Hangry Kitchen — Restaurant in Pawtucket

Tried to order takeout from here online previously and when I showed up the restaurant was closed. Apparently they forgot to update their hours and didn't close the online ordering.

A few days ago, after triple checking the restaurant would be open, I tried ordering again. The restaurant was supposed to open at 4PM. The online ordering didn't open at 4PM. Tried calling at 4:30 and no one answered, but got a call back (from a Connecticut phone number) with a voicemail saying to call back at that number or try the restaurant number again. I didn't call back because online ordering eventually opened slightly before 5PM.

The online menu is a mess. Some items don't have a description. There was "rabbit”, “chorizo”, and “pork chop”. I went to the printed menu to try to find descriptions of these things, but they weren't on that menu at all. Conversely, there were things I wanted to order on the printed menu that didn't exist on the online ordering menu. These items are now on the printed menu, but shouldn't have made it to the online menu without descriptions before being on the printed menu.

Food pickup was quick and easy and the atmosphere inside the restaurant seemed really warm and cozy.

Here's what I ordered: Whelk roll: this was gross. Maybe I just don't like whelk since I've never had it before to compare, but the whelk was really tough like cartilage and had a slight flavor of the sea. Nothing like descriptions I read online. The whelk was also just sprinkled on top of the roll while the roll was absolutely stuffed with mayo. I didn't make it past two bites.

Roasted mushroom salad: the mushrooms were sooo tough it was hard to chew them. Not much flavor to the mushrooms either. I had many mushroom dishes to compare this against and this may be the worst I've had. There were also split peas in there which were VERY hard. It was like having little rocks in the salad.

Quahog pie: this was basically watery diced quahogs covered with a tasteless dough covering. Simply not good.

Skate tail: this wasn't too bad because it was basically tasteless. The thin part of the tail was overcooked, but the thicker parts were perfectly cooked.

I just double checked the online vs printed menu to give the benefit of the doubt and they are still not matching. You can order scup, paratha, a fish of the day, etc online without a description, but these aren't on the printed menu. Similarly, if you want the cream puff on the printed menu, you can't order it online.

I'm in awe of the other reviews on Google and the 4.8 star overall score. Seems like I ate from a completely different place than others are describing. Wouldn't ever order...

Rotating menu, locally-sourced food and drink, this has become not only my favorite restaurant in New England, but my favorite restaurant full-stop. I was such a picky eater my entire life so I was super intimidated by the menu at first. I played it safe and ordered Italian grinder sliders. They were so incredible that I came out of picky-food shell and ordered a little outside my comfort zone the next time, a seared tuna steak, and even more after that. This place turned me into an adventurous eater because everything that comes out of the kitchen can be counted on to be absolutely top-tier. The plates are tapas-style, so don't expect a huge portion of sub-par food, these are smaller plates that are 110% worth your while, and filling. The rotating menu means that every time I come back feels like a new experience, with the reliability of quality - you may never know what you'll order next, but you can count on it to be delicious, even if you never would have ordered it elsewhere. Especially great on the menu right now are the oxtail sliders - tender meat on a cheese and chive biscuit with spicy jam and grilled pineapple. The flavors are out of this world and carefully constructed, complemented by local soda, Yacht Club, that's much more real and fresh than I've found in the canned regular colas or soda spouts. When my foodie friends are in town, I bring them here, and count it as one of Rhode Island's best offerings of anything. It's a true taste of the community and a testament to the artistry of the kitchen. I hope folks realize what they have here in a place that's still open when you get home from work or after an evening out, reliably fresh and quality, and feels upscale without a dress code more demanding than a t-shirt. I try to eat here once a month, just to try the next amazing dish.

Pictured: Italian grinder sliders, a spin on bagel and lox (tuna, cucumber, capers, everything bagel chips), seared tuna steak (sushi-grade, so it has that beautiful color of fresh tuna between the sear), I believe a peach dish with ice cream that came out so warm and was eaten so fast I hardly remember what it was, and the most incredible Sweet Potato Mousse with local maple syrup, spiced cookie crumble, and...

The food here is, hands down, five stars. Quirky and inventive, the flavors rival any of the more popular Providence restaurants. We consider ourselves foodies and appreciate the risks the chef takes with unusual (and always seasonal) ingredients and flavor combinations. Reading the menu has you going, "Wait, what? I'm intrigued! How can that possibly work?" But it DOES. Trust your taste buds to someone who takes chances and delivers big flavor.

While I would love to give Hangry five stars based on the food alone, I think the ambience needs some work, and I really hope the owners see this critique and consider a couple small changes because it would easily boost the experience to 5 stars and have people talking about the food, all the food, and nothing but the food. *My first recommendation is: dimmer lighting at dinner time. We've been here a couple times, and both times were jarred by how brightly lit it was. The decor and color palette is very high energy, so that PLUS the lighting was giving off counter service diner vibes, not cozy, higher-end tapas vibes. *And second: curtains or some kind of drapes over the windows. The windows have no treatments, and this has the same affect as the lighting. Adding drapes of some kind would up the cozy factor, which pairs so splendidly with tapas (and makes people open their wallets).

Also worth stating, we weren't wowed by the cocktails, but the beer and wine offerings are solid. I suspect this place would benefit from a bar manager or passionate bar tender but just isn't at that point yet, and I get it.

We will definitely be back for the food and look forward to seeing this place develop. It is awesome to have a more upscale place in our own town so we don't always need to spend all our going out money in the next town over. Can't wait to see what's on...