Piglet & Co.
2170 Bryant St, San Francisco, CA 94110
I’m a little embarrassed to admit I walked straight past the Piglet & Co. entrance more than once trying to find this elusive restaurant. What can I say? — I love the chase.
The entrance on Mission is currently a series of tinted windows stamped with the Piglet & Co. decal. I would never have guessed without an inside tip that this is one of the hottest up-and-coming restaurants in San Francisco. Reservations recommended.
As we were seated I noticed and appreciated the eclectic design choices: TVs playing old Jackie Chan movies (funnily enough, one of my worst dining experiences was at Sam’s Burgers in North Beach, which was also playing old Jackie Chan movies), exposed brick bringing a little Brooklyn to the entire south wall, a window to the kitchen in the back from which we could hear efficient, cooking competition show style language.
We ordered some of Piglet & Co.’s most iconic dishes (honey walnut shrimp & pork toast, pictured above; chashao pork ssam) as well as some more niche options (mala bbq pork ribs, mala chili sauce, chinese style steam fish). I’m just now realizing how much of the menu contains mala, which if not careful could have become a taste fatiguing experience, but not here. The chefs here impact a distinctly flavorful taste to each dish.
First, the honey walnut shrimp & pork toast, since it’s headlining this post. I appreciate thoughtful textural contrast in anyone’s cooking. I especially appreciate it at Piglet & Co. Comparing it to just honey walnut shrimp is not sufficient — even above-average restaurant honey walnut shrimp is prone to sogginess or over-crispiness, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that over some steamed white rice at two or three in the morning, but it’s hard to get right over a toast at any time. Piglet & Co. was able to counteract this potential textural conflict by adding a burnt honey aioli & candied walnut relish which put a bit of Christmas holiday into the Chinese takeout dinner. Call it a nondenominational miracle.
Then, the mala chili sauce. It’s tough to get mala right for me, and Piglet & Co. did the right thing by not trying to get mala right. Instead, they focus on the primary flavors of the dish, using mala as a flavor enhancer rather than define on it and risk overpowering the goodness of the ingredients. Their mala chili sauce is rich and subtle, not what I expected, but a great complement to any of the other dishes. I ended up using this sauce on all the other fish and meat as well.
The mala bbq pork ribs immediately became a close contender for my top highlight of this dining experience. The presentation is gorgeous, colorful, and thoughtful — waitstaff brought hydrate-to-expand hand towels for us with this dish. The actual ribs were fall-off-the-bone, deliciously coated with a sweet but not too sweet mala miso glaze and then the red onion pickle, koji mayo, and bubu arare (japanese rice cracker) provided a fresh, balanced crunch on top of it all.
The chashao pork ssam was very solid. This is the only kind of Lunchable I’ll eat now. The ideal ordering is lettuce, pork belly, mint, perilla leaves, takuan (pickle), mayo, fold tightly and eat. The confit pork belly is true to its preparation — rich in pork fat flavor; if I was making this myself I’d serve it with ten times the takuan.
I was excited to see Chinese style steam fish on the menu. The one served to us was a two-pound Mt. Lassen trout, which I expected to be a whitefish but was actually pinker, like a cross with salmon. I could really tell this from the flavor as well, which was not as subtle as a standard whitefish. This fish was served with baby bok choy, pea shoots, black rice, and a ginger scallion sauce. Traditionally I’d eat this over steamed white rice. The vegetables were cooked well, especially mushrooms with the bok choy that had soaked up the ginger scallion sauce best. The staff complimented us on our dining group member’s ability to consume the head and tail of the fish as well.
Finally, our waiter offered dessert, just one option that was a red bean, shaved ice style dessert. We passed because we planned to go to District Tea nearby (does a delightful mung bean latte, which comes iced and also contains fresh pandan leaf), but Piglet & Co. ended our meal with fresh orange slices, a nice touch.
Piglet & Co. gets a half star on the New Michelin Guide: thoughtful menu, presentation, and dining experience; worth a few tries to experience everything on the menu; decor that leaves something to be desired but will hopefully improve with time; room for expansion in the desserts menu as well.