This entry is a little late in posting as we visited Cafe Pierpont about a week ago. I had to squeeze a short trip to Disneyland in during the last half of last week and I didn't get the review written before I left.
Chimichangas and you might even say most mexican food is all about the textures. The crunch of a fried tortilla offset by the creaminess of refried beans or the give of rice cooked and seasoned. One thing that my brother and I spend a lot time discussing whenever we are evaluating a new chimichanga is whether or not they got the texture right. And by texture, this means does the crunch of the fried tortilla encasing all the ingredients hold up until it reaches us, ready to be consumed.
There are several factors that can make or break the crunch of a chimichanga. In no particular order:
- the ratio of filling to tortilla has to be right. Too much filling and you can never get enough crunch no matter how long you cook it.
- cook time. a truly commendable chimichanga has to be well cooked. If you pull it from the oil too soon you run the risk of not having enough crunch to begin with which is bad, or you may get enough crunch just out of the oil, but by the time you factor in all the delays between cooking and delivery to the table, the crunch can be gone.
- sides and sauce. This is a careful balancing act. Every mexican restaurant typically serves their food with some sort of sides. At its most basic this is refried beans and rice. Some chimichangas are also served with sauce over the top. This definitely has it's place. But it all goes back to the importance of crunch in an outstanding chimi. If the sauce turns the chimi soggy before it even gets to the table, then the whole chimi effort is wasted.
So, for Cafe Pierpont. It takes over as the best one thus far. Thus, our current list is as follows: 1) Cafe Pierpont 2) Bajio 3) Su Casa. Of course this list is by no means complete as there are other places we still need to visit, but it is the current standing.
We had the chicken chimi at Cafe Pierpont and it was a traditional chicken chimi. Seasoned chicken, rolled in a flour tortilla and fried. It was served with some expected sides and sitting in a pool of sauce, which is one to limit loss of crunch between fryer and table. We both agreed that their chimi could have used more time in the fryer to give it some more crunch, but it was still very good. Other highlights were some complementary tortilla chips and a salsa bar in the middle of the restaurant which offered five different salsas that you served yourself. Interestingly, the salsa they gave us with the chips was not one of the selections on salsa bar.
Overall a good experience. Although, the one comment I made to my brother as we were finishing up. Even though it was good, the food was not something that I will be craving. The next time someone asks me where to go for good mexican it would be on the list, but there isn't one dish there that makes me want to eat there again. The only comparison I can think of is the shrimp tacos at Bajio. Every once in awhile, I just need to have the shrimp tacos from Bajio because they are so good. Not that kind of experience at Cafe Pierpont.
Cafe Pierpont
122 Pierpoint Avenue
Salt Lake City, UT
801-364-1222
on the map