If the Wiener Schnitzel that I ate at the Plutzer Brau restaurant in the center of Vienna last week was not the largest Wiener Schnitzel ever created on this grand planet of ours, I shall shave my head and eat only cold soup for the remainder of this trip. Or maybe I’ll just travel to whatever restaurant serves a larger Schnitzel and eat two of them in one sitting.
But really, even though the Plutzer Brau itself does not claim to serve up the largest Wiener Schnitzel known to mankind, I really do find it quite difficult to believe that a larger Wiener Schnitzel could possibly exist.
This restaurant, which was hand-picked by my local friend Rudi, is a local establishment that is not only quite difficult to find but is also quite worth the trouble of finding it. Even Rudi got us lost a couple of times en route as the restaurant is located in a far corner of a small, relatively hidden lane, the entrance to which looks like every other lane in the neighborhood.
But once you do take your seat at one of the outdoor tables at the Plutzer Brau, you can then be certain that a high quality, Vienna-style evening meal will soon be served. And if you want to try out the specialty of the house, you have no other option but to order the largest Wiener Schnitzel.
That is exactly what I did and about twenty minutes later, this is what the waiter placed in front of me….
I know it’s difficult to tell from the photo, but this flipping Wiener Schnitzel was over 12 inches / 30 centimeters in length and 6 inches / 15 centimeters in width. And upon seeing this gargantuan thing, you can imagine how I would reach the conclusion that it is not at all possible for a Wiener Schnitzel to be any bigger.
For someone with such a huge appetite as myself, I also have no problem admitting that I struggled, struggled tremendously in fact, to finish this meal. In the end, I did manage to eat it all, as did my friends Rudi and Fabian, but we did need an abnormally lengthy amount of time to do so as every bite presented an even greater challenge than the previous one. We were full after five bites but the Schnitzel was so good that it was impossible to put the fork down.
Eventually, we did each reduce our individual Schnitzels to one final bite and once that last piece disappeared into our mouths, we were then forced to remain in our seats for about an hour and a half afterward. While sipping schnapps and groaning from the pressure placed upon our overstuffed bellies, we let the food digest long enough so that we would have enough strength not only to lift ourselves out of our seats, but to walk to the proper Underground station in order to travel back to Rudi’s apartment. Even after waiting so long this was still no easy feat.
Of course, this short post certainly wouldn’t be complete without a few more photos that show how, piece by piece, that massive Wiener Schnitzel went down…
And just in case you might be wondering how many Wiener Schnitzels have been eaten so far this year in Vienna, here’s the ‘official’ Wiener Schnitzel counter that is located in one of the Underground stations…as you can see, quite a significant amount of Schnitzel has been enjoyed.
I really hope that none of you inform me about a Wiener Schnitzel that is even bigger than this one!
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i love wiener schinitzel and spatzel ( which is a side pasta)..i’m totally jelly to have miss that experience, but one i will hopefully be able to locate nxt time i’m in vienna..thank you from a fellow foodie
[…] A quick photo story on the world’s largest wiener schnitzel, located in Vienna, where at least one dimension of the meat is over a foot long. [Wandering Earl] […]
This justifies my previous assumption about foods in Vienna. When I visited the city back in 2007, I learned that every single food that I ate came with a bigger portion than similar meal in other countries (I remember eating a kebab which was twice larger than the ones that I had in Germany, also I saw someone ordered a bowl of salad all for himself which normally in other countries would make a serving for 2-3 people). Oh I miss Vienna so much.
Hey Bama – That’s quite interesting and I would never have figured Austria would have such huge portions in general in comparison to other countries. I guess that’s because, being from the US myself, the portions there tend to be ridiculously massive!
That’s a very large Weiner Schnitzel…lol. How was the flavor? I’ve always heard of them but never had the opportunity to try one. I definitely agree about those whole in the wall places. I’ve been to SEVERAL whole in the wall establishments that quite frankly looked a little sketchy in some cases but 9 out of 10 times I never regret visiting them. I love food!!! 😀
Hey Ron – The flavor was excellent. There was no way I could have eaten something so large if it didn’t taste good! And I too love stumbling upon random places, or in this case, a place recommended by my local friend. There’s no way I would have found this restaurant on my own.
“…we were then forced to remain in our seats for about an hour and a half afterward. While sipping schnapps and groaning from the pressure placed upon our overstuffed bellies, we let the food digest long enough so that we would have enough strength not only to lift ourselves out of our seats, but to walk to the proper Underground station…”
However, I must disappoint you: Bigger Schnitzel do exist, believe it or not – if you consider surface-area only. Figlmüller in the first district, for example, serves them even larger. Only in surface-area, though, as they are paper thin and mostly breadcrumbs. Not bad, but I prefer something with more substance to eat…I mean, it.
Plutzerbräu was a great choice, so thumbs up to your friend Rudi! The area (called Spittelberg) will be taken over by one of the prettiest Christmas markets in Vienna from late November by the way – maybe you consider coming back for Glühwein and roasted chestnuts?
Hey Alice – You really had me scared there for a minute!! I agree that the substance is important as well and this thing definitely was not paper thin at all. And the Christmas Market does sound quite nice although I have a feeling I won’t do so well in those temperatures. I’m already struggling here in Zagreb with the 8 degree temperatures so come late November, I might not survive at all. But I guess the Gluhwein would help warm me up 🙂
I used to live at Spittelberg and I must say Plutzerbräu is definitely a great choice for a good Schnitzel. Without trying to disappoint you, I have to agree with Alice: the Schnitzel, although great in taste and everything, are not really too out of the ordinary (and neither is the beer, c’mon guys, man up 😉
Figlmüller claims to have the biggest Schnitzel in town but still they are very finishable for a hungry adult person – they are thin, that’s true.
You should definitely come back for the Christmas market at Spittelberg – which is installed right now! It is a wonderful scenery!
Hey Alex – I’ll be back for sure, not this year, but at some point. And even though the schnitzel is not out of the ordinary, which I know as you can find schnitzel all over the world these days, it was a nice setting to have such a meal. I’m not saying it was the best meal I’ve ever eaten but as far as schnitzels go, it was a mighty fine one 🙂
Hey Fabian – Maybe yours was slightly bigger…I guess we’ll have to meet back in Vienna at some point and go for another round! Actually, I would love to do that at some point. And yes, that number on the wall definitely increased after our meal…we are now a part of Vienna’s history 🙂
Haha, a very excellent food article Earl! That thing is monstrous and I can tell from the photos and description that it was made with utmost care and precision. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a larger schnitzel, but I’m going to keep my eyes open, and if I find one, I’m expecting you to down 2 of them.
Hey Mark – I was hoping you wouldn’t read this post because I have a feeling it will be someone as dedicated to food as you who will find that larger schnitzel! If you do find one, I will most certainly eat two…probably won’t be in Thailand though!
The Schnitzel looks so tasty! I have always wondered why the portion size in Austria is so big. I can’t even finish half of the meal. 🙂
i love wiener schinitzel and spatzel ( which is a side pasta)..i’m totally jelly to have miss that experience, but one i will hopefully be able to locate nxt time i’m in vienna..thank you from a fellow foodie
That was really huge wiener, I would be totally full after I ate that.
[…] A quick photo story on the world’s largest wiener schnitzel, located in Vienna, where at least one dimension of the meat is over a foot long. [Wandering Earl] […]
This justifies my previous assumption about foods in Vienna. When I visited the city back in 2007, I learned that every single food that I ate came with a bigger portion than similar meal in other countries (I remember eating a kebab which was twice larger than the ones that I had in Germany, also I saw someone ordered a bowl of salad all for himself which normally in other countries would make a serving for 2-3 people). Oh I miss Vienna so much.
Hey Bama – That’s quite interesting and I would never have figured Austria would have such huge portions in general in comparison to other countries. I guess that’s because, being from the US myself, the portions there tend to be ridiculously massive!
That’s a very large Weiner Schnitzel…lol. How was the flavor? I’ve always heard of them but never had the opportunity to try one. I definitely agree about those whole in the wall places. I’ve been to SEVERAL whole in the wall establishments that quite frankly looked a little sketchy in some cases but 9 out of 10 times I never regret visiting them. I love food!!! 😀
Hey Ron – The flavor was excellent. There was no way I could have eaten something so large if it didn’t taste good! And I too love stumbling upon random places, or in this case, a place recommended by my local friend. There’s no way I would have found this restaurant on my own.
Hahaha… love the bite-by-bite shots. Thnx
Well done, Earl!
My favourite part of your post was definitely
“…we were then forced to remain in our seats for about an hour and a half afterward. While sipping schnapps and groaning from the pressure placed upon our overstuffed bellies, we let the food digest long enough so that we would have enough strength not only to lift ourselves out of our seats, but to walk to the proper Underground station…”
However, I must disappoint you: Bigger Schnitzel do exist, believe it or not – if you consider surface-area only. Figlmüller in the first district, for example, serves them even larger. Only in surface-area, though, as they are paper thin and mostly breadcrumbs. Not bad, but I prefer something with more substance to eat…I mean, it.
Plutzerbräu was a great choice, so thumbs up to your friend Rudi! The area (called Spittelberg) will be taken over by one of the prettiest Christmas markets in Vienna from late November by the way – maybe you consider coming back for Glühwein and roasted chestnuts?
Hey Alice – You really had me scared there for a minute!! I agree that the substance is important as well and this thing definitely was not paper thin at all. And the Christmas Market does sound quite nice although I have a feeling I won’t do so well in those temperatures. I’m already struggling here in Zagreb with the 8 degree temperatures so come late November, I might not survive at all. But I guess the Gluhwein would help warm me up 🙂
I used to live at Spittelberg and I must say Plutzerbräu is definitely a great choice for a good Schnitzel. Without trying to disappoint you, I have to agree with Alice: the Schnitzel, although great in taste and everything, are not really too out of the ordinary (and neither is the beer, c’mon guys, man up 😉
Figlmüller claims to have the biggest Schnitzel in town but still they are very finishable for a hungry adult person – they are thin, that’s true.
You should definitely come back for the Christmas market at Spittelberg – which is installed right now! It is a wonderful scenery!
Keep up the travelling!
Hey Alex – I’ll be back for sure, not this year, but at some point. And even though the schnitzel is not out of the ordinary, which I know as you can find schnitzel all over the world these days, it was a nice setting to have such a meal. I’m not saying it was the best meal I’ve ever eaten but as far as schnitzels go, it was a mighty fine one 🙂
Well I’m hungry now! That thing is massive but looks delicious. Good job finishing it!
Thanks Dean! That’s the other thing, it really was delicious. There was no way I could let any of it go to waste!
Ahem, Earl, I’m afraid the one I had was *slightly* bigger than yours! 😉
Seriously, I just love that photo series! Glad have had my share of the 16 million something schnitzels served so far in such a pleasant company!
Hey Fabian – Maybe yours was slightly bigger…I guess we’ll have to meet back in Vienna at some point and go for another round! Actually, I would love to do that at some point. And yes, that number on the wall definitely increased after our meal…we are now a part of Vienna’s history 🙂
Haha, a very excellent food article Earl! That thing is monstrous and I can tell from the photos and description that it was made with utmost care and precision. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a larger schnitzel, but I’m going to keep my eyes open, and if I find one, I’m expecting you to down 2 of them.
Hey Mark – I was hoping you wouldn’t read this post because I have a feeling it will be someone as dedicated to food as you who will find that larger schnitzel! If you do find one, I will most certainly eat two…probably won’t be in Thailand though!
Just looking at this blog entry made me full! I couldn’t help noticing your beer. Were you able to finish it? ; ~ )
Hey Maureen – I did finish the beer! Actually, I believe I may have drank two beers during that meal 🙂