Black Forest Inn — Restaurant in Stanhope

Let me just say I would give this place 3 stars instead of 4 but, the food was that good, and deserves 5 stars.

Party of 3, no reservations.

Seating: We were promptly seated by a lady in a dirndl. She was very nice, seated us without restriction, and asked us what we wanted to drink.

Our party: my mother in law is from Berchtesgaden Germany, and my wife is no stranger. My mother in law ordered the house beer to which she was extremely satisfied, if was a .5l Spatner Franziskkaner weiss.  My wife ordered the unsweetened ice tea with sugar packets and I ordered a Long island ice tea. It was all perfect.

Appetizers: We ordered the house special charcuterie board.  It was delicious with a edible flower, cantaloupe, a gruyere, pepperoni, an iberico of some class, and what tasted of a spiced venison.  With strawberries and house shredded pickle. It was divine.

Mains: My wife ordered the mushroom vegetarian pizza, my mother in law ordered Jagerschnitzel and I ordered the beef stroganoff.  First off when I ordered it didn't come with noodles...? Then I was abruptly told they were out of stroganoff...? That was a huge disappointment. So in it's place I ordered the Jagerschnitzel, however I ordered the veal and my mother ordered the pork shoulder. There was a difference in size of portion between veal and pork shoulder but that's understandable. It was excellent, however out of a core item before 6pm..?  The mushroom gravy was exceptional and the rotkraut was a true star. Obviously in house.  The care and attention of a true in-house product. And the same for the sauerkraut, which the spice and age added a unique depth. I couldn't stop eating it. My wife on the otherhand with her Mushroom Flammkuchen felt it bland, and wanted a tomato sauce.

My comments: again, this is actually just for the owners, the food is worth the wait and was exceptional. But to be honest, I feel like this, please. It should be a michelin, and isn't. A lot of that has to do with geography. However, there were several key things that really separated this from being a sublime dinner to just a good dinner. Out of an Item, it's a fine dining menu before a service. How can you be out of beef stroganoff. It's a russian peasant dish and I truly feel this was laziness on part of the kitchen.

Our waiter was very young, he did his best and to his credit - he earned his tip. However this is fine dining. When we were set, we were never asked if we wanted still or carbonated water. I would have paid for a bottle of bubbles.

Pacing: I understand with the restaurant of your caliber that the food is cooked to order, believe me, it came across in the flavors of everything I tasted. However, it lends itself to the waitstaff to fill in the gap, at no point, were we ever presented with the option to purchase a wine or were our water glasses topped off. In fact, for the better part of the meal we watched as the waitstaff ate their meal at the bar because we were pre full dinner service i.e 4:30 to 5pm. That's okay, however, it's a odd to ask the bar maiden for another drink when she's busy chugging down a salad.

Unnecessary Formalities: I get its not a beirgarden, but to be honest if felt fuddyduddy for no reason. You had the decore of a pub. Embrace it. The place had other dining rooms.  For being a table across from the bar it was in a word - unusually formal. We certainly weren't dressed for an occasion. And we weren't loaded either. But a Segway from reserved occasion to the other rooms, to the bar would have been refreshing.

Overall: The food was absolutely excellent, and the staff delivered. I just don't feel that the experience lived up to the price. For 3 mixed cocktails, 1 appetizer, 1 beer and 3 mains, we paid a quarter of a grand. For that I feel the hospitality should be on the same level.

Verdict: I would go back. But I would skip the experience upfront and sit at the bar. Fish and chips or a...

If your not into reading reviews here's the short version. Atmosphere good Wait staff good Food...so bad I can't rank

I rarely leave a bad review and it's not my intention to hurt feelings, but I feel if I can save even one person from wasting there money, then my husdban and I can feel like we just had to take one for the team.

We drove by this place on our way to visit some antique shops in Andover, and thought it looked cool so we stopped on our way back to the city. We hadn't checked ratings or known it was a German resturaunt, but were always uo for a local restaurant so we just took a chance.

Walking in, it looked so cool and festive we initially loved it. It was empty, only a handful of people at the antique looking bar (which was awesome) and a gentleman sitting solo at a table. We were asked if we had a reservation, which we replied "no, do we need one?" We were given a sort of snarky response but the woman said we did not and escorted us to an excellent booth where we were able to take in the view of the great decor of the restaurant.

Once we were seated we began to peruse the menu. My husdban and I are thin people, but we order like we are 3 times are size. We love to take food home and eat again later... so we began to plan our attack of this delicious German food!

2 orders of the jumbo potato pancakes (always order these if they are on the menu) Chicken schnitzel, with these potato ball things, an order of kasespatzle... and then we were saving room before we decided if we wanted to try some other things or entertain dessert.

Our jumbo potato pancakes came out first, we starting immediately laughing. They were simply non jumbo breakfast hash browns. The kind you throw in the oven from a bag. Seriously, I'm attaching a picture. Not only were they not made there, they weren't even frozen potato pancakes... just hash browns hah.

Our waiter promptly packed up our "pancakes" in a to go box as he noticed we were just letting them sit.

Next , the chicken and the pasta. The chicken was remarkably greasy considering how rubbery the actual frozen chicken was. This was served along side powdered mashed potato, and a side of Costo potato Croquets... that were steamy on the outside and still cold potato in the middle.

The Kasespatzle - noodles with Swiss Raclette, carmalized onions and bacon. NOPE, it was simply, over cooked noodles, with a jar of fettuccini sauce and some of those "Real Bacon" bacon bits thrown in. Astonishingly bad.

We each ate a few bites to not be rude

We packed everything up and had a good laugh because We just spent $70 bucks on a frozen meal.

However, We laughed because the $70 isn't going to break the bank. For a couple who might be going for nice dinner and this may be a hefty bill, I assume there wouldn't be any laughing. And i feel terrible for anyone who goes thinking they are getting authentic German food.

But hey, our waiter was nice. I'm thinking either Zagat gave them there sign years ago, when they maybe had a chef... or they...

I've been to the Black Forest Inn at least 5 times.

The Black Forest Inn has always delivered an outstanding, end to end fine German-Continental dining experience for me and my family, starting with plenty of parking through and including coffee and dessert.

I have visited this restaurant for their buffet and à la carte service as well.

Arriving at the Black Forest Inn's property, one is immediately brought in to the little slice of Germany that three generations of the Aichem family have created and maintained for over three decades.

The restaurant is in a Tudor style building surrounded by plenty of parking. Walk up the stairs and you're greeted by a well maintained building with beautiful, heavy wood and glass doors. All meticulously maintained, as I have come to expect from my German compatriots.

Walk inside and you're greeted by a relaxing, modestly lit environment with a cuckoo clock, deer mount, green and red furniture, stained glass, dark wood and friendly staff, some of who are dressed in traditional German attire.

During a recent visit: Once seated, plates of toasted garlic bread slices were served, drenched in butter and seasoned perfectly. The whiskey sours I ordered were prepared well also, with Maker's Mark whiskey and plenty of it.

For my appetizer, I ordered their Scandinavian Matjes Herring. This is a smoked filet of herring served with a refreshing horseradish sauce, capers, red onions and a delicious relish. One of the children in my group had a warm traditional Bavarian pretzel with mustard and butter. It received positive reviews!

For my entree, I chose their sauerbraten with potato dumpling and red cabbage sides. Everything was prepared at the level I have come to expect, having eaten sauerbraten many times in my life. Other members of the family had Icelandic sole and sliced filet Mignon in a shitake Merlot sauce. I tried them both and was blown away not only by the seasoning and tenderness of the dishes, but also by the sheer variety of tastes that the kitchen was able to prepare. Very impressive.

For dessert, I had their warm chocolate souffle with vanilla ice cream and what tasted like a pistachio sauce on the side. That, and their chocolate mousse hit the mark, chased down with some very well prepared coffee.

Lastly, The Black Forest Inn advertises a dress code for gentlemen as jeans and a collared shirt minimum, but I recommend paying this gem of a restaurant its hard earned respect by wearing more formal attire. You won't feel...