Pig Floyd's Urban Barbakoa has been open for more than a year and I'm irritated that I am just now discovering its piggy goodness. The funny thing is, I didn't even try the smoked ribs, brisket or chicken on this visit. And we still had an outstanding meal. We also had the opportunity to meet the owner, Thomas Ward, who used to operate the Treehouse Truck food truck (remember The Luther Burger made with Krispy Kreme doughnuts?). Now, Ward has combined good ol' fashioned smoked meat and southern sides with modern Asian, Latin and Indian dishes.
On this visit, we arrived around 8:30 on a Saturday night. I thought that would be late enough to avoid the crowds, but no - apparently everyone had the same idea this evening. Despite the wait in line to order and then to receive the food, we received very attentive service once we were seated.
We ordered the Pork Belly Taco ($3.49), which features Oakwood smoked and grilled pork belly, dragon sauce, scallions and citrus peanut slaw. This taco was much lighter than you would think and we were delighted by different flavor profiles than we have had before. We also loved the Butter Chicken Taco ($2.95), which has spiced chicken tikka, fresh jalapenos, toasted pepitas, Greek yogurt, cilantro and jasmine rice. Again, these flavors combined perfectly to produce a unique flavor profile. In both tacos, our meat was tender and juicy.
We also loved the fried plantains and fried yucca. Surprisingly, it is difficult to find restaurants in Orlando who pull these sides off perfectly. Both were done very well here. We will definitely return for the items we ordered and for smoked meat to go. Chefs cook up the meat to order on the smoker out back, and it smelled delicious!
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A sneak peek of some of their desserts include Salted Caramel Flan sundae and Chocolate Brownie Bark Sundae, along with Bacon Brittle milkshake and Espresso Buzzzzz milkshake. Will you be at this over-the-top Chocolate Factory when it opens?
