A thick, fluffy pancake torn into bite-sized pieces in the pan and caramelised with butter and sugar, served with stewed plums (Zwetschkenroester), apple sauce, or apricot compote.
Where to eat it: 8 restaurants across 2 cities.
Kaiserschmarrn (the Emperor's mess) is said to have been served to Franz Joseph in 1854 when a humble shepherd-style pancake was offered to the imperial table. The name stuck. The dish became a Konditorei and Alpine-hut staple. Figlmueller's Lugeck and Cafe Landtmann both cook the canonical Vienna version with raisins; Kurkonditorei Oberlaa serves the Mehlspeise version with stewed plums on the side.
Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Dairy
Tip from the editors. The egg whites are the only leavener; do not over-fold or the pancake stays flat. Tear into rough chunks; clean strips are not Kaiserschmarrn.
Café Frischhut off Munich's Viktualienmarkt has fried the Bavarian Schmalznudel doughnut since 1973; this is the morning sweet-counter for breakfast.
Order: Schmalznudel sugar-dusted Bavarian fried doughnut with filter coffee
Tip: Closed Sundays; queue is shortest at 09:00 weekday mornings; cash usually preferred.
Spatenhaus an der Oper, opposite the Bavarian State Opera in Munich's Altstadt, pours Spaten beer and cooks classic Bavarian; the suckling pig.
Signature: Wiener Schnitzel, Suckling pig with red cabbage
Order: The Wiener Schnitzel with cucumber salad; the suckling pig with braised red cabbage if you want one big plate.
Tip: Book the upstairs room for opera pre-shows; the ground floor is the casual side.
Andechser am Dom pours the Andechs Monastery's beers a minute from Munich's Frauenkirche; the casual Bavarian room locals send out-of-towners.
Order: Schweinshaxe with potato dumplings and a half-litre of Andechser Doppelbock.
Tip: Daily 10:00-01:00; the Weinstrasse-side terrace catches sun till evening in summer.
Rischart has anchored Munich's Marienplatz with bakery and café since 1932; Prinzregententorte and Münchner Kindl are the house specials, with a long.
Worth the queue: Prinzregententorte
Lugeck on Lugeck square in Vienna's first district is the Figlmueller family's wider-menu room: the original veal Schnitzel, Tafelspitz, Backhendl and steaks.
Signature: Wiener Schnitzel vom Kalb, Tafelspitz
Order: Wiener Schnitzel vom Kalb; the veal version is what the dish was originally meant.
Tip: Less of a crush than the two pork outlets around the corner; book the Schnitzel Academy upstairs to learn the technique.
Figlmueller has hammered Vienna's most famous Schnitzel on Wollzeile since 1905, a plate-overhanging pork cutlet fried in three fats and served.
Signature: Wiener Schnitzel vom Schwein, Kaiserschmarrn
Order: The Original Figlmueller Schnitzel; one is plenty for two appetites.
Tip: Book ahead; the room runs at capacity from 11:00 every day, kitchen closes at 21:30.
Cafe Landtmann on Universitaetsring in Vienna has poured at the Burgtheater corner since 1873, Sigmund Freud's preferred coffeehouse with a long carte.
Signature drink: Grosser Brauner
Tip: Open daily 07:30 to midnight; the front-room bench seats face the Burgtheater across the Ring.
Plachutta on Wollzeile in Vienna is the canonical Tafelspitz address, the boiled-beef pot served in copper pans with rösti, apple horseradish.
Signature: Tafelspitz, Beuschel
Order: Tafelspitz vom Schulterscherzel; the cut Franz Joseph is said to have favoured.
Tip: Open daily 11:30-23:30; the kitchen runs lunch through dinner without a break.
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