Date: October 21, 2007
Ingredients:
house made corn chips
cheddar and
jack cheesesblack beans
tomatoes
jalapenos
black olives
sour cream
green onions
salsa (on the side)
kalua pork (on the side)
Evaluation:
Service at Island-pace draws few objections from those seated outdoors on a warm Kauai night, expect perhaps when surrounded by a strange smell reminiscent of poorly-turned compost. Still, the overall ambiance at Waimea Brewing Company managed to make up for it, with live Hawaiian music and a trio of feral but elegant cats making the rounds for leftovers. Nachos are quite often a standout on brewery menus, and black beans are among our favorite toppings, so we had high hopes that this batch (if we were ever able to place our order and if it then eventually arrived) would be good.
There were certainly strong points. The salsa was smooth and slightly smokey with just the level of spice to complement the other flavors of the dish. The green onion across the top was slivered into u-shaped strips of vibrant color. Similar to elsewhere we've seen in the Islands, the sour cream was thin and almost sauce-like and appeared to be lightly seasoned. This was preferable in the warm weather to a thick gob of the stuff piled over the cheese.
Beyond these points, the nachos lacked any sort of wow-factor. The house-made corn chips were decent quality but did not stand out as homemade or special and the tomatoes were fresh but seemed to be almost an afterthought. The scattered black beans did not make enough of an impact and were drowned out by the prominent tinny olives. Cheese distribution was average, but clumpy. I myself abstained from the pork, but witnessed my companion mixing ketchup and stray jalapenos into it to add flavor.
Overall, the dish was satisfying but unexciting. It may have been better if washed down with a couple more of their smooth and tasty brews. We sampled the Lilikoi Ale (tinged with passionfruit) and the Pakala Porter. The beer and the setting would draw me back, the nachos lack that pull.
