Senate

Burger #10: Senate - Senate Burger 12$

Not my picture.  Wish it was though.

I have some free time due to my semester coming to an end this week.  No new homework and only 2 exams next week to go!  This week I am writing a review that should be the complete opposite tone as last week.  I think last week was more disappointment than it was a bad burger by any means.  It sucks to have something built up as this amazing experience and then to have that be just a plain and ordinary thing got to me. The owners of this weeks review are opening a new restaurant soon nearby called Abigail Street.  I recommend checking them both out.

The poutine: truffle fries, melted cheese curds,
gravy and braised short ribs = delicious!
Not my picture.

I am happy to say that I am finally getting to this week's burger from February 15th.  This week's burger review is from Senate, a restaurant that is about a year old in the Over The Rhine area across from Lavomatic, at 1214 Vine Street.  There is parking right next to the building.  I'm glad Senate opened there because this is a good place for me to go before Ensemble Theater shows since I have a season subscription there.  It used to be that I had to go to Lavomatic, but I had a bad experience there with the service during restaurant week 2 years ago, so I try  not to go there anymore.  They are still on the burger list, so I'll have to make one more stop there.  Well, back to Senate...I on a Tuesday night and it was pretty empty when I got there, but by the end there were quite a few people for a Tuesday.  When you walk in, you'll see the bar on the right and seating on the left.  This is not a huge place and there is probably a long wait come dinner time on a weekend, but we were seated right away this day.  This is an upscale restaurant, that specializes NOT in burgers, but  in hot dogs!  Yes I know, who specializes in hot dogs?  Senate does and it does it well! Rachael Ray did a March Madness type bracket of the top 64 hot dog places, and as you can see, Senate made it down to the top 16, being beaten out by the overall winner.

http://hostedmedia.reimanpub.com/rrmag/everydayLiving/travel/MM6.pdf 

Some of the gourmet hot dogs.
I've had 2 kinds now and they are amazing.
Not my picture.

The hot dogs that are usually on the menu are between 9 to 10$ include the Korean (kimchi and braised ribs), trailer park (bacon wrapped, coleslaw, and crushed grippo's potato chips!), and the Dan Korman (red canalini bean and Turkish lentil sausage, sun dried tomatoes, shaved fennel, arugula and goat cheese).  Also, there is a hot dog of the day, and for this reason I highly recommend following them on facebook here, they named are Senate Restaurant. The dog yesterday posted on their page was "Lisa Lampanelli, it's a pork & sweet onion sausage, chipotle mayo, bacon, beer cheese & fried onions. Obscenely Delicious!"  Beer cheese screams to my inner Wisconsinite in me!  These don't come with sides so you should grab some duck fat fries, truffle fries or lobster mac and cheese to go with it.  This is not a cheap place, but everything I had makes it completely worth it to let go and experience all the noms that Senate has to offer.

On the rest of the menu you'll find a lobster BLT, yup I said lobster BLT, with a basil mayo.  The MC belly (bbq pork belly with wasabi cole slaw and tempura onion ring) and foie gras creme brulee.  Everything sounds so tempting :)  All of this comes with a great beer selection at the bar.  I had a Kentucky bourbon barrel and they had a really good berry beer on tap.

My partner in crime during this adventure recommended the poutine as an appetizer.  It is french fries with local cheese curds melted on top, braised short rib & gravy.  Yup, once again my inner Wisconsinite almost had a tear my eye after seeing that they not only know what cheese curds are, they made them tastier with out deep frying them.  This was one of the best sides I have ever had.  I do think it's also one of the least healthy options as a side, but well worth it to try it since you're there.  My company had a dog which had a taquito on it.  It was really good, but she said she thought the other dogs were better.

This is what a perfect burger looks like afterwards.
Plus it is cooked over a wood stove.This picture was me
trying to finish the burger falling apart.

My  burger was the Senate burger...they only have one, so there it's not a hard choice.  This was a giant, wood grilled angus burger with cheddar, and caramelized onions.  It's worth noting that the brioche bun was very fresh and worked well with the burger.  The house-made pickles were actually 3 kinds of pickles, not just one.  I love pickles so this was an added bonus.  I ordered my burger medium and it came out a little pink in the middle, with a great seasoned taste, not bland at all.  Everything went together perfectly on this burger!  This is by far the completely opposite experience that I had the week before this burger.  It was filling, especially after the poutine.  I may  have eaten too slowly, because by the end the bun soaked up the grease and well...as you can see below, my burger was falling apart. So far this is the fest burger on my list.  If you were going to get one burger this year, I will tell you to go to Senate.

Greasy deliciousness!
That is a tomato hanging on for dear life. 

Go to Senate!