Cochon

My husband and I took 2 of our friends here as a thank you for watching our dog while we were in Italy. It’s a BYOB, so we brought some of our wonderful Italian wine that we brought back with us. The service was excellent, and the food was absolutely delicious. I’m not even a big pork chop fan, but the description of it on the menu sounded to good to pass up. It was one of the best pork chops I’ve ever had. We either didn’t realize or forgot it was cash only, and they didn’t have an ATM so my Hubs had to run a few blocks away to the PNC to get some. The only downside was it was VERY hot inside, all 4 of us were sweating throughout the meal. It was humid outside, but I don’t know if the AC just wasn’t on or not cutting it. Will def go back.

Pros:
Boar belly was cooked to perfection
BYOB
Nice staff
Cons:
The rest of the Boar belly plate was just a mess of fat — pesto and olive oil drowned this dish — there was nothing in the dish to clear the palate or cut the fat — this place needs some help in crafting entrees
Hot inside even with A/​C on
Fried oysters were undersalted and underflavored

A Limited menu … BUT. U know it’s all pork !!! But that’s ok cause it is good … Real good !
Our waitress was so nice. It’s a bring ur own bottle. I would return.

Cochon doesn’t disappoint.
Last Friday, my girlfriends and I enjoyed a little time together and decided to give a try this cute BYOB. I had been here before on a date and I remember to have a great time.
We brought a bottle of Spumante. The server happened to have the same bottle for herself in the back which it had chilled already. She was willing to give us hers since the one we brought was slightly warm to drink. We were not very hungry that day — it was more to spend some time with each other. I ordered the braised rabbit. Though, it came as an appetizer, the waitress said that they’d be able to double it in size and make it a dish. I thought this was pretty awesome. My friends opted out for the specials. Don’t remember the names — to be honest. There we no desserts ordered because we were all full. However, I remember from my previous visit that I had the bacon ice cream that was surprisingly very delish.
The overall atmosphere is pretty great. There were two large parties of people in their late 50’s who were having a ball. They were singing and we heard two glasses shatter on the ground one after the other. It seemed that they were regulars.
Totally recommend it.

My fiancée and I absolutely love this place. We been here twice and nothing but great service and food. We plan to go out couple times a month and Cochon is always on the list.
And yes poor man pudding is as great as people say it is.

Fantastic! Food and service could not have been better. Four of us went on Saturday night. I don’t eat red meat or pork so thought it would be tough place for me to eat. I had fried oysters as an appetizer. And the roasted chicken for an entrée. They were both The best I have ever ever had! I thought the price was right. About $ 65 a person. Would highly recommend this place

Went with a group of 5. They were very accommodating despite our late inquiry for a reservation on a Saturday night. Everyone got something different, but each dish was equally delicious. I didn’t have any, but the rabbit appetizer was said to be be best plate. Also, I don’t eat meat, only fish, and they were very accommodating and the lobster ravioli was amazing! Definitely would go back!

Horrible service do not come during a pre-​fixe menu night like Valentine’s day. It took over 1 hour to serve one crostini and soup is not even here yet :(this is a five course meal it will take over 2 hours. Needs to manage staff and time better.
Follow up on this… dinner was a total of 3 HOURS!!! Painful I was eating my main course at 11pm. Who the heck wants to be eating a full meal at that time? I had to ask for tea needed some caffeine to keep me awake. The food was decent but not worth 3 hours could of made 3 dinners in that time.

Came here for a friends birthday, and had to change the reservation multiple times. The staff was so accommodating over the phone and were even better in person!
We shared the escargot, fried oysters, braised rabbit and the duck hearts to start. Everything was wonderful; the fried oysters were the best I have ever had. As an oyster po boy fan I have my fair share of fried oysters but these were amazing! So perfectly fried and very light.
I had the pork chop as an entrée (seeing the fried theme?) and it was perfectly cooked. The mashed potatoes were a bit too creamy for my taste, but went well with the pork chop. Overall, awesome byob for a birthday celebration

I haven’t been back to Cochon in a long time. I’ve been a few times — twice for brunch and three times for dinner. The last time, maybe the last, was in October, 2013.
The reason have not returned, despite the delicious breakfast blood sausage and overly generous brunch helpings, is because I made the grave mistake of ordering their version of Cassoulet. Now, Cassoulet is a traditional French peasant dish with many pork meats layered with pork belly, stewed for hours with beans. What I received was a 20 minute Cassoulet — canned beans, possibly sou vide meat (for quicker cooking rather than all day stewing) and a sad sausage, which I suspect, may have been from Whole Foods or something. My waitress noticed that I did not touch but a few bites, and she diligently let the chef know about it. Note, my husband and I were the only patrons there for dinner that night. It was quite quiet. I overheard the chef cry out, «What does she expect? We’re not a fine dining place!» By the way, I did pay around $ 26-​$ 27 for this «dish», and Cassoulet is a peasant dish! Don’t put it on the menu if you can’t deliver on the expectation of, well, the thing you call Cassoulet.
Hopefully I will go back when that guy in the kitchen gets fired. A few years at the very least. Otherwise, lovely service and byo. Liked it a bit before that last dinner.

Cochon attempts a creative spin on French bistro classics like escargot and rabbit with a lot of pork on the menu (as you’d expect from the name).
On the Saturday evening our party of four visited for dinner, every table was occupied and the vibe was crowded and friendly.
Everyone in our group enjoyed the Duck Pastrami appetizer, but entrees ranged from a tasty Crispy Pork Chop to a disappointing Bourguignon where it was hard to find the beef. The kitchen must have been running low on the beef by the time of our seating, but our waitress should have known this and encouraged us to order something else.
Desserts were good but not memorable. The best part of the meal for our group was the wine, which we brought ourselves.
We won’t be back. Philly is a great restaurant town with many others to try.

Nothing but the best at Cochon. The atmosphere is perfect for a date night. The interior is simple but fun and the tables are small but not crowded. Reservations are necessary, especially on the weekends. The staff is welcoming and friendly and they really set the tone for a great night out.
Escargots appetizer to share in the beginning. I was told they were the best snails in the area so of course I had to put it to the test. Check, mate. They were. The escargots were served with pancetta, concasse & herb butter. So rich and buttery. Save some bread for dipping. It was amazing. A must order!
For my entrée I had the crispy fried pork chop. Otherwise known as –what they serve in heaven. It was paired with perfectly seared brussels sprouts on top of a bed of mashed potatoes (not just any mashed potatoes– speck mashed potatoes (similar to prosciutto)) with gorgonzola sauce and a fried egg. Fried egg? Yes. Like a tiara on a princess. It was perfect. A very rich and heavy dish and every bite was decadent.
I cannot wait to come back and order everything from the rest of the menu (as I salivate writing this review…) If you haven’t tried Cochon, you’re missing out. This is one of my top French restaurants in Philadelphia.
BYOB and CASH ONLY!!!
PS– their phone number is 215−923-PORK– how adorable is that!!!

Great French byob! The food is def rich (heavy) French food and delicious. We had a 5 course prefix for New Years and it was amazing. (I personally could not finish everything but I got to taste a lot!) We had eaten there before but it had been a while. Great neighborhood feel and nice staff. A small intimate place with a young vibe. We will definitely go again.

This review is mostly for the service. We must have gone on a night were half of the kitchen staff and all waitstaff (except 1) called in sick, so perhaps it was an anomaly, but it was so bad that it really ruined our meal.
We had a reservation for 3 at 7pm. We didn’t get menus or water until about 7:15, and the one waitress who was working the whole restaurant came back about 10 minutes later to tell us the specials. She took our orders maybe around 7:45– very long after we arrived. Bread came about 20 minutes later, so we had been sitting at our table for over an hour. (And when bread came, the waitress only had 2 pieces left, though there were 3 of us. One of us didn’t eat bread, so it worked out, but strange).
The food probably came around 8:30, so an hour and a half after we arrived. Thankfully, we hadn’t gotten appetizers (the service was so slow, we were afraid we’d never leave if we ordered multiple courses). We the food arrived, it was COLD. Not freezing, but lukewarm. We debated sending it back to be reheated a little (cold pork and mashed potatoes are not the most appetizing), but we were so ravenous and couldn’t wait another hour for our food. We ate quickly and ordered dessert, which we had heard was great. It was, but it took ~40 minutes to arrive. It was hot, so it seemed more like a kitchen-​slowness problem than a service problem.
We left between 9:30 and 9:45, meaning that we were at that restaurant for over two and a half hours– and only about 30 minutes of that time had been spent with food in front of us.
The food itself was good, and I imagine it would have been great if it was hot. I found the menu a little unbalanced (with so many rich entrees, why so many rich/​fried appetizers? Why not a salad?) The waitress was actually very sweet, and SO clearly working hard, that I almost feel bad writing this review. She looked frazzled, and it was probably not her fault that 1 waitress and 1 hostess were responsible for the whole restaurant that night.
However, this place is pricey, and it was supposed to be a nice dinner that we took my visiting mother to. With so many other great restaurants in the city, it was embarrassing that we paid as much as we did for cold food and slow, anxious service.

This place celebrates pig like no other restaurant in Philly. I mean, even the décor at this BYOB, celebrates pig. There are different kinds of artwork that showcase pig, and my favorite is the hand-​drawn chalk one that tells you the different cuts of meat on a pig.
Now let’s talk about the food. I’ve been to Cochon a few times now, and what keeps driving me to go back to is its pork belly. This small BYOB also serves excellent escargot and crispy chicken livers. Two constant entrees to try ate pan seared duck and fried pork ribs.
Nothing but compliments!! i

If eating the feet of pigs is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.
WHO KNEW FEET COULD BE SO DELICIOUS?! I have seriously found myself staring lustfully at the feet of any and every one I see wondering if they too would be as delicious if they were deep fried and served on a bed of pickled cabbage. Winter cannot come soon enough. I am in desperate need of people to cover their lower extremities up with some Uggs and/​or Hunter boots stat. If this is one of the app specials of the night, dive in. It’ll be the one time you won’t regret putting a foot in your mouth (unless you’re into that kind of thing. Literally or figuratively).
And I would be remiss in my duties as a faithful Unilocaler and lover of all things sweet and decadent if I did not properly extol the wonder that was the Poor Man’s Bread Pudding. Good lawd. It was like a perfectly undercooked pancake where a little bit of your bacon grease (in the form of ice cream) sneaks its way on top. You are a failure in life if you come here and do not order this. Definitely one of the best desserts in Philly (and I know my desserts).
Pork Shoulder? Also great. You cannot go wrong in my book topping anything with a fried egg, but it did not quite blow me away like the other twos did. But to be fair, this was my dining partner in crime’s favorite dish of the evening.
And to Cochon and your wonderful chefs and staff I say, THANK YOU for a porkfect anniversary meal. Oink oink!

We recently went on a Saturday evening with another couple and everyone was blown away with their food.
We had the Steamed Clams, Pork Milanese, Short Ribs, Lamb Shoulder, and Pork Tenderloin. Everything was so delicious I blacked out and don’t remember much details but it was a whirlwind of sharing bites of tender meat perfectly cooked with the perfect accompaniments.
Service was great– can not wait to return!

I had been wanting to check out Cochon for years, but my experience didn’t live up to my expectations.
Food: Appetizers — I sampled a bite of the seafood ravioli special and in that one bite were 2 big chunks of shell. Apparently those were the only shell bits in the dish, so I guess I just had the misfortune of one unlucky bite. Then there were my escargots: they were delicious but GRITTY! I have never had gritty escargots before. Entrée — my smoked pork tenderloin was tasty, no complaints. Dessert — the poor man’s pudding was absolutely perfect and a great way to end the meal.
Service: The server seemed rushed. She’d ask how we were doing and would start to walk away before I had a chance to answer. She also didn’t bring my bf a steak knife for his steak frites. I guess it was a busy night but come on, at least give us 5 seconds of undivided attention when you ask how we’re doing to give the illusion that you give a shit.
If I were judging this place solely on my entrée & dessert they’d get 5 stars, but the shells & the grit in my appetizers plus the disinterested server knock it down to 3.

Ate here last night with out of town guests. One of our best meals! We had the frog legs and blood sausage for apps. Entrees were so tasty and wonderfully prepared– duck (best in the city), suckling pig, fried pork chop and trio of pork. Best desert — poor mans bread pudding, again best I’ve had in a while.
We will be returning again soon!

Absolutely delicious! I’ve been wanting to try Cochon for a while, and a girls night out was the perfect excuse to finally go. The restaurant is cute and intimate, but wasn’t overly crowded for a Friday night so our group of 5 were very comfortable. Our server, Emily, was attentive all night and was super helpful and patient with explaining the menu and specials to us a few times. Their menu is small, but with the addition of the daily specials, they were by no means lacking in variety. After three wonderful courses and three hours of good conversation, I could easily say that was one of the best girls night out we’ve had in a long time. I highly recommend Cochon and will definitely be going back.
Here’s a run down of what we ordered (as much as I could remember):
Appetizers:
Fried Oysters (special) — yum
Chicken Livers — super yum
House made sausage — good
Curly Endive Salad — good but common
Escargot — good and already shelled
Main:
Beef Bourguignon — tender and delicious
Pork Tenderloin — crispy crusted and good
Lamb Shoulder — good, not gamey but maybe slightly overcooked
Suckling Pig — very moist and tender and oh so good but I wish I had some crispy skin too
Dessert:
Crème Brûlée — one of the better ones I’ve ever eaten
Poor Man’s Bread Pudding — shortcake served with bacon ice cream… yep BACON icecream! Strange but good
Chocolate Bread Pudding with Cherries — very chocolatey and rich; served with a similar ice cream