Tag Archives: Sunset

Classics Revisited: Sunset Grill & Tap

16 Jul

photoNacho Patrol has found that when you want to start a spirited debate among a group of Bostonians, don’t bring up up politics, abortion or sports teams; just let it be known that you run a nacho blog and that Sunset is ranked #3.  Little inspires such shock and affront as a bold dismissal of what is colloquially thought of as the best nacho destination in town.  Now, we are nothing if not cocky about our superior nachowledge, and we generally do our best to spread The Gospel Of The Pour House amongst the plebians.  But the constant criticism has gotten us a little down of late, and a kernel of doubt is growing: could we have been wrong?  In the interest of a little follow-up to one of our seminal reviews (and indulging in some admittedly top-tier nachos), we returned once more to Sunset Grill & Tap, with an open mind and some new reviewers in tow.  On this trip, we learned from our previous experience and made two changes to our order: we elected for the chicken chili in lieu of barbecued pork, and made sure that the salsa and sour cream were on the side.

  • Appearance: (Originally: 9) Not nearly as monochromatic as they appear in this photo.  However, lettuce on the top has morphed into one of our major pet peeves, so we are going to take off one point. ( 8 )
  • Quality of Ingredients: (Originally: 9) While we had hoped to steer clear of flavor cohesion problems with the chicken chili, it was disappointingly bland and sweet.  Other than that, the rest of the ingredients were top-notch.  The guacamole was excellent, and we barely bothered with the salsa due to all of the flavor already in the plate. The chips seemed less cardiovascularly damaging this time, which was welcome.  However, either due to their structural integrity or the way they were handled during the composition, a significant number of chips were broken in the bottom of the nachos, in small enough pieces to render them rather unusable as topping-delivery vehicles. This, combined with the lame chili, constitutes for us fundamental design flaw, and we are once again going to knock off a point. ( 8 ).
  • Distribution of Toppings:  (Originally: 7) Nearly every review of these nachos, written or oral, formal or anecdotal, mentions the encasement of the topping of choice within a near-impenetrable fortress of chips and melted cheese.  We had a large quibble with this last time, but on these nachos it was not so pronounced.  Perhaps the more viscous chili was easier to extract; perhaps the chef was feeling frisky that evening.  Whatever the case, our previous difficulties with the hidden topping seemed like nothing more than a bad dream… plus two! (9).
  • Price: (Original: 10).  Maybe raised up to $13?  Still, hard to beat (10).
  • Overall: Still 35/40.  We thought long and hard about these nachos, their strengths and weaknesses, how they had changed and how they had remained the same.  Yet in the end, we came to the same conclusion: an excellent nacho, good enough for podium-placement.

Now, if only we had spent this much brain power on our SAT’s….

Sunset Cantina’s Dessert Nachos: Double Insulin, Straight Up

18 May

DSC03471One 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.

Sunset Grill and Tap: We Surrender!

19 Oct

We at Nacho Patrol have had Sunset Grill & Tap on our radar for some time. Indeed, when the concept of Nacho Patrol was first conceived, we had these nachos in mind as one of our flagship reviews. We have all had them them in the past and remember them as delicious. When the phrase “Boston nachos” comes up, most people will find that their mind runs to these. So, now that we have a few reviews under our belt, and are feeling comfortable in our ratings system, we have decided to tackle the beast and wrestle it to the ground. We indulged in the Giant Fiesta Nachos, with barbecued pulled pork, for $12.

  • Appearance: A behemoth of a nacho platter, piled high on a plate that is perhaps too small. tri-colored tortilla chips added a nice base of color. A veritable casing of melted cheese, sprinkled with scallions, with a few black olives peeking out from under, made us want to dig in immediately. Salsa on the side, sour cream and guacamole piled on top, over a small mat of shredded lettuce (9).
  • Quality of Toppings: The homemade guacamole was the first indication that these nachos don’t mess around. However, the salsa was unfortunately canned and tad briny. The cheese, delicious and melty. Tortilla chips were obviously fried in-house; while this makes for a tasty, crisp platter, too many of these make us feel like a heart attack is imminent. The pork was utterly delicious…for what it was. There was still some conflict with the other prevailing flavors, leading us to the consensus that e should have learned our lesson last time at the BU pub– barbecue sauce is not meant to go along with nachos. From now on, we will make it our policy to refrain from ordering any kind of barbecued meat, no matter how tasty it sounds. Still, we commend that very few corners were cut on these nachos, something we heartily appreciate (9).
  • Distribution of Toppings: Layers, layers everywhere! Up, down, all over town. We were in heaven…yet it quickly turned to hell. These nachos suffer from too much of a good thing– so many ingredients were piled on them that it was near impossible to get an even distribution. It took us a good ten minutes to crack through the cheese to get to the pork, and even then, only Guest Judge Doreen had easy access. A bigger plate would have been helpful, and perhaps a lighter hand with the meat. The sour cream and guacamole were woefully out of place on the top of the platter, encumbering our attacks and hampering an even condiment distribution. They would have been much better served on the side, which we will ask for in the future. The lettuce on top was completely superfluous. It added nothing in the way of taste, and little in aesthetics (7).
  • Value: We ate till it hurt and still had a lot left over. For $12? These rock (10).
  • Overall: 35/40. No matter what the complaints, we will put these at some of the best nachos in town.

    • Sunset Grill, Nacho Patrol is waving the white flag of surrender. But we will return, and in greater numbers!

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