Porchetta and the Greatest Thing Your Eyes Will Ever Eat

A couple weeks ago, my roommate and I went out and had an odd number of experiences jumbled into one eccentric friday evening. We nearly successfully recreated this evening several nights ago. We started our night drinking in the comfort of our dorm while simultaneously karoaking very loudly - I'm sure to our floor mates dismay- the Beatles, Queen, and probably a little Selena Gomez (can't really remember). We left in time to just barely catch happy hour, and then we stumbled around the east village until this "little piggy" caught our eyes(cue drum roll for my perfect pun) 

Porchetta (http://www.porchettanyc.com/). Small, sweet, and hidden in the most obvious place - New York City. Duh. Though we were reluctant to spend ten dollars on a sandwich from a place we'd never heard of, especially while kind of intoxicated, we took a leap of faith - to be trite - and bought what turned out to to be a moist, soft, and delicious representation of pork. I, for one, am not particularly good at preparing pork -it usually turns out tough- or finding good pork recipes so I tend to try to avoid the fiend entirely. This, however, was most definitely an exception. Stuffed between two crunchy and well toasted slices of bread, the decadent roast pork was seasoned with what I detected as fennel - another thing I'm not so fond of - but not overwhelmingly so. Enough that although we weren't entirely surprised by the taste, we were intrigued and given an incentive to continue eating. I will undoubtedly be finding myself back there sometime soon.

The next restaurant was certainly different. We came across it during our original adventure so I won't pretend like it was some magical portal we discovered for the first time the other night; but it certainly is a magical portal. Quoting the restaurant Panna II(http://www.panna2.com/) it is where "chili pepper lights meets christmas lights." This quote is an understatement. Walking into that restaurant is like operating on a piñata. As you sit at your table you almost forget that you're eating. You become mesmerized by what looks like fireworks at very close proximity. The lights are not meant to deflect from their food. Their food could stand alone - its good Indian food, not amazing and not revolutionary - but their food is not why a line of people stand in thirty degree weather waiting for a seat for an undetermined amount of time and its not why it can't help but fill up to capacity every weekend. The picture can only convey so much and honestly I think its only a matter of time before New York City recognizes this spectacle as a national monument. If you don't plan on going to any restaurant besides Applebees - if you can even find one - during your stay in New York, at least make it down to to this hot spot in the frigid east village.

Well I think I've done enough rambling for tonight. Tomorrow I'll be picnicking in central park. More to come.