New Restaurant Pickerel Opens in Providence — Where Big King Used to Be
GoLocalProv News Team
New Restaurant Pickerel Opens in Providence — Where Big King Used to Be
Pickerel has officially launched in Luongo Square on the West End, where “Big King” once was.
This week, the owners unveiled photos of food and cocktails online, including ramen noodles, vegan milk punch, cheesecake shuffle, and more.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTA menu over the weekend included “clam shio” — clam & dashi soup, pork chashu, menma, onion, soy egg, and toast nuts and drink called the “deep crush” — gin, china-china, lime, egg whites, and orange soda.
“Our first few weeks of service have been a blur. It’s been so nice to share what we’ve been working on with both familiar and new faces,” wrote owners this week. “Moving forward we’ll be open Thursday - Monday, 5pm-12am. We’ve received a few DMs about reservations: as of right now we are walk-in only, with a max party size of 4. Very soon, we will be enacting a reservation system for our one booth, seating 4 people. “
A Small Restaurant Following a Big Footprint
Big King, which was named one of the best new restaurants in America by GQ in 2019, closed in 2022.
The current owners have close ties to Big King’s James Mark, having sat down with him earlier in the year with their vision.
And now, the Pickerel buzz is growing.
“The ramen did not disappoint and the semi-clear shoyu (soy sauce based) broth shined as the star of the show. The broth was simultaneously light yet full of savory umami flavor. The straight, thin noodles while usually not my favorite, worked well with this style of ramen,” wrote the website "Home is a Kitchen" in a review. “Meanwhile, the perfectly cooked soy egg added depth and creaminess to the bowl. Of course the scallions and nori added to the complexity of the flavors as well. I loved both pieces of pork, but the charred pork belly completely blew me away.”