Editors Note

So far, brevity isn't the strong point of this blog. We're trying. Be patient, savor it like your favorite drink, don't guzzle.

Chimborazo, Minneapolis

Vin says:

The maniacal, power-hungry editor of this whole thing is right:  I loved those last entries, but, damn, that was too much text. No more background or veiled Holden Caufield references.  The two readers of this blog have demanded more wit and less story, and I am going to do my best. The WTF gang formed a quorum and went out again dreaming that we might find something more and we did:  Chimborazo.

My Achilles heel is a well prepared pork dish, and the minute I saw it on the menu, I knew my whole night would hinge on this dish. If you gave me my choice of a last meal on earth, I would ask for South American roasted pork and somehow find a way to get the pig in every other dish as well. This Ecuadorian roasted pork with hominy and llapingachos was divine; while it maybe was not what I'd want for my last meal, I'd always be content eating this. The pork just melted in my mouth and the hominy surprised me as a worthy accompaniment. Everything here is honestly prepared and straightforward. The other dish that impressed me was the fish and shrimp over rice with a coconut sauce. Again, I would never have put them together, but it tasted rich and wonderful without any overwhelming coconut taste.  And that was what I enjoyed most about this restaurant:  so much of the menu was novel to me and almost all of it I was pleasantly surprised by. Curious about the plantains, yuca croquettes, ceviche, and beef and cheese empanadas with aji criollo (a green hot sauce)? Try them. Without exception, they were all fresh and flavorful. On a whim, we ordered the candied figs and cheese for dessert, and found it a great ending for the meal.

The setting for Chimborazo is what you would expect for a hole-in-the-wall place. The service was reasonable and somewhat helpful. The plastic table cloths on each table are stapled down, and we even had an Ecuadorian flute player and guitar to serenade us. What made this whole environment a little absurd was a random collection of white people in (you guessed it) thick sweaters dancing around us with their children. All the while, the unwatched children at the table kept falling over in their high chairs that were placed upside down on the tiled floor. Despite the odd Hieronymous Bosch scene in front of us, none of this seemed out of place. Maybe it was the Negro Modelos.

Being at Chimborazo reminded me overall of the types of meals I treasure when traveling. The surroundings were a little odd, but the food was memorable, fresh and straightforward. I'd love to go again and I'd recommend anyone search this place out. 3 out of 4 WTFork tines. My only disappointment is that, alas, I wrote too much; in fact, I wrote more this time. The horror.

Trick says:

Even though Minneapolis has become something of a foodie city in the last 15 years, occupying a tier just below meccas like Chicago and New Orleans, I can still remember a time in my youth when Leeann Chin and Guadalaharry's Mexican Restaurant constituted cosmopolitan international fare. So it's always with a little trepidation that I try places like Chimborazo, the little Ecuadorian eatery on Central Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis. Too often such places, whether they be South American, Middle Eastern, or Afghani, seem to think that just adding a touch of cilantro or imitation saffron will get Minnesotans oohing and aahing about the gray mass of sinewy meat that's buried in their rice. But Chimborazo doesn't try such tricks. It offers honest, tasty dishes at a reasonable price, in the process showcasing some of the great Ecuadorian comfort foods.

Since this is a supposed to be a food review and not a Pulitzer Prize–winning disquisition on failing schools or lead-laced paints masquerading as baby formula, let me get right to it. Here are just a few of the many items that my companions and I sampled and that deserve to be highlighted:

Llapingachos: Served as an appetizer or snack, Llapingachos are a distinctively Ecuadorian invention--cheese-infused fried mashed potatoes (sort of like potato pancakes). The ones at Chimborazo were, at least to my taste, as good as almost any you'd find in Quito itself.  They came served over eggs and had a touch of onion, with a side of peanut sauce giving the final twist. You did see that I wrote "served over egg," right?  This dream mix of flavors is what every bachelor wishes he could concoct from the odds and ends left in his fridge. Delicious.

Empanadas: We tried both the beef and cheese empanada appetizers, and although the fillings were a little bland, I loved them all the same. Why? Because sometimes with empanadas you get the perfect moist (sorry, ladies) and juicy center, while the crust falls apart all over your Friday-night chinos. But then sometimes you get a crispy and robust crust, while the center is baked down to char. Yet somehow, the beautiful genius in the Chimbarozo kitchen was able to avoid these pitfalls and hit the elusive crispy-moist sweet spot!  (Now I'm really sorry, ladies.)

Shrimp Ceviche with Plaintain Chips: I suppose you pretty much expect every Ecuadorian restaurant to have ceviche. But we're in the Midwest, not on the coast, and the Ecuadorian highlands, which gives Restaurant Chimbarozo its namesake (Chimbarazo is Ecuador's highest peak), are not themselves the home of great seafood either. Nevertheless, this appetizer was a wonderful surprise. The shrimp were delicately cooked so that the lime was still discernible, and the sauce that often seems to muck up Ecuadorian ceviche was light enough to complement the flavor.

Horneado con Papas: Roast pork is a Ecuadorian staple, and one of the many, many reasons I could never have lived in Old Testament times.  On the evening of our visit, Chimbarazo's pork was cooked to perfection.  It had the juiciness of a cutlet, and was lightly seasoned to bring out the flavor of fat.  It came with a side of llapingachos (tip: if you're looking to sample to llapingachos but don't want to order the appetizer, this entree is the perfect compromise).  There was also a side--more an adornment, really--of mote (white hominy), and this was the only disappointment of the dish. Unlike the salty, sweet, or even roasted varieties of mote you find all over Ecuador, this was basically a mass of white, tasteless nubs. But, hey, that's a small complaint. If you like traditional Norwegian food, you may even like it.

So these are among the many delightful items you'll find at Chimborazo. But it is also what Chimborazo does not have that makes it so special. At Chimborazo you will not find the following:

Cuy (Guinea Pig): It's fun to tell your friends about the time you ate a guinea pig. And who doesn't like the photos of you and your drunk buddies poking the snout with your forks? But honestly, guinea pigs require a lot of work for very little meat and they look like shit. If you want that piece of authentic Ecuador, go there on vacation.

A Flute Band: OK, I'm lying. On Friday nights they do have a band called Ecuador Manta, but they were actually quite good. The acoustic guitar seemed to steer most of the set we heard, and never once did they play Simon and Garfunkel's El Condor Pasa. If it wasn't heaven, at least it wasn't hell.

Ecuadorian Beer: Ecuador doesn't have great beer, and I don't want to pay $6 just to say I drank one in Minneapolis.  No, instead, Chimborazo turns to its Mexican cousins, offering up Negra Modelo. It was, burp, fantastico.

Fake Gringo Communists: There is nothing more annoying than upper-middle-class Americans who come back from Latin America wearing microfleece and open-toed sandals and parroting the refrigerator poetry of Che Guevara. They're also usually very loud in restaurants. We didn't see any of them at all.

I enthusiastically recommend Chimborazo.  On a scale of 1 to 4 fork tines, I give it a very solid 3.

Curtis says:

I'm going to make an honest effort to be brief.

Chimborazo serves fresh, robust, superbly prepared, delicious food. For me, the most impressive aspect was the precision of technique used in the diversity of dishes we ordered. Fried items like empanadas were crisp on the outside, not soggy, and moist and flavorful on the inside. Meats were tender and true to their flavor, not overly seasoned or masked. The llapingachos were mellow and comforting, and the ceviche was a wonderfully garden-fresh contrast to the other items on the menu.

The atmosphere is suited for an intimate date, a group outing, or a family night out. Service has been superb each time I've visited. Chimborazo has also recently started serving wine in addition to beer. You owe it to yourself to get here and enjoy the outstanding offerings. You won't be disappointed. 3 out of 4 tines.