Tag: bacon

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Bacon and Bourbon! Yes, at the Hangover Pub

Steak Frites: Watercress cilantro chimichurri, truffled house cut fries, shaved pecorino from Hangover Pub in Worcester, MA

The Hangover Pub (named because of the hangover meals it was intended to provide),  at 102 Green Street in Worcester, MA, is just down the street from the Dive Bar. You’ll know the place if you are a local. It has a city parking lot right next door which is very handy. It’s pretty small and tucked away with several other businesses. When you walk in, theres a very sizable bar and several hightop tables. When I arrived, the restaurant was already full—and it was only 6pm on a Tuesday night! That’s a good sign.

When we came in, the hostess immediately knew we were with the Foodies group—probably because I didn’t have a beard and skinny jeans on and was about twice the age of most everyone in the bar. She took us to the back room where our party was seated. Our waitresses came over right away to take our drink orders. I had the Bacon Bourbon Manhattan. A very delightful cocktail garnished with a giant piece of brown sugar/maple glazed bacon.

Our party of 18 mingled for a while and then sat down to order. First I ordered the “Man Candy,” no it wasn’t some sort of hunky dude with a beard and fuzzy chest. It was a glass of thick cut bacon that was covered with brown sugar and a maple glaze. Yes, I did share, but I could have eaten them all myself; it was a wonderful way to start off my meal. Then I ordered the Steak Frites with watercress, cilantro, chimichurri and truffled house cut fries with pecorino. The fries were a hit right away. I love truffled house cut fries and shared with my friends who enjoyed them very much. The steak was sliced and I had asked for it to be cooked medium rare. It was cooked perfectly, although I suspect it had sat waiting before arriving with the other meals as it wasn’t as juicy as I’d hoped (but, it is hard to plate and serve a party with so many people at once, especially since it’s a pub and not a full service restaurant, but, I enjoyed it nonetheless).

Our waitresses were on the ball and were there to help us out in any way. Even Jay, the owner, came over to chat with us and thank us for our patronage. He was very charming and helpful, stressing that “anything you need, just ask.” We all found that to be nice and a fun challenge!

All in all, I found it to be a fun pub to go to for its trendy hipster attitude and bacon flair. It would definitely be a great place to stop in for a couple of drinks and apps with friends or for a quick bite if you are in the mood for some bacon.

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Porchetta from The Hangover Pub on Green Street in Worcester

Porchetta, Roasted pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon, drizzled with local honey, mascarpone polenta, pan jus, and green beans from Hangover Pub on Green Street in Worcester, MA

From the outside, the Hangover Pub doesn’t look like much, it looks more like your local bar than place a with good food. Inside, however, the place has a nice cozy bar with a row of tables down one side and a largish room in the back. The walls are decorated with art from local artists, all for sale of course and the crowd was very diverse.

Most of the menu items have some sort of bacon twist to them. For an appetizer, I had the Smoked Parmesan and House Cured Bacon Chips. Basically, home made chips, sprinkled with smoked parmesan and tossed with small bits of house cured bacon. They came in a folded-over paper bag and were absolutely delicious. The portion size was plenty large for two, maybe even enough for three as an app and the flavor was fantastic. The smokiness of the bacon and slight tang of the parmesan blended with the chips perfectly creating a really nice overall flavor.

Dinner was the Porchetta, Roasted pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon, drizzled with local honey, mascarpone polenta, pan jus, and green beans. The portion on this was also more than enough to be able to bring some home for leftovers. The porchetta itself was seasoned nicely, slightly peppery and had just a hint of a kick to it and the smokiness of the bacon played very nicely with it. The marscarpone polenta was creamy with just a hint of the polenta texture to it and also very delicious. The flavors of both complemented the other almost perfectly creating an overall great flavor. The combination of the honey drizzle and the marscarpone did create an overall sweetness the dish that I loved, but some of my friends found a little overpowering. All in all, this is a great dish that I’ll be having again.

Being crowded, I expected the service to suffer a bit but our waitress more than kept up with the demand. She was knowledgeable, friendly and hustled to make sure we were happy. The owner also came around a few times to make sure everything was up to par and that we were all happy. In fact, all the wait staff seemed to be rushing around trying to keep up, but kept smiles and friendly faces going!

Overall, The Hangover Pub is a great blend of your local bar, great food and an eclectic decor. The fact that they’re displaying, and selling, local artists work is also a great touch. While the concept may seem a bit like a gimmick, with bacon in just about everything, the food itself is great and will hold up just fine. This is a place that I’ll be back to often.