The Spotted Pig

One way or another, you must have heard of The Spotted Pig, this infamous spot with Jay-Z and Bono’s investment and famous chef April Bloomfield. There are tons of press; a book, tons of interviews in magazines and newspaper, it is also a 1 star Michelin restaurant. In fact, the restaurant is so popular and so high in demand, they do not take reservations. Yes, no phone reservation, no online reservations either. If you go on a weekday, at 6:30 (Dinner starts at 5:30), you have to wait 1.5 hours to 2 hours!

We went at 5pm on a day we had off just to make sure we will be able to get seats and we noticed how uncool we were compared to this hipster restaurant. There are tons of pig decors everywhere echoing the name of the restaurant and decors reminding you this is a British gastropub.

Ground floor Bar

Ground floor near the windows- Tons of red and Pig deco.

Frames with frames with frames.

Second floor- more secluded with walls covered with pictures. Windows on the right. Oh Deer!

Mulled Wine- Very spicy and alcoholic. Strong wine with brandy, orange, and mulling spices (Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger etc).

Chicken liver on toast- Sweet light taste, liver has a rougher consistency than pate, toast is crunchy. Pretty good even if you’re not a fan of chicken livers.

Deviled Egg- Custardy and with a tad of lemon juice and bacon bites. Like this tapa because it’s light and has a good combination of flavors.

Sheep’s milk Ricotta Gnudi with Brown butter & crispy sage (quoted from menu)- Imagine a cheese shell wrapped in cheese- This is for super cheese fan who just wants to eat cheese on its own. I found it a bit salty and a bit too cheesy without any special taste to it. Did not melt in mouth either.

Grilled Skirt steak with roasted beets and horseradish cream- Standard steak, beets are fresh and horseradish cream is extremely spicy. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

Pork Faggot with mashed potato- Really really like the sweet creamy mashed potato. It has such a smooth consistency and flavor of butter that’s just right without being too heavy. Faggot as per Wikipedia is an English dish “made from pig’s heart, liver and fatty belly meat or bacon minced together, with herbs added for flavouring and sometimes bread crumbs.” I think it’s probably acquired tasted because it tasted like livers and has the same consistency we had with the chicken liver toast- pate with bits and pieces. It is an interesting dish because I’ve never had something like this before; but it’s a dish I would not order again.

After 2 tapas, 1 appetizer and 2 entrees, we were too full for dessert. Unanimous decision at the end is, we will not wait for half an hour to get in this restaurant. We wanted a dish that has actual pig solid part/meat since this restaurant is called “The Spotted Pig,” after all. It is interesting the chef utilizes uncommon parts of the pig for western dishes, but the food and flavors itself is all a hype and way too hip for us to understand. Will we come back again? Maybe for dessert, but not so sure about the whole meal. It’s a bit overpriced for what they have to offer. Waiters are also out of our league and way too cool with rock star attitudes and pretty tattoos.

Lillie’s Victorian Bar & Restaurant

Like many places with unique ambience, Lillie’s Victorian Bar & Restaurant is a restaurant with a story. If you go to the restaurant’s website, it tells you Lillie was a famous British actress from the 19th century. The main painting near the fireplace of the restaurant is of her, a portrait beautifully painted with oil paint; rendered realistically and could be one of the many treasures they described which were used as decors exported from Ireland.

There are two locations: one in Union Square and one in Times square, we went to the one in Union Square.

Bar spaced leading to the back where there is more seating.

Closer look at the highly decorative Corinthian columns and red velvet stools.

Another shot of the place opposite side of the bar.

Antique decorations covered the bare brick wall. Perhaps some treasures are from Ireland.

Chandeliers hanging from high ceiling. Very close together.

Painting on glass on the wall. Pretty.

Painting of Lillie Langtry as centerpiece right above fireplace.

Burger is mediocre but very greasy and fries is ok. Lunch special from 11am-2pm is pretty good; you get a few selections such as burger, sandwich or salad and it comes with either beer, coffee or tea for $12. 🙂

Lillie’s Restaurant is definitely a place worth going to just for the ambience. After viewing the portraits and being in a Victorian antique store, the novelty eventually wears off. I would not recommend going there for food but it seems like a nice place to grab a drink and relax.