After reading that Pete Wells (aka New York Times restaurant reviewer aka ultimate food guru aka my hero) dubbed the cheese burger from Red Hook as a “mandatory’ New York City burger, I signed up to eat here right away. 

As a New Yorker who lives across the street from Corner Bistro, and having refined my burger-eating chops at some of the cities best institutions – inclusive of Emily, 4 Charles, Au Cheval, and Minetta Tavern – I felt graduated enough to take on Red Hook Tavern as the next notch on my burger-eating black-belt. (Maybe it’s just a yellow-belt at this point in time..who’s to judge on this type of accolade? Pete Wells you reading this??) 

Our order was incredibly simple: the romaine wedge salad, the tavern burger, and the New York strip steak with creamed spinach. 

The wedge salad was visually underwhelming. Non-chopped, giant romaine leaves cover the plate with a simple, thick slice of bacon strewn atop. The top leaves are generously drizzled with dressing, leaving the bottom leaves bare, to fend for themselves. The bacon is of course tasty as can be. With an owner whose restaurant roster includes Hometown BBQ – arguably the best BBQ NYC has to offer – any meat dish becomes a must order in this dark and cozy spot. 

The service is friendly and knowledgeable. The wine options are mostly flirty, French, and natural. We were offered generous samples before committing to our glasses and the spacing out of the food was well thought-out. 

The New York strip came sliced and sprinkled with large flakes of sea salt. The flavor was disappointingly bland. However, what the dish lacked in flavor it made up for in texture. It was one of the smoothest, non-chewy bites of steak I’ve ever had. For the price tag the meat should have been tastier. The creamed spinach accompaniment tasted healthier than one would expect from such a dish with ‘cream’ in the name – I personally would have liked it to taste less like a vegetable, and more ‘bad for you’. (Oh, and don’t ask me what that small white ‘sauce’ is beside the steak because neither me, nor my dining partner could figure it out).

The burger was as simple as can be, dressed with only the thinnest sheet of American cheese and two, thick-slices of white onion. A crispy, tasty pickle and 3 sad wedge fries sat beside it on the plate, with the purpose of keeping it company on the plate-playground. The sandwich was an engineering masterpiece: the onion sat directly on the bottom bun and the patty was placed strategically in the center, giving both sides of the bun the necessary breathing room to avoid sogginess. It was tasty as all get out, and the dry-aged prime beef patty was cooked to burger-perfection, touting a crusty, oily edge and juicy, dripping center. Tasty, yes. But it simply does not hold a torch to Emily, 4 Charles, or Au Cheval. 

Red Hook, you make for a fun adventure. I’m happy to have visited, but with Corner Bistro fumes I can smell from my window, my next visit to this surprisingly-difficult-to-get-to-neighbourhood will trade a burger for some BBQ and cornbread. 

7/10