If you haven’t visited the Augusta Market by the River recently, foodwise, you might be in for a surprise.
The market is packed with food stalls serving up an interesting variety of international foods. There’s Korean bulgogi, Philippine chicken adobo, Japanese hibachi, and American shrimp and grits. Lily Coffee, Tea & Bread has a food truck serving up teriyaki chicken, salmon, grilled beef, tofu and other delicious proteins over rice. Another food truck, Black Lotus, features jerk chicken on creamy mac and cheese, a miso salmon on top of spicy noodles and greens, and more.
Then there’s the porkchop sandwich. The sign caught my eye as I was trying to decide what to order for lunch. The petite chef saw me looking and called out, “What would you like?” “I was thinking about the porkchop sandwich,” I said, stepping up. “But what’s it like?”
In response, she grabbed her tongs and proffered an enormous bone-in chop—probably bigger than my head—that had been dredged in flour. I was sold.
Gloves on, she efficiently flipped the chop into hot oil, where it would be deep-fried for several minutes, then placed on top of a couple slices of white bread, with a few packets of mayo on the side as garnish.
Meanwhile, my husband Sean ordered lumpia, the Filipino version of Chinese eggrolls, slim, crisp and filled with savory ground pork and veggies, as well as a shrimp basket and fries from the Hot Spot.
We found a shady spot to settle and dig in. With its bone, the porkchop sandwich isn’t technically a sandwich, but no matter. It burnt my fingers a bit as I picked it up in both hands; that didn’t stop me from taking a big bite right from the middle, followed by a bite of the soft white bread smeared with a little mayo. I think the chop had been brined, so it was a little salty. It was also peppery, with a crisp, slightly chewy golden crust from the deep fry, and the bread was slightly sweet against the tango mayo. It was hearty, homey and the kind of food you wanted to eat outside in the hot sun on a Saturday morning. I could imagine drinking a beer with it, or even changing it up a bit by adding some sliced tomato too.
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Sean and I passed the “sandwich” back and forth. He and our daughter also feasted on the lumpia, which were crisp and delicate but filling, and proceeded to down the shrimp, one after another.
I managed to snag a couple for myself. I’m a creature of habit so I usually order the grouper sandwich from the Hot Spot, but the shrimp have become my new fave. The seafood itself had great flavor, with a perfectly cooked, light and crackly crust.
A Kona ice (with all the flavors) and a fresh-squeezed lemonade helped wash everything down. If you want dessert, there are plenty of options: fresh fruit, boba tea, juices topped with fresh fruit, cheesecake, cupcakes, cookies, chocolate croissants and probably even more I didn’t see.
Not for us that day: We were all a little sweaty, a little sticky and a lot full. It was a great morning, one I hoped to repeat the next Saturday.
If You Go:
Augusta Market by the River
15 8th St.
Through November 19
Danielle Wong Moores is a local freelance writer who’ll never turn down a shrimp cocktail, sushi or cheese dip. Her greatest food influences are her mom and writers MFK Fisher and Amanda Hesser. Her Dine and Dish column runs the second and fourth Fridays in The Augusta Press.
