burgers – Tablespoons and Teaspoons

Happy Friday!! It’s been over a month since my last post, which was on an American holiday Memorial Day. After a month of being MIA due to several food exploration dishes, I am back on the first of July – 4th of July weekend. To begin:

Happy Birthday America!! To celebrate food and American history, let’s explore an historic venue in American history. This venue is not in Washington D.C. or in downtown Manhattan, but in Woodhaven, Queens.

Almost 6 weeks ago I took my parents to the oldest tavern in US history now – Neir’s Tavern. Actually I heard about this tavern from a segment that aired on $9.99 with Dave Evans where he had the tavern’s famous coldest beer in New York City.

Neir’s Tavern opened in 1829 and was restored in 2009. The tavern has made several appearance in famous movies such as Goodfellas and Tower Heist. I have had the privilege of meeting the tavern’s owner at the recent Queens Taste event & samples their cotton candy wings.

When I took my parents to the tavern, the location of it was not ideal but we were lucky to find parking. Once we arrived, I felt the historical presence that this tavern has. I definitely took advantage of the happy hour special of the $3 draft cold beer. Also, I discovered that the tavern also has $5 lunch special that is a steal.

Happy Hour Draft Beer $3

BBQ Jack Wings $7.95

To start, we ordered the BBQ Jack Wings ($7.95), they were perfectly fried with the right amount of sauce. Other popular wings also include Cotton Candy Wings, Teriyaki wings and Thai Chili Honey Wings both for the same price!

“Tower Heist” Sandwich $9.95

My dad is a huge steak person so every non-Thai or non-Filipino restaurant he looks for the steak options. The only option he had was the “Tower Heist” sandwich, obviously named after the movie “Tower Heist”, which is an open face steak sandwich with lettuce and tomato. It comes with fries and cole slaw. The steak tasted similar to a roast beef sandwich, so it was my least favorite.

The “Mae West” Burger $8.50

The “Goodfella” Burger $9.25

After reading the food reviews of the tavern and there were rave reviews on the burgers. Therefore, my mother and I ordered two burgers that were named after an actress Mae West, who got her start in this tavern and the classic movie “Goodfellas”. My mother settled for the “Mae West” burger, which is made up of angus beef, lettuce, tomato, red onion, mushrooms along with cole slaw & fries. Her burger was good, fries were not as crispy as I have had in the past and cole slaw had an acidic, sour and tangy twist that is unique from the cole slaws I have had in the past.

Finally, I went for the popular “Goodfellas” burger, another burger to add to the growing list of burgers I have had in recent years. The “Goodfellas” burger consisted of an angus burger with grilled tomato, onions, pepper jack cheese and chipotle honey mayo. The burger also came with fries and cole slaw. The burger could have cleanly presently and huge that it had to be dissected with a fork & knife. The burger overall was flavorful especially with the mayo and pepper jack cheese.

At the end of this high protein dinner, the overall service was good, but they were short staff where the bartender was also our server. I would definitely return especially for lunch and explore the variety of wings they offer.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!! As we approach the end of the month, today’s post will celebrate National Hamburger Month. Although I am excited about this post, I am dreading it as well. After reviewing all my pictures and places I have been to, I discovered that I love hamburgers and I tend to order them at restaurants and bars.

After researching and reading the history of the hamburger, here is the lowdown on the emergence of the famous classic dish:

During the 12th-13th century, ground meat was developed and consumed raw by Genghis Khan and his “Golden Horde” army during battles.

19th century, German immigrants borrowed the recipe of the steak tartare from the Russians who learned about ground meat from the Mongolians. The Germans brought the “Hamburg-style” chopped steak to America after the port of Hamburg, which was the big exporter of beef.

During the 20th century, there have been four claims of who made the first American Hamburger. Over the course the century, the hamburger has been mass produced in fast chains such McDonalds and Wendys and by the 2001, burgers made up 71% of the beef served in commercial restaurants.

Below, are pictures of hamburgers I have ordered and consumed, which resulted in the 30 pound weight gain over the last 10 years. My personal favorite burger is not listed in any of these pictures. This burger is the Shack Burger with Cheese Fries and Arnold Palmer (total calories = 1,190; total cost w/ tax $12.88) from the original Shake Shack on Madison Square Park. Shake Shack was established by Danny Meyer in 2004.

Here’s the scary thought, I used to devour this meal twice a week after 9pm before my evening commute home. I took full advantage of the fact that I was in grad school for my first masters in public health (how ironic) and did not eat lunch or dinner. After reading the calorie count for each Shake Shack item and graduated from the public health program, I have reduced my intake of the Shake Shack meal. I am happy to say that I have not eaten at Shake Shack in over a year.

Although I have not eaten at Shake Shack, I have not stopped appreciating and enjoying a good burger with fries at various restaurants and bars in New York City. Here’s a reason: Health benefits of consuming a hamburger.

Ground beef consists of high levels of:

Iron: helps carry oxygen to cells, tissues and organs

Vitamin B-12: produces new red blood cells

Protein: lean ground beef helps build muscle and provide a reservoir of energy.

Given the cliff notes of the benefits of consuming hamburgers, below is a list of burgers I have consumed over the last year:

Top left: Kitchen Burger – David Burke Kitchen; Top Right: Korean BBQ Burger – 5 Napkin Burger Union Square; Bottom left: Dorian’s Classic Burger – Dorrian’s Red Hand; Bottom Right: Wagyu American Kobe Burger – Frites N Meats

11951801_10101103524215684_205419619719810614_n

Locksmith Burger w Yucca Fries – Locksmith Bar – Washington Heights

Hamburger – La Dama – Financial District

Angus Burger w truffle fries – Uncorked Wine & Tapas

Happy Hour Burger Special ($6) – McKenna’s Pub – Union Square

Cravin’ Bacon Burger w Fries – Bowlmor Lanes – Chelsea Piers

There are other burgers I have enjoyed but I did not have the opportunity to take pictures:

PJ Clarkes Burger, Five Guys Burger, Grass Fed Angus Burger at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Fishtail Burger, Donovan’s Burger at the Donovan’s Pub in Woodside and the Hamburger at the Fame Diner.

There are other burgers I definitely want to try, especially, the ones listed in Zagat, Time Out, Serious Eats, and PureWow.

Tablespoons and Teaspoons

Healthy high end eating on a budget

Tag Archives: burgers

Flashback Friday – Neirs Tavern

Flashback Friday – Hamburgers

Share this:

Share this: