Thin slices of veal in a white-wine and cream sauce with mushrooms and a sliver of kidney, served with golden butter rosti. The dish that defines Zurich-style cooking.
The dish was first documented as Zueri Gschnaetzlets in Swiss cookbooks of the late nineteenth century. The cream-and-mushroom sauce is a twentieth-century refinement; older versions used a simple stock and brown roux. Today most zunfthaus dining rooms in Zurich serve it as the canonical pairing with butter rosti, though some chefs reach back to the leaner historical version. Visitors should ask whether the kidney is included; the classic recipe at Zunfthaus zur Waag keeps it.
3 editor picks for Zuercher Geschnetzeltes in Zurich, ranked by editorial score. All Zurich signature dishes · Zuercher Geschnetzeltes across every city.
Kronenhalle ★ 4.7
8001 · Raemistrasse 4, 8001 Zurich
The canonical Zurich room: Hulda Zumsteg took over the Hotel de la Couronne in 1924 and the place still serves Swiss bourgeois under original Chagalls.
Zunfthaus zur Waag ★ 4.5
8001 · Muensterhof 8, 8001 Zurich
A guildhall serving dinner since 1636 on the Muensterhof. The Zuercher Geschnetzeltes with butter rosti is the canonical version. Closed Sundays.
Zeughauskeller ★ 4.1
8001 · Bahnhofstrasse 28a, 8001 Zurich
A vaulted former armoury beside Paradeplatz: long shared tables, beer steins, Wienerschnitzel, calf liver, pork knuckle. Open daily 11:30 to 23:00.