Swine

            Swine, you don't actually need to be a pig to eat there but you eat well anyway. The setting actually flabbergasted me because I had heard great things about it and thought that it was a nice restaurant. But as it turns out, it's actually just a local pub. Although the setting doesn't affect your evening too much the music certainly does. The music is pumped through speakers on the walls and is insanely loud. There was countless times, when the waiter said he couldn't hear us because of the noise. Ignoring the negatives, when you walk in there is a set of stairs that go up and one that goes down. I didn't get to see the downstairs room but it was pretty obvious that the bar on the upper floor was what everything revolves around. The lighting is dim and you have some odd pictures hanging on the walls. If you look up on the upper floor there is a metal sheet with holes in them which might be a ventilation system. There are dark wood planks on the walls that create an atmosphere that is kind of dirty. Most of the tables seat only two people but the waiters would be glad to push two tables together for a party of four.
            The food there is great but you have to watch out not to eat too much because when I came home I felt heavy because I ate all that fat and food. One appetizer there was completely unforgettable which was the cashew nuts covered in pig fat. They would serve it to you in a bowl and once you had one you couldn't stop chowing them down. They were a little too sweet but they were to die for. Judging from the pig fat, if you're on a diet I wouldn't suggest going to this pub. The roasted bone marrow was the most delicious meal on the menu. They serve it to you in a giant bone with bread on the side. You would take the spoon and scoop out the marrow and either just eat it plain or put it on some bread. It had a French verde style salsa sprinkled on top to make it more savory. The actual marrow was very fatty but tasted amazing. Another dish I had was a brisket burger with bone marrow in it. This tasted good but you couldn't taste the fatty goodness of the bone marrow. Other than that the burger was juicy and flavorful. A side dish that came with the burgers was crispy potato wedges. They were potatoes that had been cooked and were good with the burger. In addition the balsamic braised short ribs were great. It was sort of dry but still had flavor. They came with salad and white grits that enhanced it's seasoning.
            They have a variety of drinks ranging from cocktails with bacon in them to the common Budweiser beer. A cocktail my mother had and raved about was the Ex-plat that she loved and described it as both sweet and a little bit spicy. I wouldn't be surprised when it contained el dorado rum, all spice dram, grapefruit, lime and aztec chocolate bitters. You would think it was sour.
            The service there was great. My waiter was friendly and got the food to us quickly. I had to wait no more than eight minutes for my food. They would gladly change an order for you or switch your table if they could.
             Swine is a good place to go if you're a complete pig or if you're just tired of your ordinary food. So Swine will get an seven out of ten stars which is a pretty amazing review. So excuse me while I stuff my face with amazing food from Swine where you technically don't need to be a pig but you definitely need to eat like one.

You can never go wrong with a burger, and even if you do you won't go wrong with this one.

The bar and the tables (note: Swine was cleaned and polished for this picture so it is supposed to be immaculate).   

Swine's outside view in a sepia camera light.

531 Hudson st.
Manhattan
NY 10014
(212)-255-7675
swinenyc.com