Restaurant Review: City Pork Kitchen and Pie

Comforting dishes for lunch and, of course, a sweet slice of pie for dessert

The building housing City Pork Kitchen & Pie has seen several incarnations of old fashioned meat-and-two-sides restaurants over the years. But when the City Pork team took over the spot to open its much-hyped pie-themed restaurant, it was clear they would do something unique with the space.

Tucked away within the Industriplex Boulevard area, it’s a prime lunch spot for workers at nearby offices and industrial complexes. From the lack of parking and full dining room, it’s clear this latest venture for the City Pork brand is definitely fulfilling a need in the area.

Sandwiches dominate the menu, and I quickly zeroed in on The Cajun, served on buttery poboy bread and piled high with sliced ham, housemade andouille and salty bacon. The melty pepper-jack cheese was a fitting choice to curtail the bold flavors while allowing the meats to shine. The housemade kettle chips were a high point. They were highly seasoned and crunchy, and my lunch partner and I found them addictive.

The restaurant offers two specials with a choice of two sides daily. We visited on a Thursday, when Smoked Chicken Fried Steak and the ambiguous Pig Platter are served. With a dish promising a platter of pig, I was expecting more than just pulled pork, but that was the only pig component. Still, the large serving of pork had enough fatty bits to be interesting and crunchy chunks to be satisfying. Served with Texas toast, bread-and-butter pickles, briny pickled red onions and a thick vinegar sauce, it was a complete meal despite the lack of other pork cuts.

We both found the Smoked Chicken Fried Steak dry, lacking in any smoke flavor and in need of seasoning. The white sausage gravy remedied this with its creamy texture, peppery flavor and large chunks of sweet breakfast sausage. The crust on the steak was wonderfully crisp without a hint of greasiness that sometimes plagues this type of dish. What did cause a problem was the constant separating of the meat from the crust. Given its missteps, it was still enjoyable.

There are a number of side dish choices at City Pork Kitchen & Pie, and since our orders came with a total of four we made sure there were no repeats.

The Daily Vegetable was Eggplant Casserole. This sounded great on paper but lacked complexity and nuance. The Green Beans were the typical slow-cooked, bacon-rich variety—soft and sweet. For those raised on this provincial staple, these will be a delight. Our server assured us the Mac-n-Cheese was definitely worth ordering. But we found its flavor underwhelming—it reminded us of school cafeteria mac and cheese.

The best side we ate was undeniably the Cajun Rice. I was told no fewer than four times that this was the side to get. While it looked and tasted like dirty rice, I was slightly disappointed that it lacked the key ingredient that differentiates true dirty rice from rice with ground meat: chicken livers. But my disappointment waned with each bite. Peppery, moist, oniony and loaded with meat, this was hearty, stick-to-your-ribs fare that lived up to the hype.

When a restaurant dares put the word “pie” in its name you must order dessert. I’m a fan of Lemon Chess Pie, so that choice was a no-brainer. The Cereal and Milk Pie was the daily choice. The name sounded odious, but I was assured by our server that I wouldn’t be disappointed. A cornflake crust bolstered mildly sweetened milk custard that was creamy and luscious. The cornflakes were still crisp and added an earthy component to this imaginative pie.

As enthusiastic as we were over the Cereal and Milk Pie, that ended after one bite of the Lemon Chess Pie. Cloying with little to no lemon flavor, the saccharine filling could have used more acidity from lemon juice. The crust was great, though, showcasing lots of butter flavor, a flaky subtle texture and a gratifying lack of sugar.

On the way out the door, I noticed a small bin with packages of homemade beef jerky. Unable to resist, I had a nugget in the car. The chewy jerky had an inherent sweetness that mollified some of the salt. It was worth the lagniappe gorge.

City Pork Kitchen & Pie was a lovely diversion from my usual lunchtime ventures, but we found it odd that most of the dishes sampled had sweet components to them. By the end of our meal, our sweet receptors were tired. Still, we were pleasantly full and vowed to return and try more.

City Pork Kitchen & Pie

6721 Exchequer Drive
248-6453
Monday-Friday, 6 a.m.-2 p.m.
cityporkkitchen.com