Nacho Blog 2: Third Avenue Ale House
We were out in the Upper East Side last night celebrating our friend Rob's birthday, (Happy Birthday Rob!) and the beauty of nachos bloomed right before us. Friends gathered, beers poured, a low rumbling hunger shared. Jess ran the idea of a plate by me, and I said we'd have to produce a blog post out of it, though I was roaming the entire night. Alex, Jess and Andreia served as chief consumers, with Alex providing her thoughts below. From my few bites, these were tasty as hell.
Described on the menu as "Old School Nachos" with cheddar, pepper jack, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo and salsa, these Nachos truly live up to their name, as they are Tex-Mex simplicity at its best and extremely well executed. The star of these nachos is the cheese — cheddar and pepper jack perfectly melted and distributed throughout two to three layers of chips on the sizable oval plate. Third Avenue Ale House takes their cheese over the top by ensuring that it is both stringy and molten, yet caramelizing portions of the cheese to a crisp and slightly smokey golden brown.
The best word to describe these nachos is BALANCE. Aside from the wonderfully melted cheese, the chips remain hot, fresh and crispy. A dollop of guacamole, while not as fresh or bright-tasting as other nacho guacamoles I've had, does it's job and has a solid texture. The pico de gallo is nicely seasoned and not watery. Sour cream provides a nice tang. Another major move for these old-school nachos is the tea cup size side of smokey, dark red salsa for dunking the nachos. A smart choice, as this allows diners to control the distribution of this boldly flavored, chunky salsa. And the thinly sliced jalapenos (with seeds) provide an extra a kick
These nachos are a solid 7.5 out of 10 (8.5 when you are hungry and drunk). [Which we were]