London Burrito

ALL CHANGE!

2010-01-17T14:58:00.000-08:00

This blog has now moved to LONDONBURRITO.com

The 2009 archive will remain on this page. All new posts will be published to:
http://www.londonburrito.com/blog.php

I hope that the new site will gradually evolve into a better resource to help satisfy the burrito cravings of Londoners!

See you on the other side...

Barburrito Expansion

2010-01-09T05:39:00.000-08:00

It's not just London that's experiencing a boom in UK mexican food openings of late. The north-west based Barburrito chain is about to open it's 4th restaurant (and it's 3rd in Greater Manchester) at Deansgate in Manchester.

This is due to be followed by a further Manchester unit at Oxford Road and expansion to Leeds and Birmingham later in the year.

Street Food | Behind the Scenes

2010-01-05T12:47:00.000-08:00

Behind the Scenes with Daddy Donkey

A great Daddy Donkey Pictorial by kangphoto.com. Probably the best street food in London.

San Francisco

2010-01-05T12:39:00.000-08:00

I've been out in Oakland, California for the past few weeks and will be heading back to freezing London shortly. Got a chance to head in to San Francisco a few times to grab some burritos.

Chipotle | New Montgomery St - Wanted to check out this big chain again as they'll be opening up in London soon. Pretty decent burrito which was nice and spicy. I like the smoked Tabasco but I don't think that is available back home.

Casa Mexicana | Church St - This place is just off Market Street at Upper Market nr Castro. The restaurant itself was real nice with fantastic photograph tiles on the wall. Didn't like the burrito too much though. It was good (I guess) but not the best.

Orale, Orale | Sacramento St - Supposedly the best mexican downtown. I went there twice with some friends and thought it was pretty good. It is both a waiter service sit-down place and a take away. The Burrito Supremo is pretty huge and fairly good. I'll give this place a 7/10. My friends rated it higher.

New Wahaca

2009-12-12T16:36:00.000-08:00

The latest Wahaca to open is this nice looking place in Canary Wharf. I have not been to this one, but I was in the area trying out some night photography when I snapped this shot.

Kick-Ass Food

2009-12-12T16:19:00.000-08:00

Yes, this really is the daddy of all London burritos! This past Friday was my second visit to Daddy Donkey (the first one was eaten at a bus stop in the pouring rain!) and boy was it good. Seeing a double-meat option I went for it and that did me good for the rest of the day - I didn't eat again until the next morning!

Waiting in line behind about 30 people was well worth it. The £7.50 loaded burrito was tasty and really was one of the best taste experiences I've had in London (and California) this year. I was impressed with Daddy Donkey the first time, even more impressed the second time. This is good, very very good!

My "kick-ass" burrito can be seen below in all it's glory... double-chicken, extra-hot salsa and guac.

Class Photo!

2009-12-12T16:06:00.000-08:00

Back in September I headed over to Chilango in Islington to (try to!) learn how to (badly!) make some tortillas. The photographs from that day are now live on their Flickr photostream. Thanks again guys!

Convenience Factor

2009-12-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

Tried out the new Tortilla at Canary Wharf a couple weeks back, which is conveniently located in the DLR station concourse. With such a convenience factor I will be popping back when I'm next over in the Docklands. The food on the day I visited was pretty good, not the best but good. Loving the Nando's style Cholula bottles!

Chipotle UK

2009-11-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

US burrito giant Chipotle is coming to London! The location of the first restaurant will be 114-116 Charing Cross Road and it is due to open in April 2010.

Mighty Meaty

2009-11-14T16:53:00.000-08:00

Got a chance to try out Poncho No8 on Friday. I had my burrito to go and it was raining so the actual eating experience wasn't as great as it could have been. The burrito? Pretty damn good. Could have been a little more hot salsa but the flavour was good and it had a nice 'kick'.

The best thing though was the filling. This was a proper CHICKEN burrito! No messing about with Nineteen-Ten size portions of meat. Let down by smaller amounts of rice and beans but meat wise, this is how it should be done. The prize for amount of meat is now shared between Poncho and Daddy D.

This place is up there on quality. They're pretty new so things can (hopefuly) only get better.

I will be back.

Two New Tortillas

2009-11-13T03:35:00.000-08:00

Two new Tortillas are opening in London at Oxford Circus and Canary Wharf.

Totilla Oxford Circus - opening late November 2009

6 Market Place (off Oxford Street), London, W1W 8AH

Tortilla Canary Wharf - opening early December 2009

18 North Colonnade, DLR Concourse, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4EU

Here's a short news item from the East London Advertiser.

Westfield Warmer

2009-11-06T16:31:00.000-08:00

Work took me to chilly Kensington this last Thursday and I ended up skipping lunch. After the meeting I tool the opportunity to jump a train to Shepherd's Bush for a late afternoon burrito at Nineteen-Ten.

When I last visited the Westfield outlet earlier in the year I wasn't very impressed. It was ok but the burrito was too small and the hot salsa was anything but! It got a 5/10 from me ... but only just!

The good news is things have improved as I enjoyed perfectly acceptable meal. It's still a little too small though and it would be nice if they could be a little more generous with the fillings. The quality and taste was there however and for that reason I'll give it a 6/10 this time round. Let's hope they keep getting better!

I must add a comment about the Apple and Raspberry juice. That was great!

If you're in Westfield London definately do check them out, but there are better options in town.

Yorkshire Burrito

2009-11-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

Chilango have expanded out of London with the recent opening of a third restaurant. It is located inside the Meadowhall shopping mall in Sheffield.

More details straight from the ~~horse's~~ donkey's mouth on the Chilango Blog.

Saturday Lunch

2009-10-17T16:58:00.000-07:00

I had a quick Saturday lunch at Tortilla on Southwark Street yesterday. On this occasion the burrito wasn't brilliant, but then it wasn't bad either.

And with that, my three week burrito famine is over...!

Weekdays Only :-(

2009-10-17T06:03:00.000-07:00

I walked past newly opened Poncho No.8 last Sunday only to find that (like quite a few of London's burrito places on a weekend) it was shut! According to a recent post on their blog ¿Que Pasa?, the restaurant is only open on Mondays to Fridays between 11:30am and 5pm at present. It suggests that these hours may expand in the future so fingers crossed. Could do with some more weekend choices.

Merry Hill Burritos

2009-10-17T05:53:00.000-07:00

WEST MIDLANDS: Nineteen-Ten are due to open their second outlet (and first outside of London) at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre this coming Thursday, October 22nd. Their existing outlet is in Westfield London and while they are by no means the best of the London bunch, this new arrival will at least bring a little piece of Burrito goodness to the Birmingham area.

Tortilla Class

2009-10-17T05:43:00.000-07:00

A belated thank you to the guys at Chilango for inviting me to the "Tortilla Class" at Upper Street a few weeks back. Having a look around the kitchen was cool and being taught how to make Tortillas by Angeles Ayala couldn't have been any more different to my average Friday. Thanks guys!

Poncho No8

2009-09-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

Another new opening...

More and more choice is on the menu as yet another London burrito place is due to open its doors on Tuesday, September 29th.

Going by the name of Poncho No8 - Gourmet Burrito Kitchen, this new establishment is located on Steward St near Old Spitalfield's Market and not too far from Liverpool Street Station. A fresh looking website is already up and running as they also have a blog.

The menu looks fairly typical of what we've come to expect in London with the usual choices but nothing overly unusual. The barbacoa looks like it could be good.

I'll be checking them out when I get a chance.

Buy a burrito and get some free nachos until October 16th with the below voucher.

New Opening

2009-08-31T04:22:00.000-07:00

London's newest burrito place has opened up in Clerkenwell. Burrito Bros is located at 17 Clerkenwell Road and seems to be open on weekdays only. A couple of web reviews have suggested that it's not all that but I will reserve judgement until I get to try them out.

Walked past there yesterday and grabbed this snap.

Chilango | Upper St

2009-08-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

A late lunch today at Chilango in Angel, Islington.

Very much up to standard and I do like their hot salsa, it's quality. Enjoyable burrito that gets a well deserved 8/10. If only it had been a little bigger it would have scraped a 9. I'm pretty sure there were different sizes available when it was called Mucho Mas.

I like this branch of Chilango. Consistently good and generally better than the Fleet St branch.

London Burrito Flickr Group

2009-08-30T03:26:00.000-07:00

New Flickr group for photos of anything burrito related in London and the UK.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/londonburrito/

Ratings

2009-08-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

Quick Starter - Where I'm At

A quick post to rate the burrito places I've been to in London so far...

Daddy Donkey ... 9/10
Chilango (Islington and City) ... 7/10
Tortilla (Bankside) ... 7/10
Benito's Hat (Goodge Street) ... 7/10
Nineteen-Ten (Westfield) ... 5/10
Wahaca (Covent Garden) ... 3/10
Whole Foods Market (Kensington) ... 0/10 - yes, it really was that bad :-(

And outside of London...

Barburrito (Liverpool) ... 4/10

That's where I'm at so far. More later...

Burritos and Tacos in London

2009-08-29T15:44:00.000-07:00

First Post - London Burrito Blog

My search to find the best burritos in London and around the UK.

With new restaurant openings and the apparent imminent arrival of Chipotle, the chances of enjoying a good burrito in London are improving.

I became a huge burrito fan during regular trips to California. Wondering if I could satisfy my burrito cravings back in England I began researching places in London. I visited Mucho Mas (since renamed Chilango) in Islington in January 2009 and have been munching on good, mediocre and bad burritos almost weekly ever since.

I'm starting this blog to follow my ongoing mission to find the best burrito in London and the UK.

Here's a recent story from Time Out London to kick off...