The Great Guac Hunt: Tres Agaves

I know, I know. Mexican food is not exactly diet food. But there’s work to be done, here. And as it turns out, guac is not that point-intensive in Weight Watchers, so a-guac-ing I will go.

This third installment of the Great Guac Hunt took us to a relative newcomer, the SOMA hipster magnet Tres Agaves. I came into this with a healthy dose of skepticism, having heard very little good about the food. But I’m an open-minded kind of guy, and am willing to subject my insides to all manner of punishment in the pursuit of culinary adventures. I’m doing this for the greater good, people!

My guest judge this week is our smart, charming and very lovely friend Leyla. Leyla and her other half eat out a lot (I’ll demur to say why), so she’s as canny a candidate for this venture as anyone I know. Let’s get to it.

Size
Leyla: 6 — $8 seems steep for guac, no matter how much you get.  But the bowl was good sized and plenty for 3 of us (although if we’d liked it more, that may not have been true).
Sean: 5 — The serving was not insubstantial, and we didn’t come close to finishing it (though I suspect there were other reasons for that). Still, yes, eight bucks is a lot for, what, two avocados and a spoonful of salsa.

Consistency
Leyla: 4 — Oily.  Not sure how, but it seemed coated in oil somehow.  And it was super smooth except for the intermittent big chunks – which made the chips break.

Sean: 4 — OK, I like the combination of smooth and chunky in my guacamole. As you may have noticed in the previous two reviews, it’s the one thing I called out about the others. But I would prefer to have small chunks in a creamy base, not inch-square boulders of the stuff in a pasty base. Major eatability problem: You couldn’t get it on the chip.

Whole Avocado
Leyla: 4 — Meh.

Sean: 7 — I actually like the space and the atmosphere (even if it is a tad loud). I also liked the beans, rice and tortillas that were brought with our entrees — a nice touch. Plus, our waitress was really adorable and quite professional. I could see going back to the bar for a margarita. But the food was just good, not great, rather lacking in flavor except the refried beans, and that’s because they had chorizo in them. And the chips were stale. What’s up with that?

Overall Taste
Leyla: 4 — Uninteresting. No real tang of citrus, no spice to speak of, no discernible garlic or cilantro.  Bland.

Sean: 5 — The guac tasted like avo and nothing else. The barest hint of citrus, not enough salt, no garlic or onion. No crunch, no contrast. I found it most palatable in taco form on a tortilla with some of the condiments. It’s a team player, not a star.

Final Rating
Leyla: 4.50
Sean: 5.25

The entire meal left us wishing we were in the Mission. Lesson learned.

Tres Agaves
130 Townsend St (at Second)