179 Bannatyne Avenue
Tel: (204) 947-5434
Email: info@hermanos.ca
http://www.hermanos.ca/
March, 2011
For years, Gilroy’s sat in the middle of the Exchange District and threatened guests with a garlic assault and bad breath for the rest of the day. I love pasta and I love garlic even more. I put garlic in almost everything I make and it never fails to improve the taste. That leaves me with the question: how could I have hated everything I tried at Gilroy’s?
Unsurprisingly, Gilroy’s failed and A Taste of Sri Lanka occupied the space next. Sri Lankan cuisine reminded me very much of Indian cuisine; unfortunately, this restaurant offered no choice but to dine off the buffet, which sunburned all of its contents—contents which didn’t have much flavour to begin with. Along came Hermanos, which focuses on the exotic tastes of South America. The dark wood and brick atmosphere, combined with the Latino-inspired photographs adorning the walls, throw you into a yearning for Brazilian beef. So far, Hermanos sees success that neither of its predecessors could hope to achieve.
The first time I visited Hermanos, I tried the unlikely combination of crab and black bean stew, which spelled disaster in my mind. Black beans have a pungent and powerful taste that I expected to overwhelm the delicate crab. Hermanos happily proved me wrong and provided me with a ridiculous dish that had no earthly reason to taste so good—yet there it was. The only disaster lies in that Hermanos no longer offers this dish.
The lunch menu tempts you with a wide variety of goodies but the paella from the dinner menu almost jumps off the page, begging for me to try it. Alas, dinner doesn’t commence until 5 pm. Back to the lunch menu, a recurring theme implants the idea in my head that I must have something with black beans. I start with the Corn, Black Bean and Sausage Chowder. This clear soup boasts generous chunks of a dense sausage, with a consistency similar to smokies. The soup also bounds generously with vegetables, especially carrots—possibly too generously if you’re not a veg-head. As well, I taste a bit too much vinegar, making the soup a tad tart and acidic. While the soup teems with various ingredients, it lacks in black beans, which I expect to form the backbone of the broth. Pity. The dense side bread ideally sops up the leftover liquids; however, this isn’t the kind of soup where I would painstakingly mop up every last drop.
Hermanos follows the fad formula of having attractive 20-something servers in shortish skirts. Half the time, the formula yields flirty bar-babe bimbos but my server is quick, efficient and properly friendly. She suggests the Chivito as the most popular and palate-pleasing lunch serving. Who am I to argue?
I expect kettle chips to come fragile, crisp and crunchy but most of the chips come damp and some taste almost soggy. Skip the chips as the gargantuan sandwich should dominate your attention. Get ready for the ingredient list: provolone cheese, thick slices of beef, ham, bacon, boiled egg, romaine lettuce, hot peppers, and olives, all enveloped in slabs of bun. The mile-high monstrosity is much too thick to negotiate so I end up mangling the sandwich with knife and fork. I would love to try the entire combination of ingredients for the holistic impression of the product but unfortunately, I end up tasting the components discretely. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts but I can’t eat the whole so I can only describe the parts to you.
Beef with white cheese is a classic combination which originally attracted me to this dish, and as expected, the hefty slices of beef deliver a definite, pungent punch. This alone could have been the basis for a beautiful sandwich but the abundance of assorted other meats clouds the clarity of the beef. Firstly, there is too much ham and the associated salt content dominates the dish. Secondly, I believe that bacon complements almost everything and it always adds a welcome dimension. However, adding bacon to this sandwich’s already salt-laden stack can push your hypertension over the top. Reiterating, as a whole, the vegetables could have eased the saline content but as components, the fragmented ingredients taste polarised. If you can manage to distend your jaw and eat the sandwich whole, you might think about sticking a few slices of the kettle chips between the buns to add a facet of texture. For me, the last thing I want to do is make this sandwich even thicker!
Reading back on this review, I sound rather harsh about Hermanos’s food, and I don’t mean to be. My previous visits here left me with stratospheric expectations and I’m a little disappointed they didn’t meet those expectations. That isn’t to say that the food is not good—it’s great. I just expected it to be exceptional and it’s not quite there on this visit. Don’t let that stop you from visiting Hermanos. Add in the wine menu featuring a wide variety of South American wines and you’re assured a good afternoon or evening.
**** /5
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