04 April 2006

A long overdue pig...














You may notice a theme starting to develop about pigs. Whilst not specifically planned, it is not surprising given my love for all products porcine.

To say a proper farewell to London, we booked a big meal at St. John, one of my favourite restaurants there. For those St. John's virgins out there, it is situated fittingly next to the Smithfield meat market. St. John's is also high on Anthony Bourdain's favourite list, so much so, he wrote the intro to Chef Fergus Henderson's book, Nose to Tail Eating and is rumored to have kowtowed to the man himself upon eating there for the first time. I always thought Bourdain was my kind of chef!















The 18 of us had a grand time, dining extravagantly on roasted marrow bones with sel gris and parsley salad, skate with endive and anchovy, rhubarb trifle and apple crumble with Jersey cream. But the main event was the whole roast suckling pig that we had pre-ordered.


As you can see, I decided that no part of the pig should go to waste and started in on the head, something my squeamish friend would have preferred to not witness.

Personally, I actually think the Chinese do the best suckling pig, with skin so crisp it almost shatters as you bite into it, but then again you'd probably say I'm biased. Still, this was one of the best meals I'd ever had in London, largely due to the whole package of food, wine, great service and of course, the excellent company. So long, 'ol Blighty and Singapore here I come.

(For those anywhere near London, please do me a favour and try this restaurant out, you won't regret it!)
St. JOHN Bar & Restaurant
26 St John Street
London
EC1M 4AY
Reservations: 020 7251 0848

6 comments:

Chubby Hubby said...

Oh, I'm so jealous that you pre-ordered the suckling pig. I wanted to try that so badly when I was last at St John's. It looks so very delicious.

Anonymous said...

I wish i could have been there too. I want some of that suckling pig. now. oink oink.

Anonymous said...

I haven't had a roast pig since my time in a college fraternity when we roasted it on the lawn, across from the environmentalists' house :-P They absolutely loved that...

Anonymous said...

That pig really does look magnificent. Also the bone marrow looks great. Normally having one with good stuff inside is a treat, but to have a whole plate of them must be heaven.

Anonymous said...

That pig looks great. Check out another recipe under my name laura falk its under my food profile. at www.foodconnect.com. It is really delicious.

John Loca said...

Its horrible for me, I cant eat pig and its full of pig, I can eat this.but I know every one have different different culture.
Catering Sydney