What to eat in Nuremberg

In Nuremberg you eat by the piece. Three sausages in a roll are for standing, six or more on a plate are for sitting, and the sausages are small enough that counting them is the whole point. Schäufele is the lunch that follows, and Lebkuchen is the sweet that turns up when the weather gets cold.

A Nuremberg sausage is only 7 to 9 centimetres long, and the name carries EU protection of origin from 2003. The classic order is “Drei im Weckla”, three sausages in a bread roll with mustard, eaten on your feet. The small size is why they are ordered in numbers. Sit down and you get a plate of 6, 8, 10 or 12, served with sauerkraut or potato salad and a dab of horseradish.

Bratwurstglöcklein in the Handwerkerhof, a craft-village courtyard by the Königstor, grills over beech wood and serves the plate on a pewter dish. The prices in this text are from that kitchen, so treat them as a guide to one address rather than a rule for the whole town. Six sausages cost €11.50, and three in a roll cost €5.50. The beer on the table is Tucher-Bräu, poured into a glass called a “Seidla”. The verdict is simple: stand for speed, sit for the pewter, and let hunger decide between six and twelve.

Schäufele and Saure Zipfel

Schäufele is a roast shoulder of pork on the bone, and the point of the dish is the rind, which should crackle when the knife goes in. It comes with a potato dumpling studded with fried bread cubes and a dark gravy. In summer a salad sits beside it, and in winter it is cabbage or sauerkraut. Franconians treat it as the Sunday dish, so a weekday plate feels like a small occasion.

The Glöcklein menu puts the plate with dumpling and gravy at €17.90. Saure Zipfel, the other regular, are sausages simmered in a stock of vinegar, white wine and onion, and they sit on the same menu. Order them if the grilled version has begun to feel predictable. They taste sharper, which is the idea. For the roast itself, the places in the table below that serve it are Albrecht-Dürer-Stube, Heilig-Geist-Spital and Tucher Mautkeller, and Bratwurst Röslein does it as well as the sausages.

Only gingerbread made inside the city area may call itself Nürnberger Lebkuchen, a protected geographical indication since 1996. The best grade, Elisenlebkuchen, must contain at least 25 percent walnuts or almonds and at most 10 percent flour, so very little flour holds it together. You will find it on the stalls of the Christkindlesmarkt, and Lebkuchen-Schmidt is one of the makers that sells it.

Where to sit down

Start the walk from the Hauptmarkt, because Rathausplatz lies right beside it. Bratwurst Röslein at number 6 and Bratwursthäusle at number 1 both stand there, so the two can be compared in one pass, and Zum Gulden Stern is in Zirkelschmiedsgasse. For Schäufele pick any place from the table, and for sausages grilled over beech wood go to the Handwerkerhof by the Königstor.

Prices in the text are from Bratwurstglöcklein.

Getting aroundA full plate is easier to earn when you know the metro, and the page on getting around shows which line goes where.Getting around Nuremberg →

When to goLebkuchen reaches its peak at the Christmas market, and the page on when to go explains the rest of the calendar.The best time to visit Nuremberg →

Where to stayWhich area sits beside the Rostbratwurst and the Schäufele is on the where-to-stay page.Where to stay in Nuremberg →