When one food friend tells you about a place, you make a mental note of it. When several tell you about a place, you write that ish down in your calendar and put several alerts. Lardo is one of those spots that many of my friends have been raving about and being in Portland, it made only sense to check it out. Let’s just say I had to go back twice to make doubly sure I enjoyed these sandwiches (spoiler alert: I did).
While Vancouver may be the beautiful, yoga and hiking loving sister that sips on kale smoothies on her way to her next spin class (dont worry Vancouver, I still love you with all my heart) – Portland is the hipster sibling that really doesn’t give two effs and will eat what she wants, when she wants it. She makes beautiful dishes and proclaims she’s the weird one in the family – a title she wears proudly. Lardo embodies this thought process – having very little regard for the healthy (THANK YOU.). They focus on excess – pork on pork action in their burgers and fries covered in pork – for example.
I ordered the Pork Meatball Banh Mi ($10) and the Dirty Fries ($8).
The Pork Meatball Banh Mi consists of a giant meatball and pickled vegetables, sriracha mayo, cilantro and cucumber. I loved that the bread was nice and crispy on the outside but still soft on the inside. You’d be hard pressed to find a place that can keep their burgers’ juices from ruining the bread but our sandwiches held up perfectly fine. The meatball was juicy and flavourful, and the pickled carrots and radish gave it a great crunch. I loved that they julienned the veggies, as it was easier to eat. The sriracha mayo gave the sandwich a bit of a kick to it but also kept it on the rich side.
The Dirty Fries consist of pork scraps, fried herbs (mostly rosemary), parmesan and banana peppers. The fries – crispy and hot! The toppings were mixed thoroughly through the fries so that you could enjoy every single bite of your fries. The sweet banana peppers mixed with the salty pork pieces are what dreams are made of. Loved every bite.
I wish I had done Lardo sooner, or maybe I don’t because I may be on cholesterol meds by now. Either way, I’m coming back for you Lardo. Soon. Very soon.
Food: 5
Service: 4
Value: 4.5
Ambiance: 5
OVERALL: 5
Check out more from Lardo here: http://lardosandwiches.com
