Every Thursday I accompany Akemi to her pottery class in the Junction.  And, every Thursday, while she dabbles in clay, I enjoy a neighborhood stroll followed by a solo lunch followed by a matcha latte at a local cafe with free internet.  For our first six visits, I frequented the same fantastic delicatessen – When the Pig Came Home – working my way through the entire menu.  First it was the porchetta with crackling on milk bread, then it was the smoked meat, followed by, on subsequent visits, the philly cheesesteak, the jerk chicken on a bun, the peameal sandwich, and a variation of their BLT topped with apple slices and an egg (The Kim, named after the co-owner).  Every one of them delicious.

On my last visit, however, I learned that the restaurant would be closed for two weeks while the owners were away for their annual fishing trip.  And so I had to make alternate plans last Thursday and, after much back and forth, opted for – Chica’s Chicken – as I was curious to try out their spicy fried chicken sandwich.  My choices were Jalapeño Popper, Sweet Heat, Crispy Buffalo, or the O.G. topped with slaw, buttermilk slaw and served on Texas toast.  The latter came in a choice of six heat levels ranging from plain to Hot AF which is prepared with a combination of ghost peppers and Carolina reapers.  I’m sure you can guess my order.

Pictured above, the OG Sando, Hot AF.  It’s billed as “extremely hot” but, surprisingly, I just found it “hot”.  I don’t know.  Maybe I’m building up a tolerance in much the same way that full volume on my headphones doesn’t quite seem loud enough anymore, or my suspicion that what used to be 12 pt font has, somehow, shrunk down to 10 pt font but everyone keeps calling it 12 pt and pretending it’s always been that small.

Also, the sandwich was not quite up to the behemoth pictured on the restaurant’s instagram page (pictured above).  A pretty good sandwich nevertheless.  But not quite as enjoyable as anything on that deli menu.

Next week, Akemi has her final class – and I’ll be having my final lunch in the Junction.  So, what’s it going to be for the big finish?  Seafood, Thai, Filipino, or Tacos?   What do you think?