One might say that placing two Sunset restaurants within a mile and a half of each other is a wee bit excessive; we, however like having options. Conveniently, Nacho Patrol World Headquarters is located exactly equidistant between the two; so when we are in the mood for an overwhelming beer list and some Allston bromance, we head to the Grill & Tap; and when we get a craving for the delish coconut-lime margaritas, the siren song of the Cantina draws us near. On such a recent night, we celebrated guest-patroller Tim’s graduation from BU with a unique nacho offering: the dessert nachos. Featuring caramelized apples, raisins and bananas over cinnamon-sugared chips, covered with chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, whipped cream and strawberries, and with a side of malted vanilla ice cream, we soon discovered that these were not for the faint of heart.
- Appearance: (7) It’s hard to judge these nachos by the traditional standards. Color and gooeyness are two of our most promising markers, and these nachos were lacking both of these by design. Still, they looked pretty tasty, albeit slightly structurally unstable.
- Quality of Ingredients: (7) The “tortilla chips”, in this case, were crispy deep-fried flour tortillas, coated in cinnamon sugar. The were easily the best part of these nachos, reminiscent of the elephant ears of our childhood. The malted vanilla ice cream was delicious, both by itself and when supplementing the chips. The caramelized fruit was alright, but the flavor of the bananas overwhelmed the whole mixture.
- Distribution of Toppings: (6) There was a lot going on here. Normally, the more the better, but in this case it was quickly overwhelming. We found ourselves seeking out the naked chips, for once, as the banana-tinged fruit mixture put us into sugar overload. There wasn’t a ton of sauce, but the whipped cream on top provided a welcome source of moistness.
- Price: (10) $7 put three of us in a diabetic coma, and we only ate half.
- Overall: (30) Dessert nachos are an interesting concept, and we feel that these were fairly well executed. There is, however, a very important concept to keep in mind when creating them: while savory flavors add, sweet flavors multiply. Sweet ingredients can quickly pile on top of each other and become overwhelming, as was the case with these nachos. These would have been much better with a little Tim Gunn-style editing– lose the fruit, present a simpler plate of chips, a little chocolate sauce, and the ice cream for dipping.
February 5th, 2009: a day of epic nacho adventures, a day of nacho brilliance. Also, really really cold. Tag-teaming the pursuit for the perfect nacho, Nacho Patrol split up, one illustrious team tackling the world of post-Celtics-letdown nachos, while the other adventurers traipsed carefully over the ice fields of Brighton/Brookline to Harry’s Bar and Grill, a loud little sports bar located conveniently off the Warren St. T-stop. And though Skyler and Andi didn’t get to wear their favorite shoes (after seeing the thermometer, “feels like -2 degrees,” their choice of accoutrement quickly evolved from hot dresses and high heels to long underwear, jeans, and hiking boots), the two have a feeling that they made a wise choice in nacho locale.
