First Look at Beacon’s Side Door Pig Sandwich
Clearly, all of you were just as excited as we were that Beacon’s Side Door take-out window was reopening yesterday and would be offering a suckling pig sandwich, as the first batch sold out by sometime around noon. As luck would have it, I ended up paying them a visit around 2pm, at which time they had the pork sandwiches back in stock. For $10, you’ll get a suckling pork sandwich on Beacon’s signature onion roll, a side of BBQ sauce, a bag of chips, and a drink.
Beacon is a restaurant that, by any definition, is fancy. Their average entrée price flitters around $30, and the guy that sold me my suckling pig sandwich was wearing a suit. So it was no surprise that the sandwich was, to put it kindly, modestly sized. And while I appreciate their fine effort to self-consciously tone down the swank, and cater to a budget conscious lunch-time crowd, those of us looking for a regular sized sandwich might be a tad bit disappointed.
Then again sometimes it’s not about the size of the boat, but the motion of the ocean, as the saying goes. And in this case, despite the dainty size, the tender pulled pork came up big on flavor. Do I wish there had been more meat? Yes I do. And a bit more slaw would have helped provide a bit more textural contrast. I also feel like the sandwich I got might have been sitting around a bit too long, compromising the squishy onion bun and the limp slaw.
There was a BBQ sauce of sorts on the side, but I found it to be too sweet with only a dash of acid and heat. I ended up ditching the sauce halfway through, and enjoyed the clean, bold porky flavor of the suckling pig, which had the slightest whiff of smoke.
They promised they would make more today (to keep up with demand.) If only they would make them bigger!
Beacon, 25 W. 56th St. (btw. 5+6th), 212-332-0500
Posted by Chris H. at 11:51 am, May 18th, 2011 under Beacon.
12 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
12 Comments
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“siders”.
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That sad ass sandwich is total ripoff @ that price.
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@CheeeeEEEse: well done!
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It’s what I do, but don’t get paid for it…. :-/
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lmao @ wearing a suit and selling sandwiches. Almost as bad as an old coworker who once promoted a bagel shop in a space suit.
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I have to say I tried it today and I was very disappointed. I am hungry now, 3 hours later. It was too small. Unfortunately, I was also disappointed in the flavor. I LOVE the onion bun, but the sandwich tasted just like any other pulled pork sandwich. I wasn’t impressed. I LOVE roast pig, so I was excited. I had the burger yesterday and it was tasty, not exciting. I would choose 5 Guys, Shake Shack, or Burger Joint over it anyday. I hate the iced tea – it is way too sweet for me.
Plus I got screwed out of free cookies. Yelp.com says to mention yelp and get free cookies. They were out, and made no effort to compensate (free extra soda, free extra chips, coupon for next order, dollar off the order…something!). I would think if you offer a special, you should : 1. tell your staff about it (the guy taking orders knew nothing of it) and 2. have enough to cover demand. Oh well.
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Chowsue…. so sorry. First week out and training has been tough. Thank you for the feedback. Stop by tomorrow, ask for Dalila and let me buy you lunch.
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Damn Waldy, that sounds awfully generous, man. Best wishes with your bidnezz!!
I hope you can keep most of your customers happy without losing an arm and a leg on it over pulled pork sammies. I’m glad you addressed the portion issue so promptly here.
And it sounds like chowsue would rather eat a delicious burger elsewhere. It’s cool. Can’t please them all.
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Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate the honest response. Working on pumping the pig sandwich up, both on size and kick!
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I tried it last week and it was real. Warm, tender, and tasty. Get it with the iced tea. I highly recommend!
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Beacon side door is open for 2012!!!
They should call them sliders, so people won’t be so surprised at the dainty size. And they should give the choice of getting two of those sliders or the chips and soda. As it stands, that’s not a bargain lunch.