. Once you've chosen your courses from the 9 on offer (I had 8, hubby had 9) your attentive waiting staff removes your menu and then comes back with a souvenir menu created for you to take away, listing exactly what you've chosen - wow.

You can choose a wine flight or a non-alcoholic flight to go accompany your meal. I chose the non-alcoholic flight so I could try something different, and I think I won that round! My drinks ranged from Grapefruit & Ginger Punch, to Combucha Quince & Mint Iced Tea - scrumptious.

Each of the courses was impeccably presented and tasted amazing. I can't really pick one course out above the other, but the Beetroot & Goats Cheese Tart with Dill & Rye was quite fabulous. The first dessert of Frozen Lime Marshmallows & Grilled Meringue, which was likened to toasted marshmallows, really did taste like it'd been cooked over a wooden fire - wow.

Oh, and I know it sounds really odd, but make sure you go to the toilet whilst you're there. I've never seen such a HUGE arrangement of flowers in my life as I saw in the ladies loo. Hubby said there was a similarly large arrangement in the mens. There is also a chat screen between the mens and ladies loos (not in the actual toilet cubicles, yuck) which is a bit of fun.