Sunday, October 9, 2011

Fire on the Mountain (Part 2)

(Original Review -- May 2011 Burnside location)
(Separate Review -- January 2012 Fremont location)

I returned to Fire on the Mountain a couple weeks ago, basically because I craved El Jefe wings, which I knew would incinerate my mouth.


But while there, for the sake of a better FOTM review, I sampled their other sauces before diving into El Jefe pain.



Menu (as of September 2011)

Their wing sauces
Sauces pictured are in the same order as the descriptions above
(so the mild is the bottom left corner, El Jefe in the top right, etc.)
You can take home some of these sauces with you as well!
I tried several of their sauces, including:

Raspberry Habanero: A favorite here. The berry fruitiness really comes through, and the habanero heat is controlled nicely.

Spicy Peanut: Probably my second favorite. The nuttiness and the spice combine for a heavenly experience.

Jamaican Jerk: A bunch of herbs in this one give it a green color, not the first color that comes to mind when I think wing sauce. Not bad, but I probably won't get this too often.

Buffalo Lime Cilantro: Buffalo sauce apparently meets Mexican influences, resurfacing with an identity that could be popular all over the country. Very good stuff here.

Bourbon Chipotle: Not bad, although I didn't catch too much bourbon. But perhaps it's because I only had a small sample -- as opposed to having a heavy coat of it on the wings.

So it was time for El Jefe. Having eaten a short time before, I just ordered six wings this time ($5.95). After a few minutes of waiting, the wings came out absolutely caked in El Jefe sauce. So thankful I wasn't doing their El Jefe challenge that day.

Speaking of the El Jefe Challenge, the rules have changed in the last few weeks. The current challenge is to eat 15 El Jefe wings in seven minutes (or faster). However, if you can eat 15 in five minutes (or faster) while only getting one napkin and one drink, you win a free T-shirt (but still have to pay for the wings).

(NOTE: In 2012, I remember seeing that the challenge had gotten harder: 15 wings in three and a half minutes. Holy crap, that's fast...)

Their Wall of Flame
These guys are insane. Fifty wings? Forty-eight? WTF?
My friend made it to the wall when the challenge was still 12 wings
(As you can see, he ate 13. Major props dude, it's more than what I could ever do.)
There are wings in there somewhere
Intimidating, isn't it?
Just like last time, I dove in like an idiot, going fast and furious. The first couple of wings went down pretty easy, but the last two or three were hellacious. The El Jefe sauce left spice burns on my lips and everywhere near my mouth. Only when I stopped devouring the wings (took maybe a couple minutes) did the El Jefe sauce put a stranglehold on my mouth and stomach. Yeah, I wasn't feeling very well afterward. But some dairy (I went with yogurt) and a generous amount of water extinguished those flames.

A big step for me, considering I tapped after three wings last time. And it's probably the closest I'll get to beating the challenge. I don't need my picture on their wall, but the bottom line is I know where to get my spicy fix. The wings were perfectly cooked, and El Jefe obviously brings that major heat. Gotta respect them for that.

Details are a bit hazy (since I tore through the wings pretty fast), but I swear there could have been a seventh wing in my order. Whatever the case, it's still more than what I did last year.

Will I try the challenge again? Probably not. I already attempted it when the challenge was "easier" and failed. You never know, though. I might just go even more insane one day and try again.

Besides, I can't forget about FOTM's other menu items. They have an impressive menu of sandwiches, salads, burgers, (non-El Jefe) wings, and decadent/sinful bar desserts such as fried Twinkies and fried Nutter Butters. This is a place that I admit I underrated last time. I failed to do more research about the place, and I was an idiot to not look at their other menu items. But hey, my other FOTM review was one of my first...hopefully people cut me some slack there.

In the daytime -- more my time to go out and explore -- this place has an inviting atmosphere and friendly staff. So whether you want to set your mouth ablaze or try one of their many unique sauces, Fire on the Mountain is a great place to go. You can go to one (or both) of their Portland locations: Burnside or Interstate. And they are opening up a third location very soon! Check FOTM's Twitter and Facebook pages for updates on that! 8.25/10

No comments:

Post a Comment