Let It All Pork Out

What's this about all Chinese NEEDING to eat pork? I remember a friend telling me his grandmother insisted on having one pork dish a day, everyday, because she claimed that 'without pork, my body feels weak.' Well, I'm Chinese and I strength train three times a week, but pork certainly does not figure largely in my diet. In fact, it's one of the meats I eat least. Therefore I've always been a bit puzzled about how bacon can make people go into raptures. Bacon, to me, is like coffee. It smells so great, but its scent profile never lives up to the taste. I'd rather wake up to the smell of coffee and frying bacon, and then tuck into a plate of egg and zucchini scrambles, thanks!

Still, it is undeniable that porky restaurants have sprung up in quite a clutch these recent months. I'm not sure what it is: Malaysian Chinese taking back their food rights, tired with the incessant harping about halal issues and defiantly thumbing the establishment by shirking such food classifications as 'pork-free, serves alcohol', or clever entrepreneurs finding a need and filling it? Because, at the end of the day, the Chinese do make up a large part of the population.

When I saw the signage for Pig Out Cafe, in a new business development in Kelana Jaya, I liked the name and word play, as well as the cute little porker on the logo. He looked a cheery little pig; quite oblivious to the fate of his real-life compatriots who'd be sliced and diced.

It's a small menu, alright.

The cafe has a comprehensive menu, the way smart menus are designed when one does not have much staff (or enough customers, at a start). It's an amateurish set-up, fueled perhaps by one person's belief that the ability to cook more than passingly well, is enough reason to start up a restaurant.

Interiors are simple, basic tables and chairs, with some attempt at 'pork art' on the walls. The service staff are not trained. They seem to be family members helping out, and are definitely new at this, seeing we had one wrong order on one of our visits. It's sweet though, to see family and friends pitch in to help, if this really is the case. Although, truly, a new joint needs ENERGY, and service staff who exude that 'come on in, let me help you!' vibe, as best characterized by the Woon family who run one of the first, most successful porky eateries in PJ - Betty's Midwestern Kitchen. The mum of the family, Betty, has no hospitality training, but by nature she is a gregarious greeter and it really sets the tone for an experience at Betty's. It really DOES feel like a little small-town American diner when no matter how odd aging waitresses in frilled aprons look, it is the vibe they exude that makes people come back. (I'm not going into the part where hospitality-school trained husband and wife, Eve and Kevin's back-of-house and front-of-house skills also play a big role in the success of Betty's, which began as one of the earliest businesses in the then-very new, under developed Aman Suria locale).

So, back to the food. It's simple fare at Pig Out Cafe. No bells and whistles, no embellishment. The portions aren't big, but the prices aren't inappropriate to portioning. Some dishes are decent value, some, especially when you're a cook, you just don't order on basis of food cost versus final product. Sure, RM6 for carrot soup is the norm, but as a cook, I can whip out a bad-ass carrot soup with pork bone stock for four, with RM6. But, fair is fair. The portion at Pig Out is large. Not the usual buffet-line soup bowl. It's a big dish, and the flavour is good, if a little over-peppered.

Blackboard specials.

While I may gripe about soup prices, I make concession for potato salad. For one, peeling potatoes is a bitch. Also, potato salad is so divisive. One person's star version may be another's stinker. For me, the absolute potato salad needs to have these components: perfectly cooked potatoes which don't crunch, and neither disintegrate to mush on the first bite; a bit of skin left on for some tanginess. Not too much, or the mouthfeel turns sappy. Thirdly, just enough mayo to coat ever lump, but not leave a morass of white goop at the bottom of the bowl. Fourth, very thinly sliced, raw red onion for a bit of crunch and added sweetness to cut through the starch of the potatoes and the oil of the mayo (if you're a true master flavourer, the merest hint of crack black pepper to lend a tiny amount of heat is a huge plus point). Lastly, a great potato salad needs to be chilled. Chilled. Not stored in the fridge for two days to the point that everything congeals. And not at room temperature, which makes the egg in the mayo come out in the most putrid, fart-like, gaseous way.

For a warm potato salad, this wasn't half bad.

Pig Out's potato salad passed everything except the last criterion (okay, so the onion was not diced). It was served WARM! While it was nice to know that it was made fresh and from scratch, it was very odd for me. It wasn't bad, just different. All the elements were there, but a cool snap really does make potato salad come alive. I put it down to the whole winter-starvation-discovery-of-life-giving-carbs thing. So technically, it was a good potato salad for RM6.

Tired salad.

 I should have known better to order salad at a place where turnover isn't yet great and the leaves have been lying in limp resignation in the fridge. But, I need my portion of greens, especially with a greasy meat like pork. Thus, my RM12 Caesar salad letdown. Salad so limp that Viagra couldn't help, with some leaves already browning. The croutons were possible home-made, but they seemed stale too. Ugh.

We actually did not order the next dish that was delivered to our table. We considered it, but were told that it would be a 20 minute wait. I was starving and decided not to chance getting into a food huff, but really, the soup, salad and potato salad actually took about 15 minutes to come out! I was ready to climb the walls. Especially since there was only one table of four aside from us, and they were already eating! When the roast was delivered to the table, I knew I was probably very grouchy to the poor hapless server.

A bite of this made it all better. This is possibly one of the best roast pork offerings in a non-Chinese barbecue restaurant setting. It had all the right elements. The skin was scoured and salted, so it puffed and crisped exceptionally; the layers of meat and fat were well defined, and each was moist and well cooked. It was definitely a prime old porker who died for this RM18 portion! I also liked their version of apple sauce. Instead of a pureed baby food mess, it was a tart helping of chopped Granny Smith apples seasoned with cinnamon. It made a great contrast to the crisp skin and melting fat. My only grouse was that there wasn't enough of it, although the young lady who came to talk to us after the meal said that they'd be pleased to give more upon request, as many still did not get this particular accompaniment. Despite being able to count the number of carrots and potatoes that came with the pork, I have to say that the basting with pork fat made them rather yummy and possibly more would have been a bit much.

No-frills, but excellently done roast pork.

At a different time we also tried the chop and cottage pie. Both were home-style and very real presentations. The chops, RM16, were tender, served with a piquant garlic sauce which was homemade and tasted that way. The cottage pie, RM7, came in a little ramekin dish and was blasted by my dad as being 'tiny' but seriously, size of helping should never be the only thing a dish is judged on. This pie, specifically, was full of good quality pork mince, and a very nice, country-style blend of potatoes and carrots. It was chunky and creamy in all the right proportions, and truly, would be enough to satisfy a person not so twisted by our Malaysian mentality of big is better.

The carbonara is another strong contender. For RM16, I say that Pig Out's carbonara trumps in traditional preparation and style 95 percent of any hotel carbonara. Of course it helps that bacon (and just so you know, bacon is pork and pork is bacon and there is no such thing abomination as turkey bacon or beef bacon!) is used, and its salt content complements and sets off the cream. I even dare say they may use the real formula of egg yolk in their carbonara - so thick and rich was the sauce that a table of four could not finish the helping.

Burger good, fries, stroke-inducing.

The burger was pretty good too. Pork is a lovely, moist meat, and Pig Out's handmade patties are grilled well enough to release the rich oils from the pork, which renders their burgers. For RM16, it may be a bit over-priced, but it certainly fills and satisfies. However, the fries which accompanied the burger were a massive slap in the face. They were so overly salted, it was a miracle that the fries were not standing to attention! Completely inedible, and that is saying something for two DBKL-eaters!!

I was really looking forward to dessert since Pig Out's food gimmick was dessert made with bacon. As all gimmicks, this fell flat for us. There are two desserts offered: apple pie and bacon brownie. As I would say in my review on hungrygowhere: the softly baked apples lent sweet tartness to the bacon inside the pie mix, and the crust of the pie was buttery, with enough salt to help the bacon transition into sweetness. However, at the end of the day, this was apple pie with bacon in it. No biggie. I would have been more daring and would have caramelized and crisped bacon in the oven, then crumbled it and added it to the topping of apple crumble. Or, if I had any desire to add bacon to my dessert (and I don't!), I'd make a two-level pie and line it with slices of streaky bacon.

Apple pie and bacon. Okay for a one-off experience.

I found the bacon brownie not as chocolatey as I would have liked. A deeper, bigger, richer, milkier chocolate base would have been able to hit home the bacon better, and so would have the addition of some nuts in the brownie mix. Whatever it is, it was interesting to try, and at RM5 each for dessert (RM1 extra for ice cream, and it's worth it, because the ice cream is good), it's not too pricey an experience. 

Bacon brownie needs more chocolate.

 Having sampled nearly the whole menu, I'd say Pig Out is a good-enough eatery. Their prices are generally fair, and their concept is simple and straightforward. If homestyle Western pork dishes are what you crave, this will satisfy. 

Pig Out Cafe
21 Jalan SS7/26
47301 Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya
Selangor