Lunch at Manor Oktoberfest

Diva2 actually likes to cook, but you'd never know it from the amount of dining out she's done lately. Needing some fresh air and a walk, I took off down Yellowstone Blvd. in Queens yesterday in search of a German restaurant (Manor Oktoberfest) that I heard about recently. This is their second location, and I gather they have only been here about 3 months. It's a spacious, light place with the obligatory flat screen TVs everywhere and I had to wait a bit to be seated although the place was quite empty, since I arrived at an off hour for dining - later than lunch, too early for dinner. There is a counter right as you walk in and it has a high back wall, thus obscuring for the waitstaff in the room behind that anyone might actually be out front waiting - bad design plan as far as I'm concerned.

I ordered Potato Pancakes with Applesauce to start, followed by the Schnitzel Cordon Bleu Sandwich. The Potato Pancakes turned out to be 4 oval disks about 1/4" high and perfectly uniform in size, shape and color - in other words, I strongly suspect them to be bought wholesale already made and just heated up straight out of a box. Made from scratch on the spot - no way. The applesauce was clearly straight out of a Mott's jar. That said the taste was acceptable, if not spectacular, but I certainly wouldn't order this again.

The sandwich was definitely an improvement: a fried pork cutlet with ham and melted cheese (and yes, the cheese was properly melted), lettuce and tomato and a tangy horseradish dressing served on a crusty roll. My only complaint is that the roll wasn't crusty enough and I think that's because the horseradish dressing was soaking into the roll and softening it up. The taste of this sandwich was great; that I would definitely order again. The sandwich came with a choice of sides and I chose the Cucumber Salad. Again, this item was clearly out of a jar, bought by the gallon, but I didn't object because the tangy sweet/sour dressing and the chopped onions lightly pickled the cucumber slices and the end result was tasty and a nice counterfoil to the sandwich.

Then I fell for the oldest trick in the book when I asked the waitress about desserts, which were the usual carrot cake, chocolate cake, etc. Except of course "there is the one pound slice of Red Velvet Cake, but you wouldn't want that. It's too much for one person, it's really meant to be shared." Canny waitress - she basically dared me to eat it all and I fell for it. It is an enormous piece of cake (with an enormous price tag) and I had to admit defeat. I polished off 3/4s of it, but that was all. I might actually have eaten the whole thing if it had been any good, but it was a severe disappointment. It looked great, with a great red color, but it had no discernible taste of any kind and the frosting was too tangy and overpowering for my personal taste.

I'm not a beer drinker (just doesn't agree with my wonky digestive system) so I can't report on the beer selections but they seem quite varied.

Verdict: if you live in the nabe it's a good place to stop in for a quick sandwich and a beer, but if you live out of the nabe there is no reason to seek this place out.