This Little Piggy went to Brunch
by knockrz
This past weekend, one of my good friends was back in NYC; and needless to say, the food in LA just wasn’t cutting it for him. As a result, our weekend was planned around his favorite places to eat in the city.
On a sunny Saturday afternoon, the wait at The Spotted Pig was about an hour for a party of 5. This was expected as they don’t take reservations. Inside, we were greeted with a bustling but warm and casual atmosphere. The entire restaurant has a nice West Village/English pub vibe with its modest wooden decor. All sorts of pig-themed pictures and paintings are strewn across the walls just in case you’ve forgotten where you’ve wandered into.
We started out with two orders of the chicken liver toast. I’ll note that it’s almost become a ritual for me to start out my meals here with this dish. The bread is toasted ever so slightly that the outside crust is crunchy, yet the inside is still a bit chewy. Then a heaping pile of rich and creamy chicken liver is spread on top. Visible chunks of liver also add another layer of bursting flavor to the dish. Absolutely delicious.
I’ve been loyal to the burger the last four times at The Spotted Pig. And being one of my favorite burgers in the city, it was quite the predicament to go with something else, but I felt like I needed to venture out and try the rest of the menu. The deep fried poached eggs with chorizo stew caught my eye as an interesting dish when I looked over the menu for alternatives. A colorful plate of expertly fried (and) poached eggs sat on top of a chorizo stew made my Saturday afternoon even brighter. Sunny yellow yolk poured out of the eggs as I cut into them, adding even more color to the dish. The eggs complimented the salty, sugary, and vinegary stew well while the savory chorizo provided that extra hint of spiciness to bring all the flavors of the dish together.
Almost every table around us ordered at least one burger and ours was no exception. Each juicy patty was cooked perfectly to requested temperature and came with a gigantic pile of salted shoestring fries on the side. The roquefort cheese added an entirely new twist to the typical burger flavor, in a good way. Combined with a perfectly toasted brioche bun, everything worked together so well that almost no words were uttered during the consumption of the burgers. Only the sound of chewing and the occasional gulp broke the happy silence. If that weren’t enough, I’m pretty sure their shoestring fries were fried with fresh rosemary and garlic to give them such addicting flavor and aroma.
The Spotted Pig is not only a solid choice for dinner, but also for brunch. Great food and great ambiance easily make this a favorite spot for any occasion. I highly recommend the burger and will be back soon to fill the void that was created in my stomach by not getting it this time around. Cheers!
i'm hungry 