Best German restaurant in Manhattan?

[galloping.gourmet]

I know this is a bit of an oxymoron, but where would one go to check out the best German food Manhattan has to offer? Don't ask the obvious--why? Rolf's and Heidelberg are the obvious frontrunners.

[roze]

Rolf's and Heidelberg are not frontrunners! Probably the worst in my experience. Zum Schneider and Lorely are the best I've had. Hallo Berlin is also pretty good but the service is always so bad it gets in the way of the food.

[MMRuth]

I was very disappointed with Heidelberg when I went before Christmas - food was gloppy, uninteresting, consomme tasted like it came out of a can. I'd go back for beer and sausages, but that's about it.

[guttergourmet]

Silver Swan, Lederhose and Zum Schneider (where I took my 8 year old daughter yesterday who had a great time eating pretzels and wieners. Don't forget Hallo Berlin and in Queens Chalet Alpina.

[eve]

Definitely not Rolfs--way rip off. (btw-I promised not to use CH for a few weeks while the re-engineering was underway and the dust settled/bugs got squashed but I had to make sure I got my $.02 in about avoiding Rolfs). Perhaps Silver Swan? I guess you don't mean Austrian but particularly German, right? Have you tried a search here? Strongly suggest.

[dhedges53]

I've heard good things about Loreley's Restaurant and Biergarten (lower east side). Several German beers on tap. I haven't been there myself but have been told that their Jager Schnitzel is pretty good. I get your point about "good German food". Hahahaaaaaaaaa. However, I did run across a German restaurant in Fredericksburg, Texas several years ago that had a Jalapeno Jager Schnitzel. It kicked a relatively bland food up several notches, making it more than palatable. And then, of course, you have a good excuse to sample a wide range of German beer.

[virago7]

I've been to Loreley's a couple of times and their food is definitely worth a trip -- even if you don't have a beer to wash it down. The pretzels arrive warm with plenty of salt and good mustard on the side. I've had the schnitzel and the goulash - both were good. My friends seem to have enjoyed their dishes as well.

[cimui]

I third Loreley. They have good, juicy sausages and a pleasant enough potato soup to bed down their even better beers.