Poco Deli: Simple Little Deli Along Kapitolyo

Deli’s are fucking awesome.  Aside from the occasional salads, it’s stocked with good quality meat, awesome craft beers, and cured meat.  I call that “man food” and we here at Food Porn Junkies are men¹.

Real men are secure enough to say, “I love meat in tube form.”  So god damn it, I do.  I love it.  To start with, you cannot go wrong with their German Sausage Sampler.  You can 3 of their sausages² and it comes with home-made sauerkraut, a side salad, and croutons.

You really can’t go wrong with any of them.  They’re all pretty good.  The side salad was fresh and simple and the sauerkraut is pretty nice as well.  Not for people who hate sour flavors, though.

And if you’re feeling a bit rich, go for the Wagyu Sausage.  It has a more beefy flavor to it and a bit more fat and oil from the Wagyu beef.

Now, there are different ways to go about your meal.  You can go the pizza route and get the Jamon de Oro Pizza.  I’m not a big fan of their pizzas, but they have really light and clean flavors to it.  For the health freaks³ out there, this might be one of the healthier tasting ones out there.  Then again, I’m not exactly an authority for healthy eating.

The light flavors apply to their pastas as well.  They use less salt and probably less butter in their dishes.  Still, they have some solid, but not over-the-top, pasta dishes.  I like their Aglio Olio Pasta, which is your simple olive oil pasta with fried garlic flakes.  It’s really light, but I thought it needs a pinch of salt or two.  A couple of chili flakes won’t hurt either.

My sister tried the Truffle Oil Pasta with Mushroom⁴.  It was OK.  A bit light-handed again on the truffle oil.  But cheating is still cheating even if you do it just a bit.

And I’m not a fan of their Chili Seafood Pasta.  Looks fantastic, but not enough of the chili or tomato flavors, but overly salty from either the seafood or a handful of salt.  The texture and taste reminded me a lot more of Chinese misua than Italian pasta.

They have a selection of comfort food, which are basically rice meals.  We tried the Irish Beef Stew and the Lamb Curry.  Both were OK, but I liked the lamb curry a bit better.  It’s not up to par with the curries that we’re used to, but it was OK.

The Irish Stew’s meat was a bit dry and tough to chew.  It was really aromatic, though, with the use of thyme (I think) and bay leaves, but overpowered the beef’s flavor a bit.

Both came with a side of their signature Bacon Rice.  I’m not sure why it’s so special.  They use good rice, but the bacon didn’t really add much.

I did love their Bacon Slabs with Eggs.  It’s the biggest and thickest that I’ve seen⁵.  They use actual pork belly and it was awesome.  Probably two people can take on that huge slab and those two massive eggs⁶.  It can get a bit heavy so it’s not bad to share.

What keeps me coming back are the sandwiches, which all come with their home-made Casava Chips.

One of my ex-colleagues ordered the Turkey Ham, which is a turkey ham on a bagel.  Looked alright, but I’d rarely touch anything as dry and as healthy as turkey.

The US Sliced Steak on a New York Bagel Sandwich is one of their best sellers and I can see why.   The beef is flavored and seasoned well, but was a bit tough.  Too much fat and too vein-y.  I’d still get this again, though.

But my usual (and favorite) sandwich has to be the Prosciutto with Mozzarella Cheese.  Just a simple light cured prosciutto with melted mozzarella and a hint of tomato paste.  Awesome.

If you’re like me⁷, you could get their juices but it’s not a very wide selection — only 2 for that matter.  The have their signature Citrus Delight, which I will never order again.  It wasn’t bad, but you can make it at home.  It’s basically Sprite⁸ with a slice of lemon, lime, orange, and grapefruit.  Not paying 120 bucks for that again.

Poco’s Special Freshly Brewed Iced Tea is pretty fucking good though.  A hint of berry to it, it was quite different and refreshing from other iced teas out there.

There are cakes to choose from.  The New York Baked Cheesecake was OK, but pretty ordinary.

The Black Out Chocolate Cake was pretty good.  I suggest you get that one instead.  It’s made with Valrhona chocolate, caramel, and Belgian chocolate.

There aren’t really dishes here that knock you out of the park.  They’re all consistently solid, though, and priced fairly for the most part.  Great ambiance in a bustling street of food shops and great for a quick sandwich fix.  I have a soft spot for delis… because they’re all fucking awesome.

Poco Deli: Simple Little Deli Along Kapitolyo 2013-04-02

eli’s are fucking awesome.  Aside from the occasional salads, it’s stocked with good quality meat, awesome craft beers, and cured meat.  I call that “man food” and we here at Food Porn Junkies are men. Real men are secure enough to say, “I love meat in tube form.”  So god damn it, I do.  I …