This post is a long time in coming. We first ordered from Pennyroyal about a month ago and I had picked out the porchetta sandwich for my husband. Then, at the eleventh hour (you know, 4:45 p.m.), they called and told me they had been slammed and had sold out of the porchetta completely. We switched his order at the time and it was fine, but I didn’t think it would be right, or even possible to review them without trying it first.
On two separate trips, we were able to try two separate starters! We had the deviled eggs the first time, and the fried green tomatoes last night.
The tomatoes were cooked through and soft on the inside, with a solid, crispy crust. The aioli that came with it was spicy and delicious, but the tomatoes themselves were a little short on seasoning. The eggs were topped with crab and sriracha and provided a good blend of spicy and savory. This makes me long for the days of our Sunday fundays at Boundary Stone, but it felt like a good substitute.
During two visits, I tried both of their entree-sized salads, the winter veg salad and the arugula one, both with grilled chicken. Man, I don’t know what they do to their chicken, but it is so rich. I don’t think Ive ever had chicken that I would classify as “rich,” but this was almost too much. In both cases, it was juicy. The winter salad can’t go wrong, as I will eat anything with butternut squash on it. The arugula salad was made of all kinds of delicious components–roasted tomatoes, calabrian peppers, and shredded pecorino. The flavors and were nice (and really spicy!) and my criticism is that it needed something crunchy to be fully composed. Would still eat again, though.
And just to round out this Groundhog Day of a meal, my husband ate two of Pennyroyal’s sandwiches–the fried chicken and the porchetta. As it was not my meal and it was so long ago, it’s hard to remember much about the fried chicken sandwich, although I do remember how tasty the chicken was but how basic the sandwich itself was. Like my salad from last night, it just needed a little something extra. The porchetta from last night was smoky and rich, but light on all the ingredients.
Price: $25 per person.
Bottom line: Pennyroyal Station is almost a fair substitute for our beloved and deeply-missed Boundary Stone. I respect their hustle and I’m happy for the neighborhood to have a new place. The food is simple but made well. I hope they stick around and make small improvements. I’ll personally give the a little time to work out the kinks, but I’ll be back.
Ward Five Foodie 