The Flying Pig Saloon

Discovering and sampling the eateries unique to the neighborhood is another enjoyable part of sourcing your food locally. It’s the combination of the atmosphere, the food and the people that come together to make the location a memorable experience rather than a predictably forgettable one, typical of chain operations.

One would not say Malvern is a hot spot of dining activity, but even sleepy little towns have their jewels. Although most would probably describe Malvern as a suburb, it does have a charming little historic main street, typical of most towns in the greater Philadelphia area. On a work related drive through Malvern, I noticed a corner pub with an eye-catching sign, one with a painting of a pig with wings and made a note that it would be a fun place to check out one day. So The Flying Pig Saloon came to mind last week when Erika and I were looking for a place to eat after seeing a play there in town at the People’s Light Theater.

It was as fun and unusual as the sign made it appear. The interior is a typical pub style place with lots of wood – wainscoting, tables, bar and stools. The crowd on a Thursday night at 10pm was pretty low key and mixed in age. The large picture windows, sparkling cord lights and various flying pig ornaments hanging everywhere made the place feel both welcoming and cozy. While there are tv’s running in the place (it is baseball play-off season after all), their audio did not overhwhelm the space. The best part about the place is the beer selection and the menu. There is a beer for everyone there – from locally brewed, to Belgian and other European specialty beers, to the inexpensive and vastly brewed American lagers. There’s quite a decent variety on tap as well. Being the start of fall, trying a seasonal autumnal brew seemed like a good idea. They had a pumpkin ale from Smuttynose on tap. We were told that it was “from around here”. I later discovered that it’s actually from New Hampshire. I suppose when you serve beer from Belgium, New Hampshire seems nearby. It was nicely spicy and mildly sweet, like many a pumpkin ale, and went down well with our food selection.

Of course, being in an eatery with a pig as its icon, how could we not order a pork dish. Erika decided on the Tipsy Pig which was a toasted ham and cheese sandwich on a ciabatta roll served with a beer “au jus” dipping sauce, while I chose the bbq pork sandwich on a French roll with coleslaw. I ordered it with hot pepper toppings. The bbq pork was reminiscent of the bbq I had in North Carolina. It’s served chopped with a vinegary bbq sauce and includes the crispy bits also known as “outside brown”. I enjoyed eating my sandwich with the coleslaw inside it as the cool, crunchiness of the slaw was a nice balance to the soft, spicy bbq meat. Both choices were flavorful and comforting. All in all the experience was definitely pleasing. I’ll be back to The Flying Pig Saloon should I find myself in search of a place to hang out in Malvern again.