It's Caliente!!!

One of the downsides of a board like LTH is, that in our exuberance to promote some of the great restaurants that we find, we often make them less accessible to ourselves. Thus is the case with TAC where I often find myself waiting for a table due the the grwing popularity of one of Chicago's finest Thai Restaurants.

Recently, disheartened by the wait, and seeking a quick and good meal, I was reminded of the attractive upscale Mexican Restaurant only a block down from TAC called Caliente. Many times, mostly after eating at TAC, I would stroll by, peruse their window menu and think to myself, "This place sounds interesting. I must try it some time."

Friday Night was that time. I had worked late putting together a package for my company's board of directors, and was a bit grumpy and tired. I wanted a great reward for a hard day's work and I wanted it quickly becayuse I dead tired. As I turned the corner from Irving Park to Sheridan, I could see the line on the sidewalk in front of TAC waiting to get in.

What a wonderful chance, I thought, to finally give that interesting menu at Caliente a try. So, after stopping for some mexican beer for BYOB, I headed to Caliente one block south of TAC on Sheridan..

I love hot food. But rather than just accepting fiery food, I like hot food with great flavor. TAC's Beef Kharee with roti is a perfect example of a fiery dish with great flavor, too.

Before ordering, I got a nice basket of really fresh, tasty chips and wonderful homemade salsa to start. They were devoured quickly and things were looking pronmising for Caliente.

The menu is quite interesting:

Appetizers include a trio of empanadas with sirloin and almonds, garlic chese potato and guava dulce; camarones borrachos, described on the menu as "vino blanco mojo marinated shrimp"; and Tamales de mi abuelita, a red chile and pork tamale.

After learning that the restaurant was out of tamales, I chose the Camarones Borrachos, four big plump jumbo sized shrimp served on a bed of fiery tomato sauce ($9).

How were they? Caliente!

Unfortunately, the sauce was so hot that one couldn't even taste the complexity of the ingredients that one could see in it. Tomatoes, onions, garlic and poblanos (I think). If the shrimp were marinated in white wine, sure couldn't tell because the sauce had all of my sensory tasting and smelling organs in overload.

The entree menu has some really interesting choice too. It includes:

Pipian de Pollo, Chicken in Chile Rojo with pumpkin seed mole; Puerco in Chile Verde con napoles, a slowly braised pork with cactus in Chile Verde;and Enchiladas de calbacita, enchiladas with baby zuchini, grilled portobello and queso in Chile Verde.

I went for the Puerco in Chile verde. I love the combination of slow braised pork and nopales. It seems like the kind of rustic dish that one would find in a small farming village on a celebratory occasion. When my plate arrived, it had an atractive and fragrant border of grated cinnamon. The shrimp were an aberration, I thought to myself.

The pork seemed to be cooked at a bit too high a temperature as the inner meat was a little dry. The flavor of the dish? It was Caliente!

Again, unfortunately, the heat of the Chile verde was so hot that one couldn't begin to taste the layering of flavors that this dish should have had based upon its description on the menu.

I really want to like this place. It's an attractive room and a menu that sounds interesting upon reading it. My experience wasn't awful so much as it was disappointing that the layers of flavors in the dishes served there can't be experienced because of the overpowering heat of the accompanying sauces.

I'll give Caliente a try again. Hopefully, next time, I'll find a more even hand in the kitchen with regard to the heat.

Caliente
3910 N. Sheridan
773-525-0129

Hi,

As a well known chili-adverse person and recognize your chili threshold is greater than mine. When I read your post, it scares the h*ll out of me. If you cannot handle their level of heat, then I would be in the next galaxy.

On your follow up visit, I would be interested to know if they will tone it down by request. Meanwhile, I hope this post doesn't morph its way into any of my dreams or should I say nightmares?

Thanks for the warning!

Regards,