Rooster and the Pig — Restaurant in Palm Springs

The Rooster and The Pig

My partner and I had a chance to experience dinner at “The Rooster and The Pig”

Echoing other reviews, the line upon arriving at 4:50pm was quite long, but we were able to get seated right away. They open at 5:00pm, so I definitely suggest getting there at 4:30-4:45PM if you want to get seated right away. Otherwise you may have a little bit of a wait.

The menu was very interesting seemingly taking a more gourmet take on traditional Vietnamese food.

For Starters we had the following:

Fish Sauce Wings: A nice light crispy finish on the chicken wings and the right amount of sweet and savory between the fish sauce and sugar. I would get these again. Calamari: Excellent. Crispy battered finish, with just the right amount of ‘chewiness’. The spice was excellent… just a bit spicy and the right amount of saltiness. Vietnamese Crispy Rolls: These were OK. Between the jicama and glass noodles we found those to be a bit overpowering.

For the Mains we had the following:

Pork Belly Fried Rice: This was good, overall. A little more bland, but definitely had some great starting tastes. The chunks of pork belly and crispy shallots were awesome. Shaking Beef: Pretty good. Would have enjoyed a little more flavor in the sauce, but the meat was very tender, and high quality.

The Experience:

Overall pretty good. The waiter was attentive. The dishes were on the smaller sides. Echoing some of the other reviews, the food is good overall, but there wasn’t anything that struck us as amazing.

At the beginning of our meal, we asked out waiter if we could place an additional order of Pork Belly Friend rice to go, and he was a bit hesitant saying that the manager was very picky about placing to go orders. This didn’t make any sense to us, but we remedied the issue by placing two orders of fried rice right away and taking the extra to go.

We also ordered two Vietnamese Iced Coffee’s. They were a little strong, so my partner asked if we could have just a little extra condensed milk… again the waiter was very hesitant, but said he would ask the bartender if we could have some… to which he said no. We found that was odd. Would have gladly paid extra for it.

Interesting place. Food was good, but the overall experience seemed a little…...

This was definitely one of the worst dining experiences we've had in awhile. We have long been looking forward to coming here and could not have been more disappointed. First the wait was an hour and twenty minutes - totally fine if the food is amazing (which it wasn't). We had a couple drinks while waiting - drink was watered down sickly sweet and had no flavor of jalapeño in it whatsoever. Tasted like a club drink (but okay don't order the drinks). Finally we got a table and when we went to order 'wanted to start with this then get this) the waiter tells us we should order all at the same time. My first tip that they just wanted to rush us through there as fast as possible. We order and it literally ALL comes out at once there wasn't room on the table and they brought out the main dish five minutes after bringing out the three or four other courses. I never have seen service timed so badly. I finally had to say something twice and they still rushed us through our meal of four or five courses in 45 minutes!!! That's insane. They might have well of just brought us the check the minute we sat down. Forget about chewing your food here they'd rather you just place a big order pay them and leave. Wow also super rude. The food: the shrimp salad was drenched in a vinegar sauce that had pooled at the bottom. The butternut squash cold roll was gummy and not delicate at all. The fried rolls were good and the sauce had a nice kick to it. The pancake with shrimp was okay but it had been sitting under a warmer for twenty minutes because they wanted to leave it on our table and I clearly told them they should not have brought that out yet we were nowhere near ready for it. So they let it sit out rather than remake it and brought us out a soggy shrimp pancake. They were out of rice balls so we were not able to try it The food was super mediocre and honestly the service so bad and rude I hope they learn how to be a restaurant because continuing this way is insulting to the customers. If you are going to rush people through their dinners bring them soggy cold Ban Xao, then push them out; close your list and don't make them wait an hour an twenty minutes outside for that experience. Not worth the hype by a loooong shot.

Our advice? Skip it and try another spot in...

I first noticed Rooster And The Pig out of the corner of my eye driving on Indian Canyon. When I looped back around to check it out, I realized it could be very easy to miss. Set back in a small retail strip just adjacent to the Comfort Inn, you'll find the search & discovery is part of the adventure for this hidden jewel. I say adventure because my partner & I found this place to be totally new & totally unexpected; words that can't often be uttered in Palm Springs. We arrived on a Thursday night & were greeted by friendly staff. The restaurant was vibrating with energy, great music, & the modern but warm/casual interior set the tone for our spectacular culinary experience.

Dishes such as FOB (fresh off the boat) & the Jasmine Tea Leaf Salad resound with bold delicious flavors. We started with the Jicama & Strawberry salad along with the Sweet Corn & dry shrimp bowl at the recommendation of our server who noted these were seasonal items with well sourced ingredients (we even noticed the chef running out to cut fresh herbs from the patio). This is one of those single page menus where you glance at it & want to try every one of the items (I think we counted at least 18 options). We ordered a couple dishes at a time & topped out at 5. For just the two of us sharing everything (honestly this is the best approach so you can taste it all), 5 dishes proved to be more than we could eat. On the drink side we had a couple deliciously fresh house cocktails & what they called a VPA (Vietnamese Pale Ale) which our server said was custom brewed for them by a local brewery using some kind of asian lime leaf, I have to say I'd come back just for the VPA (we noted it was tapped out by the end of our dinner so very popular).

Coming from the NW (Seattle/Portland) we are saturated with fabulous restaurants at every turn, I often set my expectations much lower for PS (it is a small town so I recognize it's not a fair comparison) but lately I've found a few new places are really stepping it up. Rooster & The Pig are doing something so special & we are excited about this new wave hitting Palm Springs. We'll be continuing the adventure with R&P at least once more before heading back to the NW, there are at least 12 more items we...