Bavarian and Austrian fluffy torn pancake: thick eggy batter cooked in butter, torn into caramelised pieces, dusted in icing sugar and served warm with stewed plums. The Alpine dessert named for Emperor Franz Josef.
Kaiserschmarrn translates to Emperor's Mess, in reference to Habsburg Emperor Franz Josef I (1830 to 1916), with several apocryphal origin stories: one says it was an accident when a cook tore the imperial pancake; another claims a peasant farmer's variant the emperor preferred over palace food. The dish became codified through the late 19th-century cafe culture of Vienna, Munich and Salzburg as a substantial late-afternoon snack. The Munich Bavarian version is light eggy batter (whites whipped separately and folded in), often with rum-soaked raisins, torn rather than flipped.
4 editor picks for Kaiserschmarrn in Munich, ranked by editorial score. All Munich signature dishes · Kaiserschmarrn across every city.
Café Frischhut (Schmalznudel) ★ 4.5
altstadt-lehel · Prälat-Zistl-Strasse 8, 80331 München
Café Frischhut, known as Schmalznudel, has fried the namesake sugar-dusted Bavarian doughnut just off Munich's Viktualienmarkt since 1973; pair with filter.
Spatenhaus an der Oper ★ 4.3
altstadt-lehel · Residenzstrasse 12, 80333 München
Spatenhaus an der Oper, opposite the Bavarian State Opera in Munich's Altstadt, pours Spaten beer and cooks classic Bavarian; the suckling pig.
Andechser am Dom ★ 4.0
altstadt-lehel · Weinstrasse 7a, 80333 München
Andechser am Dom in Munich Altstadt pours the Andechs Monastery's beers a minute from the Frauenkirche; the kitchen cooks classic Bavarian for the lunchtime.
Rischart ★ 4.0
altstadt-lehel · Marienplatz 18, 80331 München
Rischart has anchored Munich's Marienplatz with bakery and café since 1932; Prinzregententorte and Münchner Kindl are the house specials, with a long.