Schilling Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in New York

3 1/2 stars

Schilling has been on my radar for a few months, and somehow manages to be off the beaten path while being only a block or two from the 9/11 Memorial area (part of that is because it's on a street with limited car traffic and is submerged by a lot of construction/scaffolding right now). My Skipper and I came by for lunch yesterday a little after 1pm. Despite its subtle location and some atrocious weather (rain in the 40s is my least favorite of all time), the place was surprisingly hopping, with more than half the tables occupied. The interior space is adorable, and we were both fans. There's a lot of barn-like wood, and the Skipper noted a very cool ceiling situation - it has slated boards with lighting underneath them, so it looks like there's someone up in the attic. Not sure I've seen that before. And while this is definitely not the kind of place that promotes its bar area above the more formal sit-down crowd, it's also very pleasant to look at. It reminded me almost of a manger.

I'd studied the menu pretty intently beforehand and settled on the Spätzle ($25) as my entree. Delicious. I was a little apprehensive about the inclusion of broccoli rabe but it didn't deter from the dish. I loved how cheesy it was; it was almost like having an edgy/exotic mac and cheese. The texture was excellent - the fried onions on top give it a nice crunch, and I think the Spätzle overall would have been almost too squishy without it. Nice touch. And despite appearances, this wasn't a giant meal; the skillet it was served in was very shallow, so I could have eaten the entire thing easily.

We ran into an issue though when we tried to order drinks. Schilling should definitely fix this on their website (their social media pages are clearer), but the menu page on there indicates that on Fridays and Saturdays, the wine is half off. It turns out that what they actually mean is that the wine is half off IF you buy an entire bottle; it doesn't apply to glasses. That surprised both of us, especially since by the glass, this place is very overpriced. Even in this neighborhood, it's not hard to find a decent glass of wine for $11 or $12 (and often cheaper than that). However, Schilling charges around $16 for theirs. Once we realized that there weren't discounts for the glasses of wine, we shifted our focus to the cocktails, which were also overpriced. There's no way you're getting me to purchase a cocktail for over $20 unless it's an establishment that's exclusively selling itself as a high-end mixology place; this is a restaurant, and there were several drinks on the menu that were $22 or so. Since the wine was so expensive though, it wasn't hard to justify paying $18 for their cheapest cocktails on the menu. That turned out to be moot though - the waitress apologetically told us the specialty cocktails weren't available until dinnertime. It wasn't clear if that was simply part of the business model or the bartender called out, but that was disappointing.

The service was honestly mediocre. Part of that was likely because our waitress was the only one working the front, handling probably six to seven tables, I'd guess, but the two times her absence was significantly felt? She was just hanging out behind the bar on her phone. I literally had to walk around the bar to personally hand her my credit card. Again, if we were waiting for a long time because she was overwhelmed with her tables, that would be one thing, but that's just lazy and inattentive service and hampered the experience. That was unfortunate because solely based on the food, this was very positive.

I'm glad I tried this one but the solid food can't ultimately make up for the price point and...

For schnitzel Thank you @schillingnyc for having me and @new_york_noms! The food was absolutely amazing, and this reel is just part one of what we tried. They were so generous in bringing out so much more food than we asked for me. I expected the Michelin stared chef @chefeduardfrauneder ‘s food to be great but it blew our minds, especially the tomato starters.

We had •Fried Green Tomatoes - fried like schnitzel with Comeback sauce •Cherry and Sungold Tomatoes - in Espelette Pepper jus with onion relish and a lovage and celery salad •Heirloom Tomatoes - with tomato seed oil, farmers cheese, croutons, cucumbers, and Thai basil cucumber vinaigrette •Organic Chicken Weiner Schnitzel - with cucumber salad, potato salad, and Lingonberry •Viennese Chicken Sandwich - organic chicken schnitzel with house made cucumber salad and pickles, on a brioche bun with fries •Tuna Schnitzel - with grilled peaches, mango chutney, and capers •Jimador's Breakfast - cucumber, tequila, black pepper, oleum saccharum, tomolives •Garden Of Eden - vodka, lemon, elderflower, apple juice, cucumber •Smoke and Fire - mezcal, pineapple rum, lemon, agave, kummel liquor, habanero •Pirate Smash - white rum, dark rum, basil, pineapple cordial, cybar

Sugar, how’d you get so fly?

We lifted and shifted these desserts after the amazing dinner we had at @schillingnyc !

@new_york_noms and I spent about 3 hours at Schilling eating all of the deliciousness they put in front of us and this was how we finished the meal! See my previous reel for the amazing tomato appetizers, drinks, and schnitzel dinners we had.

For dessert, we had chocolate molten cake, cheesecake blintze, and traditional Austrian apple strudel. Unsurprisingly, the chocolate cake was my favorite but I have to give credit to the apple strudel too - I don’t love fruit in my dessert but we still devoured this one too!

Thanks again for the amazing hospitality and generous amount of...

Jawohl! What a fantastic find! This little place might be my new favorite German/Austrian spot in NYC! A cozy nook near Wall St, it's more upscale and less traditional than your typical schnitzel eatery. Instead, this place shines when it comes to the menu. While limited, it lists the standard Wienerschnitzel and a veggie Spätzle, as well as many other non-traditional Austrian options, including a lot of vegetarian-friendly dishes. Everything was fantastisch. The schnitzel (I got the chicken) was fried to perfection and the Green Tomatoes were spectacular, along with all of the (cucumber salad and potato salad) sides, which were great variations on the theme. They were very accommodating and helpful in ordering and the service was super friendly throughout our meal. I was stuffed after the main course (the schnitzel is huge!) but it was so delicious that I couldn't say no to dessert. They had Apfel- (apples) and Topfen- (cheese) streudel so I opted for the cheese. It was, kein Witz, the best streudel I've ever had. Seriously. With a side of ice cream and Sahne, on a plate of vanilla cream, and topped with strawberries, I involuntarily smiled with every bite. GET DESSERT. My only regret is that I've only just discovered this Austrian gem after living in NYC for so long. We'll definitely be planning some return visits, even if just for some small bites. Hope to see you there!...