Most restaurants offer a Wiener Schnitzel among their main courses. And anywhere serving breakfast likely has a Wiener Frühstück, too. But what is a “Viennese breakfast”?
- Bread rolls, butter & jam
- And a soft-boiled egg
- …with some variations
- Look for deals with a hot drink included
- Book a classical concert experience* for your trip
- See also:
The Wiener Frühstück
(The core ingredients of a fine start to the day)
Open any breakfast menu in Vienna and you might encounter such delights as organic muesli, spiced oriental omelettes, and something whose name suggests immediate health and vitality on a plate.
But what you almost invariably find is a Wiener Frühstück, which translates as a Viennese breakfast.
This dish is the workhorse of morning gastronomy, particularly in Vienna’s coffee houses.
In a world of social media and lifestyle branding, locations may insist on giving the Wiener Frühstück their own touch. So you’ll see different versions. But its robust basic form is:
- Two bread rolls
- A soft-boiled egg
- Butter & jam
And that, fundamentally, is that. But let me explore some common variations and offer up useful tips for the city visitor.
(One of my breakfast haunts)
Two common alternatives you might encounter are:
- A croissant replacing a bread roll. This is the case at one of my favourite locations: Oberlaa on Neuer Markt
- Added slices of ham and cheese. This mimics a common breakfast in households but mostly appears under another name: an upgrade on the basic dish. If they do call it a Wiener Frühstück, then a more basic (and cheaper) breakfast should also be available
Now, two crucial tips if you’re visiting Vienna…
First, sometimes the Wiener Frühstück comes with coffee or tea. And sometimes it doesn’t.
With coffee increasingly expensive in the city centre, look for the combined version. This typically works out at a decent discount when compared with buying breakfast and coffee separately.
Coffee with your breakfast is actually almost compulsory in Vienna. How else might you face another day in the maelstrom of the modern world if not fortified with a Melange or Einspanner?
(Last time I checked, the famous Café Central included a hot beverage with its Viennese breakfast)
Second, as a near ubiquitous breakfast offering, the unadulterated Wiener Frühstück joins the Schnitzel as an excellent way of comparing prices across restaurants, cafés, etc.
Most places tend to deliver your Wiener Frühstück in a default constellation, but you may be able to switch out some of the contents (ask, if waiting staff don’t offer a choice). For example:
- Choose honey instead of jam
- Choose a specific flavour of jam from those available
- Swap out a standard white roll (Semmel) for some other kind of bread roll
I always go with the default choice to be honest, because life is full of difficult decisions, and I don’t need one more.
And where best to get your Wiener Frühstück?
Well, I don’t really have that expertise. But any of my recommended coffee house or café-Konditorei locations likely have one.
For more thoughts and suggestions on traditional food and drink in the city, take a peek at my articles on the topic.