Saturday Night Cheeseburger At The Cardinal

Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger! Starring The Cardinal and featuring the Ready for Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now please welcome tonight’s host, The Cardinal!

Night is falling on Manhattan as we head down Broadway to east 4th street.

I'm drinking a beer on the way hidden inside my patented Vitamin Water bottle beer disguise. You'll never get me, coppers!

There's a lot of people out tonight, I hope I can score a seat at the bar at The Cardinal.

Fanfare alert!

Okay, here we are, let's go see if we can score a seat at the bar.

Wow, it's a small bar and it's all filled up.

The tables are all filled up too. I'm starvin' like Marvin over here and don't feel like searching for somewhere else to get a cheeseburger.

Wait a second, there's outside seating, maybe I can get a table out there.

There's one lone table and I was told I could take it, so that's what I did.

And before you know it, pretty and friendly waitress Alex serves up a beer. I got a bottle of Left Hand Milk Stout, that's right, they don't serve Budweiser here.

Here's a shot of my table complete with a bottle of water and beer, who could ask for anything more...well a cheeseburger would complete the picture, but we must have patience.

A view of the other outside diners from my vantage point.

Okay, I've placed my dinner order and now...

Sit back, relax and watch the world go by. I don't eat at outside tables much, but I have to admit, it's kind of nice sitting out here tonight.

And before you know it, the first course has arrived! Deviled eggs. They look great!

They're creamy and topped with a hunk of bacon, a wonderful appetizer!

And here's the main course, the cheeseburger! It comes with a pickle and homemade potato chips.

A very delicious burger! And the chips and pickle were good too.

And now it's history.

I paid Alex at the bar and she gives a wave and a gorgeous smile goodbye. It was a great meal and evening at The Cardinal!

My Meal
There’s only one burger on the menu at Cardinal, but it’s a winner. It’s a skillet cooked burger topped with grilled onions, bibb lettuce and a dabble of homemade barbecue sauce. The burger is housed in a bakery fresh potato roll. It recently made Time Out New York’s best burger list and I can see why. It comes with a pickle and homemade potato chips. For an appetizer I got the deviled eggs and they come three to a serving topped with a bit of bacon and slightly seasoned. A tasty treat indeed.

Other entrees on the menu include: Smothered and Fried Pork Chops with Red Eye Gravy; Fried Chicken, Catfish and the BBQ Plate which is a combination plate featuring: ribs, pulled pork, brisket and hot links. All the entrees come with your choice of two sides including: a Pickle Plate; Fried Green Tomatoes; Deviled Eggs and Fried Okra. You can get wine by the glass and they have eight beers to choose from including: Left Hand Milk Stout, Narragansett, Full Sail IPA  and Ommegang Witt. And all these years I thought Ommegang Witt was an Boswesnian comedy troupe, oh well, you learn something new every day!

Cheeseburger Rating
Three and a half Wimpy’s, easy to see why it’s at the top of the Time Out New York best burger list!
The Cardinal
234 E. 4th St. (Near Ave. B)
212-995-8600

Further Reading: EV Grieve, Paper & String and East Village Eats.

Fly on little wing,
Yeah yeah yeah, little wing.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

Saturday Night Cheeseburger At Fraunces Tavern

Live, from New York, it’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger! Starring Fraunces Tavern with a special appearance by BBC member Gene Rubbico and featuring the Ready for Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now, please welcome our host, Fraunces Tavern!

Gene's coming over shortly, so I thought I'd prepare one of my patented, special snack mixes for an appetizer before we head out. I've gotten four bags of snacks and a can of Easy/Sleazy Cheese for the mix.

And here's my snackologist certified mixing bowl to begin the preparation.

I'm starting with a base of the Brooklyn Flatbreads.

Now I start adding the other chips and pretzels, carefully pruning and shaping the mix. I've warned about this before, but if you're not a certified snackologist, like myself, please don't attempt this at home!

Four hours later the mix is ready for consumption and my buzzer is ringing. Must be Gene, perfect timing!

And here he is, BBC member Gene Rubbico, holding the sleazy cheese and a copy of Chris Erikson's new CD that he won by being the first commenter at this post.

Okay, after a few beers and snacks, it's time to catch a downtown train to the financial district.

It can be a little confusing down here, but luckily Gene has an actual GPS and instead of me walking around in circles for about two hours...

Here we are at the Fraunces Tavern and Museum. This is the oldest standing building in New York and it's where George Washington gave his farewell speech to his Lieutenants back in 1783. The museum is closed, but the restaurant and tavern are still open.

So let's get inside and get Saturday Night Cheeseburger underway!

Here's the restaurant.

It's nice in here with candle lit wooden communal tables.

Here's a painting of Georgey Boy himself.

The restaurant looked nice, but I think this is more suited to our needs.

It's a nice dark bar in here and kind of crowded, but Gene and I managed to get two seats at the bar.

The bartender was super busy, so I didn't get a chance to get his name, but I did get a shot of him in action.

Gene got a Magners and here it is resting at the bar.

Here's some of the other beers on tap.

Love these lit-up bottles behind the bar.

A shot of the wooden bar from the far end.

Comfortable fur banquettes and wooden tables to relax at are opposite of the bar.

Some of the whiskey flights that are available at the bar.

And when I get back to the bar, tonight's meal is waiting for me. I love it when that happens! Gene and I each got the slider sampler which consisted of a chicken salad slider, a mini cheeseburger and a crab cake slider.

They were really good, although I was a little disappointed in the cheeseburger slider. It was a little dry and didn't have much taste. The other two were much better, in my humble opinion.

After a beer for dessert, a quick glance out the window...

And I'm headed home as Gene continues to bar crawl. He's trying to hit 1,897 bars tonight and I hope he hit his goal!

My Meal
Gene and I both got the slider sampler and it was the perfect amount of food that didn’t leave you with that stuffed feeling. I really liked the crab cake and the chicken salad sliders, they were both very tasty, especially the crab cake. It was crispy on the outside and filled with soft and somewhat spicy crab meat inside. The cheeseburger was a little bland and dry and a bit of a disappointment though. The thing that saved it was the bakery fresh bun, really soft and just a tad on the sweet side.

In addition to the sliders burger they also have a Tavern Burger that comes with French Fries and four choices of cheese to top it off with. Other entrees include: Bangers and Mash with a beer-onion gravy; Pan Seared Salmon,  Fish and Chips and Pork Schnitzel with fried potatoes and wild mushrooms. Some of the appetizers offered are: Irish Cheese Plate with onion marmalade, Smoked Haddock Chowder, a daily selection of oysters and Whiskey Cured Salmon on Toasted Stout Bread.

Cheeseburger Rating
Two Wimpy’s, not the greatest in town, but not that bad either.

Fraunces Tavern
54 Pearl St. (@Broad St.)
212-425-1776

Further Reading: NY Times—City Room, ChowderKids and The Bowery Boys.

I’m hungry for that sweet life baby,
With a real fine girl like you.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Bonus Links From JHwang!

TWM commenter, JHwang/Jason sent in these food links for Saturday Night Cheeseburger. The first is this preview of Pizza Hut's heart attack inducing cheeseburger pizza. And the second is this jello portion that he sent in for dessert, it's kind of hypnotizing! Thanks for the links Jason!

Cheeseburger Saturday Night At My Apartment

Live, from New York, it’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger! Starring Marty’s apartment, with a special guest appearance from the Food Emporium and featuring The Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now, please welcome tonight’s host, Marty’s apartment!

Two nights I don't go out are New Year's Eve and St. Patrick's Day, so we'll be having Cheeseburger Saturday Night at home sweet home. All I have to do is get the ingredients, get back home and lock the door! I'm out early and as you can see, it's starting already!

Okay, we'll get the ingredients for a homemade Cheeseburger Saturday Night in here and then hightail it home before the streets turn into a river of green vomit.

And the dance begins! Time to get home and lock the doors.

Okay, we're at home sweet home and here's what I got for tonight's home-cooked Saturday Night Cheeseburger: Velveeta Shreds, Sociable crackers, smoked cheddar cheese, diced onions, rye bread and hot Italian sausage. Time to get cooking!

But first, a pre-dinner beer, it is St. Patrick's Day after all. Too rah loo rah loo rah and all that jazz.

And I decided to play T. Rex's CD, Slider as background music. Get it? Slider, cheeseburger... Bueller...Bueller...Bueller...

Okay, I've prepared the burger in its raw form. I seasoned the hot Italian sausage with Colman's mustard powder, pepper, hot chili powder and a dash of A1 Sauce. I also folded in about a cup of the Velveeta shreds to give the burger a bit of a Juicy Lucy taste. I then formed it using this burger press suggested by the Duncester.

Here's the diced onions fried up and seasoned with curry powder. We'll put them to the side and concentrate on the burger next.

Here it is in the pan and I added a hit of pepper on top. Can never have enough pepper!

Okay, we'll cover it up and let it cook on a low heat...

Which allows time for a beer and Sociable cracker break..

And a musical interlude from T. Rex.

Okay, three beers and a half of box of Sociable's later and the burger's all done. It looks delicious! Look at the Velveeta bubbling out from within it! Okay, time to assemble tonight's burger!

Here's the toasted rye bread with melted smoked cheddar cheese on top of it.

Okay, we're almost there...

And the fried onions finish it off. Alright, time to try this creation!

A little tough to eat, I may have to finish it off with a fork, but it's delicious! And afterwards I had emailed with Goggla and she said she hoped there would be something green on the burger. Too late for anything green on the burger, but...

Here's a little sharin' of the green from the various Gumby's in my apartment! Goodnight and see you all tomorrow!

Further Reading: Taste of Home, Canary Bird’s Nest and Food Network.

I’ve got a lot of patience, baby,
And that’s a lot of patience to lose.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Bonus Mick Mykola Demetiuk Book Linkage!

Author and TWM commenter, Mick Mykola Dementiuk has a new e-book that's just been published by JIMS Books. The title is, "Kisser, A Masculine Femininity" and you can check it out and buy a pdf copy right here for just $2.39: "Kisser, A Masculine Femininity."