Green Chile Kitchen

photo - Yelp, Katie M.

Green Chile Kitchen, Western Addition, Lunch
March 29, 2016

P:
NEW MEXICAN HOMESTYLE ENCHILADA
layered corn tortillas, jack cheese, chile, crema, rice & beans

SALSAS & CHIPS

roasted tomato, tomatillo avocado, citrus habanero & pico de gallo

AGUA FRESCA, watermelon

J:

GREEN CHILE STEW

chicken, crema & blue corn tortilla

GREEN CHILE LEMONADE


Notes:

We pass by a place called Chile Pies Baking Co. on a near regular basis.  It sits where Green Chile Kitchen once did, but the Kitchen moved up the hill (on a different corner of the same block) several years ago.  They're sister restaurants, with some crossover on their menus but generally very different, Southwest flavors being the common thread.  I've been wanting to try the Chile Pies place forever; you can only drive by a big neon "PIE" sign so many times.

On this particular afternoon, we parked close to Chile Pies, checked it out first, then walked up to Green Chile Kitchen and settled on that instead - I was looking for something more substantial than baked goods.  After perusing the lengthy menu, we both opted for the New Mexican Homestyle Enchilada.  So I ordered the Green Chile Stew (gotta try MORE!).  Patrick, appealing to my snack needs, ordered some chips to share.

The chips and salsa were very tasty - the four salsas, all delicious.  I had trouble picking a favorite, but I always tend to lean green; Patrick's fave was the citrus habanero.  The portion of chips seemed paltry, if we had any criticism, but in hindsight it was appropriate given the amount of food we had coming.

Patrick's plate looked fantastic - I have a real affection for this kind of food - such beautiful colors!  A stacked chicken enchilada smothered with green sauce and ribbons of sour cream was accompanied by plump grains of Spanish-style rice, refried beans, and a little pile of shredded romaine lettuce topped with pico de gallo.  It wasn't as perfect as it looked, but it was very good.  The enchilada was flavorful, but the corn tortillas inside, oily and tough.  The rice was tasty but butter overpowered some of the flavors.  And the beans, though delicious, didn't satisfy in the same way as those probably made with way more lard - if these even used lard at all (gasp!).

Mine was a little underwhelming.  The "stew" more closely resembled a straight-up bowl of roasted green chilies, in a little broth, with a few wayward pieces of tomato and corn kernels and some chopped rotisserie chicken on top.  Pretty unexciting, but no judgment, maybe the flavor would change everything.  Nope.  It tasted just as it looked.  It was fine, but it wasn't what it should have been.  I can say that, not because I know anything about green chile stew, but because I know something about cooking, and this dish didn't have anything going on; it felt as if no effort had been made.

The beverages were great; the agua fresca wasn't too sweet and neither was the green chile lemonade, and that touch of green chile spice was oh, so nice.

I was a little bummed that I steered us away from Chile Pie Baking Co.  It's not that Green Chile Kitchen was so bad, it just wasn't that good, especially for the price.  But we want to give it another shot, and we'll eventually try Chile Pies, too.