Nick's Nacho Blog
Just to make things clear, I want to give an explanation of what the “Hunger Rating” is in my reviews.
Before I go in to eat something I like to think about how hungry I am. That has a HUGE effect on how I like a dish. If I’m not hungry and I try something I might not like it as much because my body just doesn’t want to eat. That can effect the rating. On the opposite end if I’m starving, a bad dish could seem great only because I’m really hungry and at that point my body would really eat just about anything at that point and like it. So that is a key rating for me. pay attention to it. It may help you understand why I gave it a rating like I did.
I’ll try to keep the ratings general. I guess you could say, again, on a 5 scale.
1 - Really Hungry - I hadn’t eaten that day
2 - Pretty Hungry - I ate that day , but earlier so I’m ready to eat.
3 - Average - I can go either way, but I’m not ready to pig out.
4 - Not so Hungry - I ate that day, but I’m in a trying mood. So I’ll try some foods, but not because I’m actually hungry
5 - Not Hungry - I ate right before, so basically I’m scarfing down food I don’t want. My body will probably not like that and make the food taste bad to stop me from eating.
So I hope these rating explanations help you understand what I mean. It’s an interesting experiment. The next time you go to eat. Really think about how hungry you are going in and how it affected your meal. I think you’ll be surprised with the results.
Okay here we go. First nacho dish ever on this blog. I’ll try to stick to this format for all future entrants.
Where: The Harp, 8706 Belair Rd Nottingham, MD 21236
When: Saturday 6/23/2012
Hunger Rating: Pretty Hungry
Name of Dish: Beef or Chicken or Pork Irish Nachos
Price: 10.99
Description: This is what their menu has the description as: “Waffle fries topped with scallions, garden fresh salsa, cheddar & Jack cheese with a side of sour cream.”
This was the first time going to the Harp. The Harp is an Irish pub in Perry Hall in MD and it’s actually pretty cool. I had no idea what to expect going in because I had never been there before. I was just going to hang with some friends, but then I got this whole nacho blog idea and I figured this would be a great place to start. So when I got there I just asked for the “nachos”. I didn’t even look at the menu. I think I kind of wanted it to be a surprise. I went about cavorting with some of my friends who were there and when they came to me I actually was surprised. Being an Irish pub the “chips” they used were actually waffle fries. You know waffle fries right? These.
Now this intrigued me. It was different. I like different.
My first impression of the dish was pleasant. I liked that they used real cheese and fresh veggies. Though for my taste they used too many veggies. Now just asking for “the nachos” I didn’t know that it came with either chicken or steak. So when I saw the chicken I was, again, surprised. Overall, the presentation was nice. It wasn’t sloppy. It actually looked nice.
Now after digging in, my first impressions of the waffle fries was good. It adds an interesting dimension to the nachos. It has a hint of a crunch, but the potato flavor follows right after. Which is nice. The cheeses they used had a great flavor and the “salsa” was good at points. I’m more of a jarred salsa guy so I didn’t quite like the “garden fresh”, but again that’s just my taste. If you like it, go for it. The chicken had a good taste, but for me there wasn’t enough. Same with the cheese. I needed more cheese. Layer the sucker with fries, cheese, and chicken then another layer of all topped with the salsa and you got a nice dish. So for me there just wan’t enough toppings. I got more of a taste of the fries than anything else. And for me that’s not good. Now they serve this with sour cream. Looking back I should have asked for some of the chipotle mayo they had. My friend had some left over from his dish so I tried it with the chipotle mayo. Unbelievable. Now, granted, chipotle mayo goes great with just about anything, they were great with these fries. So if I could offer a tip, ask for a side of chipotle mayo if you get the nachos from here. It takes it to a whole new level. I loved that. Now, for the price, I think I should have gotten more, but after thinking about it; they did use fresh ingredients so I can let that slide. But there wasn’t enough cheese or meat in my opinion and I had to mix and match stuff from other peoples plates to get it to my liking.
Overall, it was a good dish that with a few tweaks could be made great. I loved the fact that they used waffle fries instead of regular chips. That was fun. I liked that they used real cheese and salsa. I like that. Just add more stuff. Don’t skimp on the toppings. That’s what makes nachos great. The right amout of toppings to the chip makes or breaks a good nacho dish. For me there just wasn’t enough. By the end of it I was using my friends chipotle mayo to get through the rest of the waffle fries.
Rating: 2/5
I honestly would have given it a 2.5, but I don’t do halves and there just wasn’t enough stuff to push it past the 2.5 mark so that I could round up to a 3.
So stop by The Harp and get some of these interesting nachos. Just remember to ask for more toppings and some of that great chipotle mayo.
This is a monumental day. The day I finally set up a blog to chronicle my quest to find the best nachos in the world. Granted I usually get my nachos from the most quintessential dives ever, but still, I’m on a quest. This is just to help me organize myself and share with the world my quest. This won’t be updated everyday or even every week. It’ll be updated simply when I get another thing of nachos from whereever. I’ll take pics and comment on how i felt about them.
Nachos are a great meal and some places do it better than others. This is my quest to find the best.
