Porchetta Round Up

Porchetta is a place you want to love. Its a teeny, much hyped eatery that unabashedly worships the pig. But the prices are a little steep in comparison to what you get. You would think that the more you pay, the better the value- the opposite hold true.

My choice for best value is the $5 crispy potatoes and burnt ends, the potatoes are indeed crispy and surrounded by the most delicious pork bites.
The porchetta sandwich comes with a lot more meat, but a lot of it is difficult to eat. The fat is too chewy and parts of the skin are impossible to chew. Don't get me wrong, put this sandwich in front of me and I will happily eat it down. I am just hesitant to spend the $9 on it. Maybe $7 would be ok.

Before trying the sandwich, I was mesmerized by the glistening skin on top of the pork behind the counter and the jovial employee gave me a square. It looked like a bite sized piece of pure fat heaven but fell quite short of that once in my mouth. There was some solid flavor going on but it was like eating pork flavored glass; not what I was expecting.

In last place comes the porchetta platter. While it was moist and well seasoned, the portion did not justify the $14 price tag. The sides of greens and beans were tasty, but reminded me of something I had just made in my own kitchen.

My advice is to seek Porchetta out for a snack of the crispy potatoes and burnt ends and mosey on across the street to cutsey Butter Lane for a cupcake. I got a banana bread cupcake with french chocolate icing. Proof of my approval= licking the frosting off the wax paper that wrapped it while on the subway and not caring who saw.

Porchetta 110 E 7th St

(between 1st Ave & Avenue A)

Butter Lane 123 E 7th St

Ok... I ate a piece of burnt ends along with the cupcake and really liked them together. Is that weird?

Nicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches

Nicky's Banh mi were the perfect quick bite last week. I tried half of the chicken($5) and half of the pork chop ($5.50). The pork was a bit better than the chicken, but both were well seasoned. The standard banh mi veggies (carrots, cukes) were fresh but were segregated to one side of the sandwich with the meat of the other, I would prefer a mix of both throughout instead. I know these cost a lot less in Chinatown, but we were in this neighborhood. It took longer for the sandwich to toast than it did for me to consume it, but for what we were looking for (quick, cheap, healthy something to fill the belly), it served its purpose.

150 E 2nd St