One of my good friends is a huge pork fan, so when she heard about new restaurant Tuome offering a ‘Pig Out’ meal for two, we were there there in a shot. Tuome is Thomas Chen’s masterpiece, who previously worked at the fine-dining Eleven Madison Park. The restaurant itself is cozy, with exposed brick and reclaimed wood tables, bathed in candlelight. I apologize for the abysmal quality of my photos in this post, I was struggling with only using my phone in the dimly-lit space, but had to post them anyway as the food was so amazingly good.
First we ordered the Pan-seared Octopus ($18), which is accompanied by fingerling potato and brown butter espuma, along with house-made pork XO sauce, caramelized pork, dried shrimp and pine nuts. This dish was as good as it sounds. Very very tasty.
Next up we got the Soft Shell Crab ($19), with burrata, heirloom tomato and a herb-lime sauce. This maybe the best soft shell crab I have ever had.
For our side dish we ordered the leaf-wrapped sticky rice ($9) which is stuffed with kale, lap cheong sausage and duck fat.
Now for the star of the show: the Pig Out for two ($49). Crispy-skinned, confit Berkshire pork shoulder is cured with ginger, thyme and garlic and is then cooked in duck fat for 15 hours. The pork is arranged on a slate slab, along with condiments of ginger-scallion sauce and house-made lime sambal, and has a side of grilled peach and walnut salad, as well as two bowls of spicy peanut noodles. Everything about this pork was executed perfectly. It was crispy, tasty, and you wanted to keep eating more. Some pork can be greasy and fatty, but not at Tuome. I liked pork before but now I may have to join my friend in becoming pork’s biggest fan.
Tuome: 536 East 5th St, New York, NY 10009