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Ban Cilantro (or: a Brief Review of Boston's Sports Bar)

Tonight Kim and I ate at this new restaurant called Boston’s Sports Bar and Grill.  We were eyeing up their BBQ Chicken Pizza but it had cilantro on it, and we couldn’t figure out what that was.  I thought it was somehow like parsley, but wasn’t really sure.

I asked the waitress, and she said that it was, in fact, parsley, and she even said "you can’t really taste it."  So we got the pizza with the cilantro, and while it’s similar in appearance to parsley, that’s where the similarities end.  The taste is very strong, which sucks because its taste is the taste of soap.  After a few bites of it I realized where I’d tasted that before: in certain salsas.  In fact whenever I buy salsa I buy ChiChi’s brand because Tostitos’ salsa tastes like soap; it’s all so clear now that I know why.

So I vote that we ban cilantro.  Admittedly, it’s not quite the most offensive food known to man -- a distinction which I reserve for gorgonzola cheese -- but it’s pretty nasty.

The pizza itself was pretty good, but the crust was entirely tasteless.  It was strange; they’re all about their "gourmet" pizzas but the crust was not unlike cardboard.  The other strange thing was the french onion soup that I got as an appetizer: the cheese on it was some of the best french-onion-soup cheese I’ve ever had, but in the soup itself, in addition to there being the normal onions, there were soggy breaded onion rings.  Normally french onion soup has bread or croutons in it, and they get soggy and it’s all good.  But the soggy onion rings were just nasty.

Posted by Anthony on Mar 31, 2006 | 9 replies
Filed under: Food, Restaurants

Comments:

01. Mar 31, 2006 at 09:01am by Mom:

Thanks Anthony for giving me something to laugh out loud about.  Not your comments on cilantro but the link to supporting the ban on cilantro.  I haven’t had any happiness days since Feb. 14th other than the days I’m blessed to watch Emma so this was special.  I agree that the taste is quite shocking when you unexpectedly encounter this herb.  Chefs and cooks should know this and use it very sparingly.  Those serving dishes that include cilantro should also be aware of the flavor and explain that to unsuspecting patrons.  Then again, there is your brother Rolly and his lovely bride who rather enjoy the robust accent it adds to his awesome salsa.

Thanks again for brightening my day.  Lvu

02. Mar 31, 2006 at 11:05am by Anthony:

Ah, I see.  I think I’ve always been reluctant to try Rolly’s salsa because (from what I remember last time I saw it) it seemed to have lots more onions than the salsas that I eat, and I don’t really like raw onions.  But it turns out it was just the cilantro sending me subliminal "don’t try me" messages.

03. Mar 31, 2006 at 03:11pm by Tasha Moyer:

Hmmm...
Get your stuff out of my basement and I never want to see you again!
I love love LOVE cilantro! It is seriously one of my top 10 FOODS, not just herbs.
Just because you only like meat and potatoes does not mean we should all have to suffer!
Freak!

04. Mar 31, 2006 at 03:24pm by Kev:

<OKtimeToChimeIn>
’Soapy’ is exactly the way I have described this herb for many years. I encountered it at Taco Bell on one of their ’for a limited time’ type tacos. My wife, although says it tastes soapy also, claims it is, and I quote directly - "refreshing"...
</OKtimeToChimeIn>

05. Mar 31, 2006 at 03:24pm by Anthony:

Right, you like eating soap, and I’m the freak.

06. Apr 1, 2006 at 08:47am by Rolly:

Wow, soap?  That’s crazy talk!

07. Apr 1, 2006 at 07:16pm by Patrick Copland:

I first had cilantro in some fresh salsa when I arrived in California at a friends house.  I absolutely loved it!  Maybe it depends on your first experience with it.

This salsa was sooo good!  Now I rinse a couple of stalks of it and shred it on any Mexican or Tai dish.  I am thinking of planting it so I can always have some fresh cilantro.

Try the Tai dish called "rama beef" with lots of cilantro on it.  I tell you, I can’t get enough!  Teen Girl Squad recommends it with any pan asian cuisine!

Please don’t take away my cilantro!

08. Apr 5, 2006 at 08:41pm by Maria:

Is that a real website of real cilantro haters?

09. Mar 22, 2008 at 03:50pm by Jill:

OMG Cilantro is so nasty, thank God for sites like yours and BanCilantro.com that get the word out, I’m really sick of chefs putting it in foods, when many people hate it.

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