Amsterdam Ale House in New York City - MAINLAND EDITION

It was our last night in the city AND our last night of the trip.  To say we were exhausted by this point was an understatement.  This did not stop us from finding nachos nearby to complete our goal of a #nachoblog in every city.  We found a place online that said the nachos would change your life.  It was a short walk, just a couple city blocks away.  We arrived to the Amsterdam Ale House and it looked pretty rad.  We got sat at a two top in between the larger tables and the bar seats.  Everyone who walked by had to avoid us.  It felt awkward, like we were in the way.  We ordered the nachos and macaroni and cheese bites.  When the nachos arrived, they did not look life changing and in fact nothing about the nachos changed either of our lives.  The segregation of toppings was against all that makes good nachos good.  I thought perhaps they brought us a side of marinara sauce instead of salsa because it tasted like it should go on pasta.  The only way to save the nachos was to add a macaroni and cheese bite to the chip.  Real cheese is great, but without proper layering with the toppings, when you pull one chip all the cheese comes with it and you are left with boring cheeseless chips.

 

Deep Dish Nachos $12.95 - cheddar, guac, salsa, jalapenos, sour cream

 

Shananigans (3) - PRESENTATION: Baked with real cheese.  Are those black beans?  Guac looks fresh.  I don't like our table location at all.  Feels like we are in the way of the restaurant.  RAD: Generous portions of sour cream and guac.  We ordered mac n cheese bites too.  LAME: Cobb style with a topping pile here and a topping pile there.  Not a fan.  Spread the wealth.  Real cheese steals the cheese from other chips and leaves them embarrassed and naked. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3, so many empty chips, some just smothered in sour cream and guac.  You can do so much better.  When you have to peel the cheese off the plate, no bueno.

 

Brandy (2.5) - PRESENTATION: Looks really good with a lot of cheese and the nachos are baked. RAD: Nachos were baked so the chips were really crispy. LAME: Forgot the black beans we ordered.  Not enough cheese.  TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 2.5, cheese only on the top chips.  So many chips only had sour cream or nothing at all.  I felt like I was eating plain chips most of the time.