The Oinkster

In deference to Pulitzer Prize-winning Jonathan Gold, I just had to check out his recommendation last week for The Oinkster. It didn't hurt that the new-ish Colorado Blvd restaurant specializes in slow roasted pulled-pork barbeque and Belgian-style fries and is about 10 minutes from my house. Eastern North Carolina is generally considered the home of pork barbeque in the U.S. and I've eaten my fill of it on summer trips to see family back East. (We typically froze several pounds of it to fly it back with us to our home in Texas where the word barbeque is synonymous with beef.) Oinkster's pork sandwich was absolutely delicious, but didn't exactly remind me of those NC pulled-pork sandwiches of my youth. NC-style sauce is typically redolent of vinegar and black pepper, neither of which was particularly in evidence in the squirt bottles at Oinkster. I thought the meat lacked some of the charred, smoky character that you find at Parker's in Wilson or family favorite King's BBQ (pronounced bah-be-que) up I-95 in Petersburg VA. Come to think of it, Oinkster's has more in common with a simple but fantastic sandwich I had at a stand next to the Borough Market in London a few years back, pulled and assembled fresh for me off a whole roasted pig right there off the street. At any rate, Oinkster is showing a lot of love for the food they serve and that's a huge plus in my book. Both the pork and the crispy Belgian fries were delicious and the scene is very Eagle Rock-hipster-goes-out-for-a-cheap-dinner. (My order with a drink was about $11.) Can't wait to go back.

The Oinkster
2005 Colorado Blvd
Eagle Rock
323-255-oink