It’s the kind of place you’d bring a book or laptop to in the middle of the day. Except on the weekend when it becomes quite full with people having lazy breakfasts. Then you can bring your girlfriend, boyfriend, pet llama along and leave the book at home.
It’s quiet when we visit the Café Nest. There is a calm about this place as chilled as the Dalai Lama in a bubble bath. One can understand where it comes from once meeting the soft-spoken owner, Maximilian. It’s as if he’s taken his boyish smile and composed nature and made it into a café.
This is not the first Café Nest, yet the sibling to an older charming brother up in the 19th district. The German word ‘gemütlich’ which Max uses to describe the place goes a long way in accurately defining it. The décor is made up of furniture that dosen’t seem to know each other, but get along well together all the same. There are couches, and a long sweeping bench that runs along in front of the big windows that open onto Operngasse where one can watch the hipsters, artists, those with a fetish for vintage, wander past on the way to their ateliers, a grungy bar or one of the funky cafes that line the street. Café Nest is one of those.
The gentle background music has the same affect of somebody breathing slowly in your ear while sleeping. The lady’s bombastic laugh at the table next to me has the same effect as if that slow breathing was interrupted by a squeaky fart.
The menu has a French feeling, with delicious crepes (sweet or savory) taking up a page. Meanwhile, the breakfast selection is plentiful (11 choices to be exact), all priced between 4–6 € and are served until 4pm. Six of the breakfasts are egg-based, while there is also the novel choice of the Oriental breakfast with hummus and falafel. It’s also one of the few places in the city where you see a quality Eggs Benedict on the menu (Eggs Hemmingway breakfast).
There’s a daily cheap lunch menu that changes regularly. We had the Chili Con Carne and were happy con smiley. Oh, and did we mention it’s one of the most reasonably priced cafes we’ve been to (eg. 1.50 € for an espresso).
This little nest fits the laissez-faire I-wear-socks-while-having-sex vibe of the 4rth district, and also works as a place to sip on a few beers of an evening. Like we said, it’s like taking a bubble bath with the Dalai Lama … if Mr Lama were French.
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