Porchetta Visited 3/30/2011 3 Forks

Porchetta 110 E 7th St., (between 1st Ave & Avenue A), New York, NY 10009

Since Porchetta is more of a take-out place, I have been hesitant to try it out because I'm never really been in a position to do take out  in Manhattan when I live in Brooklyn.  But now that the only thing in my fridge is literally a carton of soy milk and since BlackBoard Eats sent a 30% discount, I felt like this was the right time to give it a try.  The place fairly tiny with only about 5-6 stools, so definitely don't come here expecting to have a nice night out.   


The menu is fairly simple with really just the pork sandwich ($10) and pork plate ($14) as the main entrees and then a few side options.  I opted to the the sandwich, the pork plate (comes with a side of cooked greens and beans) and a side of brunt ends ($5) to go.  It was only after I paid that I noticed the specials which consisted of a lentil soup and asparagus both of which I would have totally tried. 

The smell of the pig nearly drove me insane on the subway ride home and even though Dan wasn't home yet, I couldn't wait to rip open the bag.  At first glance, I thought that I didn't get enough food.  But now as I sit here typing this, my heart is about to explode and I totally could have just split the plate and not gotten the sandwich.  While the smell of the food was great, the taste is a bit on the fence.  The pork for the pork plate was extremely salty/overly herb-y and parts of it were a bit overcooked.  The actual meat part was pretty tender but there was also lots of extremely crispy skin that it was so hard that I felt like my teeth were going to break off.  I had a similar feeling about the brunt ends, the parts of the potato that weren't cooked beyond recognition were flavorful and tasty but the overcooked parts were just basically black and hard.  The greens were also just ok.  They are essentially collard greens sauteed in lots of olive oil and garlic.  There's something about the way they looked that bothered me but taste wise they were fine.  Actually the best side was the beans.  I wish they had actually filled up my container because there was definitely room for more beans in there.  So by the time I got to the sandwich, I thought my heart was going to stop beating from all the fat and salt I had eaten.  The sandwich also looked a bit small at first, but if you combine it with some sides I think you'll be fine. The cibatta bread is pretty soft and it basically just has the chopped up pork inside.  It could have actually stood to use some sauce or something wet but overall I liked it better than the plate. 

My total bill was $22 which was totally acceptable but that was with the 30% discount.  I could see how if you didn't have the discount, it's probably a bit steep for just getting pork take-out. I would try owner Sarah Jenkin's other restaurant Porsena instead of this place if you're looking for a nice sit-down dinner with less salty food.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go drink a gallon of water now.