The Brass Rail is one of the oldest restaurants in Hoboken, built in the early 1900s, where Frank Sinatra (who is from there) used to hang out. One of the legends attached to this place consists of paranormal activity where people have seen the ghost of a bride and groom who died there. Apparently, on her wedding night, the bride fell down the stairs on the second floor and broke her neck. The groom, devastated, drank heavily and hung himself in one of the rooms near the staircase, leaving a suicide note: "Now that my wife was taken from me, there is no reason for me to live." Some of the staff working there swear that they saw the ghosts. I never did…

It has been a while since we went there, for brunch, and we never had dinner in fact. So the 4th of July was a good occasion to go there. Or not, because the kitchen seemed to be overwhelmed, the food taking an extremely long time to come. To the point that the table on our right asked for some bread as they were hungry, and the table on our left also complained, having waited more than 1h to get their appetizers. And the waiter could have probably done a better job in telling all of us what was going on. Too bad, because the food was quite good and we really wanted to try one of their desserts that were mouth watering, but decided to leave, thinking that, by the time it would arrive, we would be in 2022…

Here is where we had:

I started off with a cocktail and ordered the Prohibition pig, made with bacon infused bourbon, apple cider and apple syrup, topped with candied bacon. It looked fantastic, with the candied bacon (that tasted more like candy than bacon), on top of a square ice cube.

Then, we decided to share their house made ricotta that came with honey and pistachio. I love the combination of ricotta and honey, ricotta by itself being a bit boring, but clearly enhanced by the sweetness of honey. This is a great appetizer, easy to make home even with store bought ricotta. You just need a nice piece of bread, toasted.

Then, for her entree, Jodi went for their Beyond “guac” burger with no bun, that was served with a tomato jam and pickled onion. She only realized later that it had the term “guac” in the name and was supposed to be served with an avocado puree that was nowhere to be found. It was served with fries that were pretty good, having a nice crispiness.

Beyond “Guac” Burger at The Brass Rail in Hoboken, NJ

On my side, I decided to break my number 1 rule: no steak if not in a steakhouse. I ordered their ribeye that was served with fingerling potatoes that were smashed and covered with cheese and sour cream (loaded), as well as delicious baby carrots. It was overall good, even if the meat, topped with veal jus, was a bit tough to cut. But at least it was cooked as ordered, medium rare, and had this nice taste from the grill that I love so much. I loved the sides, that were a change from classic French fries, the potatoes being slightly crispy. I would reorder that again.

So that was it. No dessert. Too bad that there was this issue with the kitchen. Hopefully it was a one off. I’ll have to try this place again, the food being pretty good.

Enjoy (I did)!

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The Brass Rail - 135 Washington St, Hoboken, NJ 07030

Dinner at The Brass Rail in Hoboken, NJ

I Just Want To Eat!