Char No. 4, Cobble Hill

Eats Meats West has yet to eat at Char No. 4 for dinner, always seeming to do brunch and/or booze instead, and…that tradition continues.

After an extended scrutinizing of the menu, we were told the specials were a beef brisket hash, sour dough French toast with maple butter, and a chorizo omelet.  We ordered all three in varying amounts.  I tried the Bloody Mary, with its house pickle and smoky whiskey.  It was a little fruity but overall fine.  Right before our food arrived, a huge group of people, led by Rat-Tail from Project Runway, coagulated at several tables behind us, blocking the fire exit. I will tear my way through your bohemian enclave, Rat-Tail, and make no mistake about that!

Getting back to the food, I found the beef brisket hash to be very finely grained with a very even and unmemorable meaty flavor.  Almost like, dare I say…cat food.  I was just imagining hunky pieces of delicious brisket.  Instead, it felt like the meat had been blended.  I understand that a hash is necessarily a fairly chopped mound of breakfast meat, but this was just plain mealy.  Also, it needed salt or smoke or something in that realm.  Plus, the egg to hash ratio was way too far on the hash side. The French toast was really amazing, on the other hand.  Too bad we shared a single plate between four people because it was easily the best dish.  With a great balance of crunch and softness, plus a heaping portion of cream and maple butter, it was like an ice cream sundae.  When we signed the bill, D noticed it was half of the total; the waitress had split it four ways for some reason but charged only two cards.  D was like, “sign it and let’s go!”
   
Verdict: Skip the hash.  Love the toast.  Avoid the rat-tail.  Confuse the waitress.