FFWD Weekly
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Food by Beth Weisberg "Salt is the policeman of taste," claimed Malcolm de Chazal in Sens-Plastique. "It keeps the various flavours of a dish in order and restrains the stronger from tyrannizing over the weaker." Well, good cop bad cop. Salt can do the things de Chazal says, or it can go overboard, lose restraint and kill all other tastes. My friends and I have eaten at the Salt and Pepper Mexican Restaurant before, at their Macleod Trail South location. The food was good, so when we noticed another branch on Bowness Road, we stopped in. The 30-odd indoor seats were nearly packed, and this on a weekday. Good sign. The guy at the next table asks for a Guinness. "We don’t have that," says the waiter. "What are tacos?" the guy asks. Bad sign. It’s a pretty fiesta-ish place, with spangled black velvet sombreros hanging on the bright orange walls, lots of families whooping it up, and a fairly steady flow out to the patio. Genuine Mexican dishes, such as red snapper à la Veracruzana and enchiladas with mole sauce – as opposed to Mexi-fries fare – are what make up most of the menu. We started with sopa Azteca ($3.50), described as a chicken consommé with tortilla strips, chicken, avocado and cheese. The consommé is cloudy, the tortilla strips soft, the chicken tender but not so flavourful, the avocado ripe and creamy. It’s not outstanding, but it’s all right. The crumbled fresh white cheese, though, is so small an amount it’s like mentioning the parsley garnish that comes with a steak. The first bite of the chorizo con queso (Mexican sausage with melted cheese topping, $5.95) is a cumin-y mouthful. Then – wham! The salt is overwhelming. Our drinks – salt-rimmed margaritas ($4.95) – have dried up, as has our water, and there’s no sign of refills. Our entrées arrive. The chilaquiles ($11.95) are written up on the menu as Mexican lasagna: layers of tortilla, cheese, chicken, salsa and sour cream. What it really resembles is a stack of tortillas with the occasional piece of chicken, which is generally indistinguishable texturally or taste-wise from the corn. There’s a topping of sour cream and cheese, and the salsa is a sweet/salty tomato sauce that holds little appeal. The only relief from this flavour is the side dishes, but the salt intake has built to such a peak that even a confirmed salt lover like me can’t manage them. Refried beans – salty. Mexican rice – so salty that three forkfuls is my limit. Two slices of the radish garnish provide some relief. There are still no water refills in sight. My friend tries the pan-fried sole with butter and cilantro ($11.95). Sounds delicious. There’s the rice, the beans and the salt, but strangely, no cilantro. Instead, the sauce’s flavour seems composed entirely of salt, butter and lemon. The fish would be nice if it weren’t so salty. We’re so disappointed we don’t attempt dessert. Choices include crème caramel, Aztec chocolate cake or an apple tart. Our meal was quite a different experience from the one we enjoyed at the south location, and we hope that the Salt and Pepper Mexican Restaurant (6515 Bowness Road N.W., phone 247-4402) was just having an overly enthusiastic day with the salt shaker. The bright orange restaurant could be a fun landmark in this part of town if the cooking shapes up and the water flows more freely.

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