Meat The Porkers @ Publika

Meat The Porkers is the name of this uniquely Porky Indian restaurant that is a first in Asia.. 

The name of this restaurant is quite reminiscent with a Hollywood movie called Meet The Parents and Meet the Fockers! 

One thing I can say about this restaurant is that they are a daredevil to challenge the norm of Indian cuisine be it southern or northern to try incorporating something forbidden to them which is Pork or meat in general.. As most Indians are vegetarian or not a big on Pork loving as the chinese does, so it's quite surprising to find out such a concept exist in KL.. 

The entire set up of this restaurant is really interesting as it was modern with a touch of western and a whole lot of swine everywhere with the decorations! Yes they mean business! 

Their menu wise is pretty simply and straightforward with a strong influences of both Northern and Southern Indian cooking with options of either Pork, chicken and vegetarian.. 

Tandoori Pork Ribs (RM48)

The first dish to arrive to our table is the signature dish from Meet The Porkers is the Tandoori Pork Ribs.. 

This pork ribs has a huge fan favourite and raving reviews across the internet! 

Finally, we can try out and taste what is really behind this pork that made everyone fell head over heels with it in every bite!

They don't have any specific size stated there in the menu as it all depends on the number of people on the table and they eye ball it accordingly.. 

The wait wasn't long and unbearable as moments after the drinks arrived, the pork ribs is the first to make it's presence on the table and the color was just beautiful.. 

The plating is really simple with just a huge banana leaf placed below the meat with 3 condiments and a half of lime to squeeze on top of it.. 

This pork ribs is marinated with freshly grounded spices and yogurt that is then being grilled to perfection.. The pork ribs was relatively easy to portion out as the kitchen staff helps to cut it for us to avoid any slip offs from the plate.. 

In terms of taste, this pork ribs is phenomenal with the tenderness of the pork and the grilling method alongside the marination has help to retain the ribs to have a succulent texture.. It was the easiest to remove the meat of the bone as usually you would have a hard time to do so but with this pork ribs, it was an effortless feat.. The pork ribs has a charred crispy outer layer that is really delicious and together with the squeeze of lime, it brought more acidity and freshness to the fatty ribs.. 

A must try!

Butter Pork (RM30)

When we were given the menu, there was a small little card that acts as the synopsis for the diners to choose as it was titled there the "Must Try".. So when a dining establishment puts up a list of must try means that they are really confident and it's a proven thing from positive feedbacks from their diners.. 

Well with the confidence of my family and the establishment, we decided to go for the Butter Pork or another name is Makhanwala.. We are a bunch of pork loving people and is really excited to try out this combination between the vibrant Indian spices with the fatty pork.. 

In the menu they didn't specify which cut of pork they are using for this dish as the choice of cut itself plays an important part for the success of this dish.. And from how boldly they stated out this dish as a Must Try! dish, we had a high expectation for this.. 

In terms presentation, it is really unique to be served in those little metal pails that usually are being used to either vegetable condiments or gravy.. 

The color is really bright and deep orangy color from the tomatoes.. 

In the menu, it is described as the shredded tandoori pork which is cooked in a creamy tomato and butter gravy that was flavoured with dry fenugreek leaves.. It does sound really yummy on the menu but when it arrives to the table, it somehow got lose in translation as the pork was beautiful cooked and succulent but there weren't any evident of it being cooked in a tandoori style and the gravy itself was really bland and doesn't have that buttery texture to it which made it delicious, luscious and buttery.. 

We also ordered a rice dish which is the Pork Tenderloin Briyani.. 

When it comes to Indian cuisine, we always know to look for it's briyani as it is their hallmark dish for this cuisine and also the briyani will showcase the chef skills into incorporating and balance all the texture and taste of the spices and the protein with the fragrant rice and it's condiments towards the end for the diners.. 

Pork Tenderloin Briyani (RM28)

So when we ordered the briyani, we were really excited about it! 

The waiting wasn't that long for us to endure.. And when it arrives to us, the portion was really small and by the looks of it; it is just good enough for 2 person.. 

In terms of presentation, it took a traditional approach with the briyani pot being cooked and tightly sealed with a thin dough wrapped around the metal pot and there were also being accompanied by 3 different condiments which consists of raita, gravy and pappadam.. 

After removing the dough from the pot, it reveals a bright yet slightly fragrant rice aroma and a yellow hue from the saffron and you can garnish it with condiments such as the gravy and the pork slices.. You can feel the warmth from the pot itself and you know it is cooked to order.. 

In terms of taste, this briyani do really packs a heavy punch of spice especially the chili factor! 

Whereas the cubes of pork is really not significant and not much for us to try out.. Thankfully for the condiment of the fried pork slices.. The raita was there to help soften the heat that was being generously included into the rice.. Sadly, there weren't any other aromatic spices in that rice or any sweet element being found in the rice as it was really dominated by the strong heat from the chili.. 

Palak Paneer (RM22)

The only side dish that we ordered was the Palak Paneer.. 

It is a vegetarian side dish that is made with cubes of cottage cheese which is cooked in a creamy spinach gravy.. 

This dish is an acquired taste for many people especially those who aren't a fan of Indian food or that love the visual aspect of the dish as for this side dish it is less appealing because of it's dark green color.. 

Usually this dish would have a very bright and vibrant green color from the spinach and it would be a warm yet pack with flavour kind of vegetarian dish with some silky and tofu like texture of the cottage cheese.. 

Sadly, this spinach gravy has a really dark and dull green color and it was lack in flavour as there weren't any lift and it was really bland and lack of seasoning.. The cottage cheese was nice and solid but there weren't any flavours in it.. It was like as if they just simply cooked the spinach without any seasoning or love and add the cottage cheese towards the end without giving any time for all the components to marry together well.. 

Plain Naan (RM4)

 Finally we ordered the 3 different types of Naan which is located in the Rice& Bread section of the menu.. Indian cuisine are the cuisine that has a magical touch when it comes to making bread cooked in a high heat oven.. 

Naan is a leavened and oven-baked flat bread that usually cooked in a tandoor like oven as the high heat will help the dough to baked with a brownish crust on the exterior yet giving it a chance to rise with little pockets of air that create a light and fluffy bite for people to enjoy!

So they have several variations for the naan but we opted for Plain Naan, Garlic Butter Naan and Butter Naan.. 

Garlic Butter Naan(RM7)

The Garlic Butter Naan is really soft yet slight buttery.. Unfortunately, the garlic kick wasn't prominent for me especially and the entire flatbread was really lack in flavour that it was really just an ordinary piece of flatbread.. 

Whereas the butter naan do have that fragrant smell of butter but yet again it lacks that fundamental seasoning  that it needs to help elevate the eating experience of the naan.. 

Butter Naan (RM5)

Verdict: 

Delicious Tandoori Pork Ribs 

Bland food

Not very friendly service

Portion is small

Ambience: 2/5

Food:2.5/5

Price:3/5

Service:2/5

Meat The Porkers

D1-G3-5, 

Publika 

1 Jalan Dutamas, 

Solaris Dutamas 

50480

Kuala Lumpur 

Opening Hours: 

Wednesday-Sunday & Monday 

Lunch 

12-3:30pm

Dinner 

6-10:30pm

Closed on Tuesday