Porchetta

[BryanZ]

Porchetta

110 E. 7th St.

Stopped by this place for lunch yesterday, and I must say the sandwich is really good. I might suggest a few improvements, but all in all it's pretty freaking tasty. Nice balance between porky and herby, and the cracklings really make the sandwich. In fact I'd pay for an entire sandwich filled just with those crispy bits. In the future I'd like to try the crispy potatoes with "burnt ends." I imagine that has to be good.

My two complaints are as follows. First, technically speaking, I feel the sandwich is too dry. Either they should throw a little bit of those cooking greens on top or just moisten the whole thing with some cooking jus. Also, it's pretty expensive. A sandwich and soda was something like $12.65. It's tasty, but a barely a lunch, and certainly not a full dinner. Given how barebones the whole operation is, I thought it was a bit pricey.

But it's still really good and worth trying.

[jm chen]

The platter, which is just the meat plus beans and greens, is good. But the potatoes are incredible.

Platter is $12, potatoes are $5, so with tax it was almost $20, but that's enough food for two, so take a friend. And drink water.

[docsconz]

A good porchetta sandwich is something to savor. I look forward to trying this one. What were the potatoes like?

[mjc]

I tried just the sandwich the other day and the pork was awesome. Though there is nothing extra on the sandwich, I didn't find it dry because the pork is so moist and flavorful. The only downside for me was the bread was a little more chewy than it should be. Next time I'll have to try the sides.

[philadining]

I finally made it to Porchetta the other day, and now I'm sad to think of all the great sandwiches I've been missing in the last several months!

We usually feel very superior about our pork sandwiches in Phladelphia, and indeed we have some very delicious versions, but nothing quite like this...

Four of us agreed that it was a freaking fantastic sandwich. Looking at it you'd think it would be dry, might need some condiments or a little sauce. But no, it's perfect.

The potatoes were gorgeous, but actually didn't have a ton of flavor. Not bad, but not as exciting as they looked. We picked out the tasty crunchy crispy bits of pork, and ate a few of the potatoes, but next time, I'm skipping the potatoes and getting a platter with greens and beans. Those looked pretty rocking.

Wait, what am I thinking?!? I'm not ordering a platter, that roll is too perfect. Maybe two sandwiches...

[docsconz]

Great photos of a great sandwich! I had Sara Jenkins' sandwich at the Village Voice event a few months ago. Though it was just a relatively small sample, it was delicious and the best thing I ate that night.

[iheartoffal]

I honestly don't know why everyone raves about this place. I've been there twice, and both times the pork was almost inedibly dry and just about completely flavorless, as if it didn't get within 100 yards of any sort of seasoning. Am I the only one who feels this place is shockingly over-hyped? Did I just have the sad misfortune of going on two isolated off-days?

Edited June 10, 2009 by iheartoffal (log)

[philadining]

Well, either you hit it on off-days, or I hit it on an on-day, because the pork I got was moist, and vibrantly-seasoned. I was actually surprised that just meat on a roll could be so good.

[cdh]

Had lunch there on Monday, and was quite impressed. A less sloppy juicy experience than the Philadelphia Italian pork, but a quite tasty sandwich. I'd agree that the impressions of it being a bit pricey ring a bell with me... but they're in NYC and that extra $2 in the price per sandwich must be covering the rent.

[yasuofenix]

i too have had very dry pork and potatoes. unfortunately it was all inedible. i'd give it another try since i live close, but I'm not in a rush.

[cganzer]

i too have had very dry pork and potatoes.  unfortunately it was all inedible.  i'd give it another try since i live close, but I'm not in a rush.

←

I'm 1-1 on the potatoes with burnt ends. The first time I got them they were terrific, lots of pork bits with crisped up fat and well cooked potatoes; the last time, the meat was really tough and dry. Conversely the first time I got the sandwich I thought it was dry and the seasoning was unbalanced (even knowing that it would be pretty fennelly), the other time the meat was moist, the skin was cooked perfectly and the seasonings were applied well. Sounds like there's some consistency issues.

[docsconz]

i too have had very dry pork and potatoes.  unfortunately it was all inedible.  i'd give it another try since i live close, but I'm not in a rush.

←

I'm 1-1 on the potatoes with burnt ends. The first time I got them they were terrific, lots of pork bits with crisped up fat and well cooked potatoes; the last time, the meat was really tough and dry. Conversely the first time I got the sandwich I thought it was dry and the seasoning was unbalanced (even knowing that it would be pretty fennelly), the other time the meat was moist, the skin was cooked perfectly and the seasonings were applied well. Sounds like there's some consistency issues.

←

Some of this may be from where on any given porchetta the cut is from. There may be significant variation within the same roast, just by the nature of the product.

[philadining]

Some of this may be from where on any given porchetta the cut is from. There may be significant variation within the same roast, just by the nature of the product.

←

I'm sure that's true, but it seemed like they were going out of their way to make balanced sandwiches on the day we were there. One of our party had been delayed and we forced him to go back about an hour after we were there and get a sandwich, because ours had been so good. And his was almost identical in its contents, with a seemingly-carefully balanced combination of lean and fatty, with just the right amount of crispy skin.

Now, maybe I'm giving them too much credit, and maybe we just got very lucky with two sandwiches at two different times, but they were almost identical and seemed to have been assembled to include a variety of the parts of the pig. This was early afternoon on saturday, and they were not super-busy, so maybe that makes a difference.

I'll be more than happy to head back there ASAP and contribute another datapoint...

[cinghiale]

Some of this may be from where on any given porchetta the cut is from. There may be significant variation within the same roast, just by the nature of the product.

The porchetta trucks here all seem to serve their sandwiches the same way: (i) a fair amount of the somewhat dry, less flavorful outside portion of the roast, (ii) a lesser amount of the succulent, spicy, fatty interior portion of the roast, and (iii) skin. You can ask for more of the skin. I always do.