[Pigging by Wilfrid: March 12, 2014]
As I've said before, sometimes I don't eat to write. Sometimes I just eat, and write about it anyway. After all, I've praised Fritzl's Lunch Box often enough here. But it's on my rotation, and the menu constantly changes. So why not share?
That's important for a neighborhood joint, of course. Keep the mainstays--the burger, the chicken sandwich--but tweak around the edges to keep people coming back. And so, pork ribs--new to the menu, and an audibled special, octopus. Is this the best octopus I've ever eaten?
It's hard to know for sure. I've eaten octopus in Spain and Australia; it was always an ace on Odette Fada's San Domenico menu; and I've cooked it myself (cleaning a large, whole octopus is a weird experience). But I can't imagine it getting much better than this.
One fat tentacle, shyly hiding behind a couple of olive oil crackers. The plate strewn with warm lentil and parsley salad, and dabbed with harissa sauce.
What can I say? At the time, I kept saying to myself, "this eats like butter." And yet it still has a char. This guy is a very good cook indeed. $10 (as I said, a special).
Oh, the pork ribs? Excellent too. Twice-cooked, so braised or baked to tenderness, then given a crisp crust in, I assume, a hot pan. The rib meat was mild and sweet: the chunks of house bacon-belly which balanced out the plate were sharply smoked, almost rubbery, in a good way (which anyone who has sniffed sheets of natural rubber, as I have, will understand).
Some fig to bring out the sweetness, some salad leaves. $14, I thought, although online it says $16. I could eat here every night, but I guess I'd need to rename the blog.
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