Char No. 4

196 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY

8.4

map & more

Neighborhood
Brooklyn
Cobble Hill

Cuisine
American
BBQ
Southern

718-643-2106

Official Website

By Chris Stang
March 4, 2010

In case you haven’t noticed, Cobble Hill is fully stacked with great restaurants these days, many of which are new Infatuation favorites. Right at the top of that list is Char No. 4, and it’s easy to see why. It’s essentially my New York City dream house – a warm, inviting space with a wall of bourbon and a smoker. When we sell this website to Excite or Lycos or whoever is spending money these days, that’s totally what I’m buying. I guess for now I’ll have to stick with my current method of tossing a few woodchips into the toaster and ripping the batteries out of the smoke alarm.

While smoking meat is definitely a huge part of what Char No. 4 does (you’ll notice that damn near everything on the dinner menu is a “house smoked” something), it’s not all just ribs and brisket sandwiches. This is Southern influenced food in New York City, and you will find some really creative things on the menu, like the insanely good lamb pastrami, a ridiculous crispy sweet potato gnocchi, and a more than respectable brunch. We recently decided to put it all to the test by bringing in some palates even more discerning than ours. One of our favorite new bands hails from Dallas, and we decided to introduce them to Southern food, Brooklyn style. Take a look and see what happens when Char No. 4 meets Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights.

Food Rundown:

House Smoked Thick Cut Bacon
Two pieces of smoky, chewy bacon goodness. I swear each strip is an inch thick, and it’s up there with the best we’ve ever had.

House Cured Lamb Pastrami
In a city that’s known for good pastrami, this is good pastrami of the highest order – and it came from a cute, little, delicious lamb. Shaved thin and served with two big pieces of rye toast and a coriander aioli.

Chopped Pork Sandwich with Char No. 4 Mustard Barbecue Sauce
This is what eating BBQ is all about. Chopped pork on a soft bun, and a tangy mustard barbecue sauce to pull it all together. Simple and incredible.

House Smoked Brisket Sandwich with Pickled Cabbage & Beer Cheese
Another home run of a sandwich. Putting beer cheese on anything is a no-lose situation.

House Smoked Spare Ribs
More deliciousness courtesy of Char No. 4′s in-house smoker. These ribs are big and meaty, and served with sauce on the side (i’m a fan of that). Char No. 4′s barbecue sauce is a marriage of all the unique characteristics you’ll find in famous BBQ sauce from each region of the country. Remember when you were a kid and you would mix all the different types of fountain sodas in one cup (where i’m from that was called a “suicide”)? This is a BBQ sauce suicide and it makes my mouth happy.