Schilling - New York

Fun and lively atmosphere, innovative menu, unique wines on the list. Really enjoyed the dinner with colleagues.

Shilling is really underrated...downtown has plenty of fine dining and lots of quasi fast food, but not a lot of 'neighborhood vibes, charming, good solid food, great for friends, won 't destroy your wallet ' type places '. Schilling is one of them...reminds us of places we eat at in Red Hook and Brooklyn. The location is odd, there is construction, but it 's really convenient for us Fidi and BPC people. Dinner last night with friends was delicious and convivial.

My friends and I thoroughly enjoyed our experience here. It has a refreshing and cozy atmosphere with fantastic bites and cocktails. The menu is on the small side, but everything was plated beautifully and easy to share. We especially loved the open French doors in the front of the restaurant. I would absolutely come back!

Let me start with the good: the service was lovely. We felt welcome and the staff were very accommodating and welcoming. We were excited about the food. The menu is small, which usually means that the ingredients are fresh and flavorful and the cooking of those ingredients is focused and crafted. Additionally, this restaurant was SUPPOSEDLY run and owned by a Michelin Star chef. We were very excited to eat there. However, on Open Table it states that we only have 1.5 hours for our meal. That seems ridiculous, but ok, we were game for that too. We also sat at the bar, so we wouldn't have to time ourselves eating. The wines are also limited, but our server recommended some fantastic Austrian selections which we loved. All good. Then the food came. This wasn't Austrian. I lived in Austria for a short time and this wasn't it. This was Radisson at its lowest point. The schnitzel chicken/veal was very thin (as it should be) but it was like eating fried shoe leather (we got both chicken and pork). There was zero seasoning or any flavor other than the small sliver of lemon we squeezed on the fried lump. The Spaetzle béchamel was runny and smothered the starch beyond recognition so it was like eating a bowl of marginal cream of cream of cheese on cream soup without tasting the toothsomeness of the actual starch, which has a lot of subtle flavor if done right. The trout appetizer was ok. The Fried Green tomatoes fell into the category of the schnitzel: no seasoning, just fried topping, and the sauce was ketchup mixed with mayo Russian dressing. All of the food was so incredibly pedestrian we were taken aback. It wasn't delicious or tasty. For the price point, this food should've been so much fresher, better in so many ways. It's a missed opportunity because there are literally no good restaurants in that area.

Lovely hidden gem in FiDi. Great drinks, interesting food, cute ambiance and low noise level (but restaurant wasnt full).