Pork’d

Ah, the anticipation — only to be let down.
Service:
We tried to go here a couple of weeks ago at about 8:45 — the kitchen was closed despite saying it was open until 10 pm, which felt quite deceptive and dodgy.
We decided to give it another shot and went here at 7 pm — just in case.
Venue:
It looks so ‘picturesque meets Brooklyn’ from the outside. A cool logo, a decorative fence that encloses the veranda, and pretty lanterns placed on the outdoors tables.
Then you walk inside and the vibe changes immediately.
It kind of reminded me about a depressing living room. There is mainly one light source from the roof in the first room, nothing vibrant about it.
Food:
For entrée/​side dish we had the popcorn pork. This definitely exceeded my expectation with its crispiness!
For mains we ordered the Pigsy Plate, as the pork fans we are.
It contained a selection of cider pork belly, chilli bacon, porter ham and cheese kransky. The pork belly was delicious whereas the rest were ok.
The dish also came with a bread roll, beans and pickles, all which were quite average.
In conclusion the pork itself is not too bad, but the overall experience was poor.
With the current ‘pork hype’ in Sydney, with many new venues serving pork in an attempting rustic American setting, I would not be surprised if this place would close down soon due to competition.

A friend was passing the city and called to see if I was free for dinner. The timing was good as I’d just finished university so we organised to meet at Pork’d, which I chose.
I got there early and when I took my seat my phone started vibrating. It was my friend who wanted to see what vegetarian dishes they had. I said probably very few, reminding him that ‘Pork’d’ was where we were going, but I only then recalled that he doesn’t eat meat altogether.
After looking at the menu and seeing that Pork’d only sells… well, pork, I knew that for a vegetarian dish to be made we needed a very accommodating chef. Not only was he, but he showed he’s a great improviser as well — my friend was made a veggie burger that was filled with healthy ingredients and which he, a pretty harsh critic, said was surprisingly tasty. I was just as satisfied with my burger, the pulled pork American. It was the perfect size, the bun was fresh, and the ingredients worked very well together.
The service by our hostess, Elle, was also commendable. No request we made was met with a moan, rather with smiles and ‘absolutelys’.
My one grumble, and it’s not a big one, is that the chairs outside, which were milk crates stacked on each other without any cushioning, were pretty uncomfortable.

««Porkchops and bacon, my two favorite animals.» — Homer Simpson
Remember that iconic scene in Predator when our hero Arnie faces certain death, he smothers himself in mud? Well, like Arnie. I wanted to smother myself in pork.
It’s been a dream of mine for years. Well, last night I practically skinny dipped in a sea or pork thanks to this place.
I especially enjoyed sitting outside where the passers by could see me ripping at the ribs like a feral wolf enjoying it’s first meal in weeks.
Jugs of craft beers, enough to ‘git ‘er done’ that went well with the meat and very reasonably priced too.
For a place that’s just opened the signs are really good. Good staff, good food and nice setting. The reason why this place isn’t getting 5 stars this time is I reckon a ticketing system for going in to get your food would work better.
You would get the experience of going into the Kitchen (which was pretty fun) without the waiting around for ages in what is a pretty cramped space.
Good first showing, though. I’ll be going back to revel in porky glory, not having to make excuses for my meat eating ways. If Pigs didn’t want to be eaten, then maybe they shouldn’t have decided to be so tasty… Should they?

Pork’d is a new joint that took over for Red Lantern on Crown Street.
All they serve is pork… hence the name, Pork’d.
They also do craft/​local beers courtesy of Royal Albert Hotel.
It’s a great space to hangout for after work drinks or catch up with friends.
You can park your butts outside in the front, or head inside. You order food in the back and it’s a la carte so you can get meat by weight ($ 9) or get a little taste of everything (5 kinds) with the Pigsy Platter ($ 25,) which comes with pickles, a bread roll, and sauce (bbq, hoisin, or apple)
They have pulled pork, ham hock, sausages, vietnamese style sausages, roast pork with crackling, and a chilli bacon, along with baked beans and mash.
Delicious.
It’s a lot of protein to eat in one sitting but if you’re hungry you can manage. The pulled pork was on the dry side, and I’m not the biggest fan of ham but I can appreciate it. The sausage was spot on, as was the roast pork and chili bacon. Really enjoyed the pickle and baked beans as well.
Would definitely come back to get pork’d with some craft beers.