Porkchop & Co.

Porkchop & Co.

Recommended by: The person making coffee drinks and cashier at The Fat Hen suggested another popular brunch place nearby in Ballard, Porkchop & Co. We’d been to Porkchop & Co. before, but it was a good reminder to revisit.

Description on the Porkchop & Co.’s website: Porkchop & Co. is a New American restaurant located in the heart of Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. We make casual and creative food from scratch using seasonal, locally sourced ingredients. We smoke, cure, pickle and preserve everything in house – utilizing the full, rich and varied American arsenal – from longer-standing traditional fare to contemporary techniques.

Neighborhood/Type:  Ballard 

Address: 6201 15th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107

What we ate/drank: Croque Madame, Steak & Kimchi Hash, Coffee

Much like many of the coffee shops and restaurants around Ballard on Sundays your experience will be very different if you happen to come on this day due to the Ballard Farmers Market. Porkchop & Co. is likely to be packed with a lengthy wait on Sundays, so our advise is to visit during the weekdays if possible. And luckily Porkchop & Co. does serve breakfast during the week unlike many Seattle restaurants that only serve breakfast on the weekends.

Porkchop & Co. is a bit on the casual side which is perfect for breakfast/lunch.  There’s no table service. You just order at the counter, find a seat and they’ll bring out your food to you. There’s a bottle of water and glasses at each table, so you don’t have to ask or wait for that. Even the drip coffee is self serve. Although there isn’t your traditional table service, somebody came around to check in on us regularly to see how things tasted and if we needed anything else.

The space is bright and their front windows can be opened when the weather is nice, which is a nice touch for semi-al fresco eating. The main focal point is Porkchop & Co’s extensive library of cookbooks displayed on their walled book shelf.

Looking at their menu you’ll see a wide variety of foods from French inspired(Croque Madame, Foie Gras Stuffed French Toast), Medeiterranean(Shaksouka), Asia(Steak & Kimchi Hash) and some American(Scrambles). They not only serve breakfast dishes, but also sandwiches if you want an early lunch instead.  They close everyday at 3:00pm, so no dinner.   They also serve cocktails, wine and beer along with your normal non-alcoholic drinks such as coffee, sodas and juices.

One thing to take note of is that they smoke, cure, pickle and preserve everything in house, so you won’t get these flavors anywhere else.  On this particular visit we have the  Croque Madame – Brioche toast topped with Tails & Trotters ham, roasted kale, gruyere, house cheese sauce, & a sunny Stokesberry egg.  Along with a chicken fried steak, my favorite breakfast dish is the Croque Madame. Porkchop & Co.’s variation has a cheese sauce that you don’t normally see on a Croque Madame. It’s doesn’t overpower like you’d suspect and compliments well with the other ingredients.

The other dish was the Steak & Kimchi Hash -House kimchi, potatoes, cauliflower, Painted Hills beef chunks, and a sunny Stokesberry Farm egg.  The kimchi by itself was a little over powering, but eaten with the steak, potato or cauliflower, it provides a good balance of flavor.

On previous visits we’ve had the Pork Belly Hash, the Porchetta Benedict and Frank’s Scramble(eggs, asparagus, cheese kale, mama lil’s peppers and a bagel) and all are delicious.

Porkchop & Co. is a great place where you can bring  out-of-towners and know they’ve never had any of these dishes before since the dishes are inventive and everything is made in house from locally sourced ingredients.

Ratings:

Atmosphere: 5.00

Service: 4.75

Food/Drinks: 4.75

Bang for the Buck: 4.50

Overall: 4.75

Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.

• • Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
  • Most locals know about it
  • Locals “in the know” know about it
  • Only those who live close by know about it.
  • You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!

Servers recommendations to visit in the future: Not a server, but a customer eating next to us made small talk and mentioned The Hi Life down the street is another great option for brunches and is bigger so there’s less of a wait. We’ll check it out.

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