Being the whore that I am for Portland food publications, it was only a matter of time before I made my way to Super Torta to try their famed pastrami quesadilla. Yes, thats right, pastrami quesadilla! As in a huge folded flour tortilla stuffed with melted gooey cheddar, cheap peppery pastrami, spicy green chilies and buttery avocado. Sound like too much? Well, unfortunately it was. The combination of flavors ended up tasting somewhat similarly to a spicy memphis bbq sauce, which was not at all what I had expected. I wanted the ingredients to stand out, with each one bringing out the best in the next. The smoky pastrami should have complimented the sharp cheddar cheese and the spicy chilies should have complimented the smooth avo, alas, i received Stubbs bbq sauce in a tortilla. The poor quality of the pastrami was by far the biggest culprit in this fusion failure (too much hot dog flavor too little briny, smokey goodness), but hey it's a mexican joint, not Kenny and Zukes. Some good quality, thinly sliced pastrami would have fixed this dish right up by preventing the strange bbq flavors and adding much needed texture. Oh well.
All the aforementioned considered, it was 5.50 for a huge amount of greasy hangover food that left me with a full stomach, sticky fingers, and a yearning for what could have been.
Great idea. Poor execution. -- Brent.
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