Black Forest Restaurant

Enjoy German cuisine served with quiet pride in this building nestled on Allentown’s Main Street.

By:Faith Bahadurian

(TIMEOFF PHOTOS/MARK CZAJKOWSKI)
   Taking a trip to the Black Forest Restaurant in Allentown is like being transported to another time and place. Park your car and your cares out on the street and enter a 300-year-old mill building, heavy with stone and rough wooden beams.
   Plank flooring creaks underfoot as you enter the restaurant through double glass doors and are greeted by a glass-fronted dessert case and a list of specials with prices on a blackboard. The night of my visit I was accompanied by members of my extended family, and we arrived a little early for our reservation after some pleasant browsing in the nice shops lining Allentown’s Main Street.
   We were promptly seated at one of the large wooden tables, many with bench seating. Some of the benches have artistic, free-form wooden backs, sliced right off the tree’s trunk. Soft lighting and framed prints make for a cozy room, with a Bavarian theme that isn’t quite carried through in the dress of the pleasant wait staff, offering efficient, almost motherly, service.
   The dining room was busy, but the noise level remained blessedly low, with no intrusive music. We were brought menus and wine glasses, and while a corkscrew was put down on our table to open our own wine (this is a BYO establishment), some other tables had their wine opened for them. This is a sign of somewhat casual service, but somehow not inappropriate to the endearingly relaxed feel of the place.
   We pored over the menu as a basket of rolls arrived with packets of plain butter and a small crock of butter blended with cinnamon sugar. This was the first of several touches throughout the evening that reminded me of childhood — in a good way.
   From a half dozen appetizers and several soups, we chose herring in sour cream ($5.95), potato soup ($3.95) and potato pancakes with applesauce and sour cream (two for $3.95, four for $7.95, six for $10.95). The herring was good, although I missed the crunchy Melba toast I like as an accompaniment. Shreds of carrot add some color to the delicious creamy soup, and the pancakes were properly crisp on the outside, soft within. Dinners come with a simple salad and choice of dressings; I especially liked the house sweet and sour, which can be purchased by the pint or quart.
   We loved our entrées. My wiener schnitzel ($23.95) was feather-light and greaseless. Three large veal cutlets had been pounded thin and fried perfectly. My accompanying spaetzle, tiny dumplings, was heaven on earth, having submitted to a light sauté in butter after being boiled, and the red cabbage was sharp with vinegar and sweet with cloves.
   German pot roast ($18.95) is much like sauerbraten, but without the sour tang. Tender beef was thinly sliced against the grain, and served with flavorful brown gravy. This diner chose as her two sides the German potato salad (delicious) and sautéed string beans (average).
   My other companion surprised us by ordering crabmeat au gratin ($19.95). Who puts that on a menu anymore, especially in a German restaurant? And, considering the success of this dish, why doesn’t everyone? It was a rich and creamy hit, along with sides of pickled beets and more spaetzle. The food is presented very simply, with no "frou-frou" but plenty of quiet pride.
   Desserts, some house-made and some not, range from the child-friendly ice cream with cookie ($3.75) to the more traditional apple strudel ($3.95, but sold out) and black forest cherry torte ($4.75). We tried three: hazelnut mocha torte ($4.95), lemon cheesecake (a special, $4.50), which were both good but nothing special, and the whitest homemade bread pudding ($3.75) I’ve ever seen. I ordered the latter at the urging of our waitress, and while I often find bread pudding too dense and heavy, this one was all soft bread and soothing light custard, and I surprised myself by loving it, in spite of (or maybe because of) being reminded of childhood sickroom food.
   I had previously visited the Black Forest Restaurant just once, for an impromptu Sunday lunch last spring. At that time I wasn’t so sure I liked German food. But chef/co-owner Keith Warner won me over, with his cooking of course, but also by visiting each table to earnestly ask if diners were enjoying their meals. That day I had a sampler plate, with the same veal and pot roast we enjoyed at our recent dinner, in addition to a tender little braised pork shank with mild sauerkraut. My friend ordered a sausage platter and was similarly smitten. Everything I’ve tried here is notable for not being heavy, greasy or salty. Mr. Warner’s partner, sister-in-law Eileen Warner, is a warm presence at the front desk, and between the two of them they have a good thing going. If you like German food, you’ll love this. And if you aren’t sure you like it? You will after a visit to the Black Forest Restaurant.