By Patricia Summerfield
September 29, 2009
I went to dine at the Black Forest Restaurant in Howard which is located on the northwestern border of Green Bay. The restaurant is a magnificent 18,000 square foot log home-like building, designed with fantastic attention to detail both in its structure and its richly decorated upscale decor. As you walk past the hostess area there is a large circular bar, vaulted ceilings with original barn beams, a huge field stone two way fire place with a massive mantel made from a 900 year old Juniper tree from Colorado, cream colored leather sofas, slate flooring, and stylish log furniture. There are two dining areas; one is located behind a large partition of a relaxing sounding water wall, and the other is the river room with massive picture windows overlooking their huge brick patio and duck creek with the marshes. Upstairs is a gorgeous banquet room that can seat up to 300. In the bar lounge area they offered complimentary taco spread with chips and a cheese spread with crackers.
I dined in Black Forest's river room and was seated by the window, the view was pretty but the one aspect that I did not enjoy was a TV that was setup at the end of the room and turned on, it definitely took away from the ambiance. There are TVs above the bar in the lounge area, which is more appropriate than in the dining area. All their appetizers sounded so good I ordered three of them. The first one was the crab cakes for $11.95; they were made with fresh lump crab meat and perfectly seasoned and served with a Cajun aioli. The crab cakes were delicious and the seasonings were well integrated with the crab meat. My next appetizer was the coconut shrimp for $8.95 served with orange marmalade. The shrimp were huge, lightly browned, and encrusted with a crispy coconut breading they tasted delectable when accompanied with the orange marmalade. The next appetizer I ordered was the hot spinach & artichoke dip for $6.95 served with warm pita chips and baby carrots and fresh broccoli. 
The dip was wonderfully decadent with the spinach, artichokes, and lots of gooey cheese. For my main entree I ordered the 8oz Filet Mignon for $24.95 with two extra toppers, a bearnaise sauce and sauteed mushrooms, at an additional $1.50 each, and for another $6.50 I added sea scallops. Included with the entree is soup or salad so I chose the salad. I must say the service throughout my meal was more than satisfactory; the server was very amicable and efficient. I was brought out my salad with a loaf of warm white bread with a cinnamon honey butter and also plain butter patty's. The bread was fresh and the flavored butter had a nice light mixture and did not overpower the butter flavor. The salad was mediocre in taste and flavor. The entree had a nice presentation and the portions were large in size. With my entree you had a choice of potato and vegetable I chose the garlic mashed potatoes with red skins and the vegetables were a mixture of yellow squash, zucchini, corn, and onions.
My fillet was cooked to perfection, extremely tender with a sensational flavor accompanied with the bearnaise sauce and sauteed mushrooms. The garlic potatoes were very flavorful mixed and the vegetables were nicely sauteed but still maintained a nice crispness. Could I still be hungry after such a feast? One of the dessert choices was a Black Forest cake for $5.99; I just had to try it since it was the namesake of the Black Forest restaurant. It was large enough for a few people and served with vanilla ice cream. The server said they just got it in today so it should be fresh. I was not impressed with the flavor or texture and even though it was not made in house I thought it would taste better given the name. It tasted like a store bought hostess cupcake, but with a much firmer texture. Although I would skip the dessert next time my total dining experience at Green Bay's Black Forest Restaurant was a very pleasurable and enjoyable one.
