Backhendl appears as a signature dish in 1 Austria cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Backhendl · Vienna
Free-range chicken jointed into eight, dredged in flour, egg and Semmelbroesel, fried in clarified butter or pork lard until the breading puffs and crisps. Served with parsley potatoes, cucumber salad and lemon.
Backhendl was an aristocratic dish in the 18th and 19th centuries when chicken was a luxury; it became the Sunday plate of the Wiener bourgeoisie and a Heuriger staple. The Schweizerhaus in the Prater still cooks the canonical free-range version with potato salad; Plachutta runs the classical bone-in eight-piece preparation.
Where to eat in Vienna:
- Schweizerhaus
- Plachutta Wollzeile
- Figlmueller Wollzeile
- Lugeck Figlmueller