#98. Pork Chop Anything at Nice Time Deli

By Edwin Goei Wed., May 26 2010 at 7:54 AM

Welcome to a new feature on our blog called 100 Favorite Dishes, where we countdown, um, our 100 favorite dishes at local restaurants. We'll be sharing these with you every weekday until our annual Best Of Issue comes out. Enjoy!

Technically, you don't have to order the pork chop noodle soup or the pork chop rice to get Nice Time Deli's pork chop. But for a nominal price increase, you get the star (the pork chop) and her supporting cast (noodles in a clear pork broth or rice dribbled with soy-sauce-cooked pork). Together, the dish calls for a standing ovation.

As big as a baseball mitt and sliced into slits of finger-like flaps up the bone, this pork chop is larger than you ever thought a pork chop could be. It's fried greaseless, covered in a golden, crunchy, bubbled covering of tapioca-flour batter that's fused to every millimeter of meat. Every bite rattles your skull, every morsel singes your upper palate, and every taste hits the right notes of sugary, peppery, salty, crispy and chewy.

Nice Time Deli, 5408 Walnut Ave., Ste. A, Irvine, CA 92604, (949) 654-8542

The List so far:
#100. Jerk Carnitas Torta at The Crosby
#99. Nem Noung Cuon at Brodard