On Saturday and on Wednesday I ate at the Blue Iguana Restaurant in Salt Lake City (175 S. West Temple, in the alley back behind the parking plaza at 165 S. West Temple). Saturday I TRIED to get my out-of-state friend Chris to try one of their moles, but he got a very loudly sizzling fajita platter instead. On Wednesday I made a discovery that I simply MUST share:
You can get a sampler saucer with a dollop of each of their six mole sauces for FREE.
I LOVE THAT. Now anytime I eat there with someone unfamiliar with the cuisine, they don’t need to take any huge risks.
I plowed through the saucer with whatever the spanish word is for “aplomb.” The coloradito and poblano were sweet, with the coloradito being just a touch sweeter. The negro (the one with the most chocolate in it) was less sweet, because cocoa is naturally bitter. The amarillo was less sweet still, and fiery thanks to the habaneros. The verde and the one whose name I’ve forgotten (Voldemole? Moledemort?) were about as tasty as a light gravy, and were therefore crossed off of my list of possible ordering options.
I got the poblano. It had a touch of the chocolate that makes the negro so tasty, but wasn’t noticably bitter.
We ALSO got the stuffed jalapenos. These were NOT the “TGI Friday deep-fried appetizer” thingies. These were more like chiles relleno, only done with jalapenos, and with all the seeds left inside them. Holy wow… they were gently spicy (but I’ve been doing hot food lately, so I’d say they’re probably going to burn a hole in the roof of the average Norteamericano’s mouth) and smothered in a cheesy red sauce.
The only shortcoming… the dessert menu. The fried ice-cream is very ordinary, and the flan was blah. That’s okay. If you do the jalapenos and a good mole, you’ll not need to top off the tummy with sweets.
So… if you go to the Blue Iguana (and if you live in the Salt Lake area, or are visiting it, I suggest that you DO) be absofreakinlutely sure to get that saucer of mole samples. And bear in mind that if you like ’em, they can put that sauce on ANYTHING on the menu. An amarillo-smothered carne asada burrito is a thing to behold.
–Howard
Damn, Howard, that sounds good.
The best place to eat around here is an old KFC whos buffet constantly runs out of biscuts.
How did you find that place? It sounds excellent.
A bunch of us went out to eat there one evening two years ago. I went back last year with a small group, and vowed to return any time I can.
–Howard
Sniff
I didn’t get to the Blue Iguana this trip. We ended up at Cafe Pierpont instead, which is fine, but I like Blue Iguana better.
Voldemole? Moledemort?
lol, are you sure it wasn’t “The-Sauce-that-must-not-be-named”?
‘Whatever the spanish word is for “aplomb”‘ – Chalain was reading over my shoulder and said “gusto” just in case you were really curious.
Any chance that the Blue Iguana bottles and sells their moles? They all sound great but Utah is way way too far away. Perhaps I should mention this to and get him to stop in on his way cross country April 5 – whenever.
They have a website, complete with a phone number. You can ask them yourself. I didn’t SEE any, but I was up to my eyeballs in the moles I’d just finished.
–Howard