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
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.