Angel
New Member
We are always on the lookout for a good Sunday brunch, but they are increasingly difficult to find.
When a friend mentioned a good one at The Black Forest, we were anxious to try it. We had already enjoyed a nice lunch and a special dinner at the comfortable Amherst eatery on Route 101.
The dining room, where hanging woven fabrics depicting birch trees and other scenes separate different sections of the room, is comfortable. A wall of windows on one side allows filtered morning sunshine to warm the nearby tables.
The menus for all meals are compact but widely varied in taste and selection.
Breakfast and brunch dishes are available all day on Sunday. The morning menu ranges from Brisket and Eggs ($14) to a breakfast burrito ($12) to Sausage, Biscuits & Gravy ($13) and different takes on Eggs Benedict ($13-$14).
Before our food arrived, we enjoyed complimentary biscuits and pastries — a blueberry scone, a couple of breakfast biscuits and a small sugared muffin, accompanied by butter and small dish of the house special Apple Butter (similar to a sweet apple chutney).
We chose two main meals of Salted Bourbon Caramel French Toast ($12) with a side of Maple Pork Sausages ($3) and the Classic Benny breakfast ($13).
The salted caramel and bourbon flavoring on the cinnamon-raisin French toast was a delightful flavor all by itself, and didn’t even require maple syrup. As the meal wore on, we added some of the syrup, but the special taste of the salted caramel sauce was superb on its own.
The thick, maple pork sausages were hearty — far more substantial than standard link sausages, and not greasy. The sausages were a nice accompaniment to the powdered-sugar dusted slices of French toast.
The Benedict dish featured nicely poached eggs on smokehouse Canadian bacon slices, served atop homemade brioche rolls and smothered in warm, tasty hollandaise sauce. It was served with a hearty helping of large-chunk homefries and a bowl of cold, sliced fruit.
These were two outstanding breakfasts from a menu full of creative dishes, many featuring New Hampshire- or Vermont-made products (eggs, sauce, cheese), and others with nice touches including avocados (or guacamole), sourdough bread, tofu or vegetables. Omelets start at $11, with a list of possible add-on veggies and meats from $0.50-$1.50.
Lunch diners can enjoy soups and salads, seafood crepes, club sandwiches, chicken pot pies or cranberry brisket from among other, standard lunch choices — or a variety of lunch bowls with rice, specialty chicken, seafood, organic pasta, or a Buddha Bowl ($15) with cauliflower, rice, kale, edamame, squash, tomatoes and tahini drizzle, with shrimp, chicken or tofu.
Black Forest boasts their food is “From scratch by hand since 1988,” and the homemade aspect of the food, and especially the bakery goods, is unmistakably and pleasurably evident. From the muffins to the French toast, and the fresh local eggs to the sweet sauces, Black Forest puts its best foot forward bringing good wholesome food to your table.
With a basic children’s menu priced at $5 for breakfast or lunch, families find good value at the Forest, and all meals are reasonably priced at the accomplished bakery/restaurant where “comfort food with a creative twist” is standard.
If you want to bring something home, the bakery offers many New Hampshire-made foodstuffs, and there is a good selection of local wine available, too. Baked goods run the gamut from pies and cakes, to cookies and doughnuts, quiches, muffins, salads/dressings and sandwiches.
Enjoy the drive into Amherst and take note of the Forest among the trees. There are fine meals waiting.
Thank you
https://www.unionleader.com/nh/food/our_gourmet/our-gourmet-the-black-forest—great-for-brunch/article_e4670c5f-4fb0-52fa-855b-f4548ef21bf3.html