Essen Restaurant & Beer Cafe, Broadway

Eating challenges are always good fun, but definitely not for the faint hearted. Today we are visiting Essen to check out the hype around their latest challenge aptly named “Jurassic Pork”, and getting a sampler of this monstrous beast.

Essen is no stranger to food challenges having previously hosted a 3.5kg “Schnitzilla” schnitzel stack, but this year it is hosting Jurassic Pork. This consists of a 1.6kg loaf of bread filled with slow-cooked pork, coleslaw and a side of chips. The rules are simple around this challenge:

  1. Finish all aspects of the meal (yes, all the carby chips too!) to complete the challenge
  2. Your time limit is 40 minutes
  3. No leaving the table (unless your bladder is really about to burst…but then you’ll lose)

If you can complete all this, the meal is free, you receive a commemorative Jurassic Pork T-shirt and also get a photo on the Essen Wall of Fame. For the majority who can’t hack it though will be $49.50 poorer, have the remnants of their meal weighed and recorded on the Wall of Shame for the rest of the world to see.

Jurassic Pork (Source: Wasamedia)

Wall of Shame

Both Yvn and I know that there is no way we can down 1.6kg each in a meal (many large men on the Wall of Shame failed too!) and we take the easy way out through the JP Express. This is a smaller burger version of the Jurassic Pork that still contains all flavour elements, and is only $20.

Almdudler (Austrian Herb Lemonade) – $4.50
Bionade (Lychee Elderberry Herbs Ginger-orange) – $5

To complement our meal, we start off with some German drinks which we haven’t tried before. The Almdudler is very fizzy, and isn’t as sweet as other lemon based drinks such as Schweppes/Solo. I find it is quite similar to ginger beer with a lemon twist. Yvn orders the lychee Bionade which is organic and tastes like maple syrup in a fizzy drink. It is interesting but not really my cup of tea.

Mustard and Cider sauce

Not long after we order, two bottles of sauces are brought out which complement both the Jurassic Pork and JP Express. The first is a mustard which I find smells like a Big Mac! It tastes though like a more tangy version of McDonald’s sweet and sour sauce. The other is a cider sauce smells like balsamic vinegar and similarly tastes like a vinaigrette.

 JP Express – $16 (burger only)

Our JP Express burgers are brought out shortly and the presentation is very impressive. Packed between a soft bun is lots of pulled pork and cabbage, topped with a crispy strip of bacon jutting out of the burger. I find that the burger fillings don’t really contain a sauce but thankfully we have two bottles available for us to gorge on. My preference was the cider sauce which was a bit sweeter and went beautifully with the pork. Yvn preferred the mustard and needless to say, we both mopped our plates clean with the chips. Although the JP Express wasn’t a challenge, we were both completely stuffed full after this due to the density of the bread and amount of carbs/meat!

Overall, Essen sure does plate up a good challenge. I think the Jurassic Pork looks like it can comfortably feed three people, but if you are up for the challenge, you can partake in it during their normal trading hours – dinner from 5pm every night of the week and lunch on Thursdays and Fridays from 12pm. And for the ones who would like something smaller, grab the JP Express.

Excuse Me Waiter dined as guests of Essen and Wasamedia.

Essen Restaurant & Beer Cafe
133-135 Broadway, Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: (02) 9211 3805


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