The Menu: 4.5 stars for Little Hen in Apex
Little Hen
☆☆☆☆ 1/2
5160 Sunset Lake Road, Apex
Originally reviewed by Greg Cox on 7/27/2012
The one thing you can count on is that jaws will drop when the Pork Big Board is delivered to your table. A recent board groaning with porchetta, beer-braised belly, squash and trotter ragu, unctuous jowl on a locally baked roll, and a fat, juicy chop caused eyes to widen as far as two tables away. A feast for two healthy appetites, with grilled peaches and a snappy succotash among the farm-to-fork accompaniments, it was well worth the $56 tariff.
In the rare event that the Pork Big Board is not offered, you’ll find consolation in whatever board is available that night. The Street Vendor’s Big Board, say, which recently featured house-made Italian sausage with peppers and onions, grilled beef kofta over a summer vegetable couscous, bratwurst with fresh sauerkraut, and the chef’s twist on the Asian street vendor classic chicken-on-a-stick, served on a roll with garlic cream and hot sauce.
That’s not to say you have to order something that comes on a slab of wood to be assured of a memorable meal. The chef’s local riff on prosciutto and melon – ruddy petals of Johnston County “Parma” ham wrapped around wedges of cantaloupe, surrounded by a scattering of red and yellow melon balls and a blue cheese semifreddo – is a kaleidoscope on a plate. And every bit as colorful on the palate.
Read the full review and others at themenunc.com.
This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 12:34 PM with the headline "The Menu: 4.5 stars for Little Hen in Apex."