Famed for its roast pork, El Bohio Lechonera in the Bronx has been a porcine powerhouse since David Chang was eating pig belly in his high chair. Though it’s on my endless list of eateries to try, I’ve never made it, so when I spied the neon sign announcing the arrival of El Bohio #3 at the corner of Fifth Ave. and 45th Street in Sunset Park not long ago, I took note.
And it’s some fine roast pork, as it turns out, moist, garlicky, rubbed with oregano, and served with a crisp hunk of mahogany skin. That’s the first thing worth noting about El Bohio. The second is that they sell said lechon by the pound, at $7 per, which is quite a deal. (Same goes for the morcilla [blood sausage] and chicarrones, by the way.) Grab a pound of it and a loaf of bread and you’ve got a picnic for two worthy of the view at the top of nearby Sunset Park.
The steak didn’t quite live up to the pork—it was a bit tough, and I was thrown by the inclusion of broccoli where only onions and more onions ought to tread—so next time I might opt for #4, which substitutes fried fish fillets for the steaks, or #2, which offers a whole chicken and three pork chops along with the sides for even less money, $22.95. If I miss the lechon too much I’ll return the next day for a lunch special that runs $6.
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El Bohio, 4523 Fifth Ave. at 45th St., 718-686-0079, also -0666 and -6011