Chimichanga, Port Solent
Chimichanga is the latest restaurant chain to emerge, this time with a Mexican theme.
Brought to you by Prezzo PLC, the people behind Ask, the Italian pizza chain, Chimichanga (which means meat-filled tortilla) aims to 'bring the heart of Mexico to your table' by offering an 'authentic menu, all dishes freshly prepared by the chef in your restaurant'.
Nine of these have now rolled out across the land, the designers going for Aztec statues, zigzag material on banquette seating and smart chairs.
The bar has Mexican beers and world wines, while Latino music helps the atmosphere along.
Those in charge of putting the menu together strayed outside Mexican boundaries for those visitors unsure of this type of cuisine.
You'll find potato skins, portobello mushrooms and buffalo chicken wings and Texan pasta alongside hackneyed Mexican dishes – jalapeno peppers with sour cream, fajitas, wraps, chipotle meatballs.
But really, the menu is very inauthentic, food mainly barbecue chicken; chargrilled sirloin mojo rojo (eh?) with beer-battered onion rings and chips. The burgers are wrapped in tortillas.
Judging by my two dishes, the chef merely heated stuff up and threw a flattened chicken breast on the chargrill. Was this 'freshly prepared'?
This is Tex-Mex, not Mex. I started with a Mexican spring roll which would have got short shrift in any self-respecting Chinese restaurant, let alone an authentic Mexican one.
All the chef had to do was to chuck three rolls with chicken, peppers and jack cheese in a deep-fat fryer, remove them, cut them diagonally and place them on a plate with some salsa tipped on to a lettuce leaf alongside some guacamole, the latter bearing little resemblance to that great avocado dip.
The dull, thick casing revealed merely a glutinous gloop not even brought to life by a bottle of Cholula hot sauce.
Maybe the second course, Santa Fe (capital of US New Mexico) chicken with black beans, chicken, rice and sour cream might win me over. The chicken was dry but edible thanks to its chargrill taste, but the rice dull and the beans straight from the tin with nothing added to them.
This heavy bowlful again didn't do justice to what Mexican food can really taste like.
Prices here aren't cheap – around 5 for a starter, 10 to 16 for a main course, with sides extra.
My bill was a whopping 20.65 for two highly mediocre courses and a pretty lousy glass of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, not including a tip.
I ended up feeling that Chimichanga is all looks but little substance.
Carol is a chef, former restaurateur and editor of Savour, the Guild of Food Writers magazine
Chimichanga, 24 Boardwalk, Port Solent, Portsmouth PO6 4TP
(023) 9238 4198
Open: Noon-11.30pm every day
Food: **
Service: ****
Atmosphere: ***
Disabled access: Good
How to get there: Follow the signs to Port Solent from the A27, park in the main car park and follow the Boardwalk around to find the restaurant.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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