We have finally made it to El Cerdo - partially due to this convenient Groupon voucher which offered a RM100 voucher for the price of RM60. LC had been singing praises about the amazing pork that they serve so we were really looking forward to this.
The restaurant was quaint with lots of adorable pig paraphernalia to the extent of cute takeaway paper bags with smiling piglets.
To start off - some bread with smoked ham pate. The fragrant paste with a herb undertone was a surprise for all of us. Rich and tasty, it was a good match with bread. The bread however, would have been better toasted.
At El Cerdo, you're better off ordering a drink as water is just as expensive. I ordered a Love at First Try (RM10) and it turned out to be a fancier version of Iced Lemon Tea with strong tea, more bitter than sweet.
The Jamon Serrano - Spanish Air Dried Cured Ham with Rock Melon and Greens (RM48 for a full portion) was a nice start to the meal with strongly seasoned ham, crisp and sweet rock melon and to balance it off, the bitter greens. I'd suggest eating all 3 components together to fully enjoy this. Eating just the ham and the melon makes it a too salty combination.
Mini Sausage Skewer (RM28) served with sauerkraut and mashed potato is essentially 'pigs in a blanket', the mini German sausages are wrapped with bacon then fried leaving the bacon crisp but the sausages moist. It went well with the tangy sauerkraut and the buttery mashed potatoes.
The pièce de résistance was the Cochinillo al estilo Segoviano - Roasted Suckling Pig served with Baby Potatoes and House Salad (RM358).
This little piggy has an entertaining tradition that comes with its consumption. Soft enough to cut with a plate, 2 people from the table are asked to cut the pig into 6 portions after a waiter has cut it right down the middle. After that, make a wish and the plates are broken in a barrel as its believed that the bad luck are all transferred onto the plate. Gimmicky but cute.
Not too long ago, the suckling pig is served with refillable salad and mashed potato but now it's served with a minuscule amounts of baby potatoes and a house salad.
The price of the entire Roasted Suckling Pig combo used to be RM250+. A jump to RM358 was quite a shocker.
The suckling pig had crisp skin and moist tender meat though its porkilicious scent didn't sit too well with me. The accompanying sauce did manage to mute the scent a little but overall it was still too porky for me.
Pasta Cavatelli (RM 36) with cheese and smoked pork shoulder ham was tasty and delicious. The tangy and creamy tomato sauce had generous amounts of smoky ham and perfectly al dente pasta.
Noticing that we had 5 people sharing one dessert, the waiter offered to split them to 2 glasses to ease the eating. Much appreciated! Werner's Special is described as Fresh Strawberry in Mango sauce with Chocolate mousse and Wild Raspberry sauce. It seemed that night a vanilla ice cream was filled below the strawberry mixture so there wasn't much mango to go around. However, the tangy mousse with fresh strawberries was a nice end to the heavy meal.
There were hits and misses for me during the meal though LC and my dad enjoyed it immensely. The hefty price tag of RM640 would have been a painful price to swallow if not for the vouchers and in total we paid RM560 - still a rather pricey meal. Good for special occasions, El Cerdo is still a restaurant worth visiting for the porky pork lover and for the curious.