This past Sunday my family celebrated my grandmother's 90th birthday at Black Forest Inn, in Stanhope, NJ. It was my first visit to the restaurant specializing in German continental cuisine. The building has old style charm with exposed brick and lots of wood. The women are dressed in traditional costume as you can see in the photo.Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of our lunch but I promise to start taking more photos of food. I started with the Maultasche with fried onions. This is my first experience with Maultasche which is basically German ravioli. Stuffed with veal and spinach, it was a hearty appetizer with a pretty rich sauce. I really enjoyed it. My grandma ordered the Caesar salad with smoked salmon - I wish I took a picture because it could have easily fed 4-5 adults so be warned. Like most Caesar salads, it was a bit overdressed for my taste, but it had an abundance of salmon which was quite good. We quickly learned that Germans like huge portions; I guess I shouldn't be surprised as I remember the liter beers served in the beer halls in Munich from my college days. My wife ordered lobster ravioli - the ravioli was tasty but the sauce was too rich and creamy for an appetizer (at least for me); and it made another appearance as the sauce on her sea bass entree. My sister-in-law ordered Scandinavian herring - it was very sweet and I wouldn't order it unless you are accustomed to sweet fish.
For main course, I ordered the house made Bratwurst with sauerkraut. It was absolutely a home run. A bit heavy for Sunday brunch, but it was a celebration! The two Brats were succulent and the sauerkraut was infused with mustard; it really transported me to Germany. I'd highly recommend this dish. The side dishes fell flat: red cabbage (passable), winter veggies (boiled and drab), spatzel (bland) and potato dumpling (too dense). Despite the side dishes, the entrees were excellent. The duck looked superb as did the wiener schnitzel. The seafood dishes looked so so with very rich sauces; so I'd stick with what the Germans do well: red meat!
The service was excellent and it's definitely a restaurant worth experiencing.
Black Forest Inn
249 US Route 206
Stanhope, NJ
973-347-3344
