Gasthaus Automat Welt

The beguiling aromas of bubbly hot butter fill the low-lit inside of Automat Welt, a casual neighborhood restaurant on the less trodden, working-class side of Vienna's Leopoldstadt (District 2). The restaurant is known for its schnitzels, made from pork and fried in clarified butter. The vibes are informal: part of the space is reserved for darts players and there's a corner with books and board games (the Czech author, Bohumil Hrabal, inspired the restaurant's moniker).

The notorious schnitzel is tender, crunchy, and fragrant – every bite demands another. As I did, you might also wonder why butter isn't the default cooking fat for all schnitzels (prosaic answer: it's more expensive than vegetable oil). The slim menu usually also features a few pan-Asian dishes as one of the chefs comes from a Vietnamese family. Mains are €15-20; craft beers and local wines comprise the drinks menu.