Barburrito Burrito Review

It has been a long time since I had a burrito let alone write up a review, so today looking for a lunch time option and wanting something substantial and filling I headed in search of a tasty burrito.

I headed to Barburrito which opened up a new store a few minutes walk from work a few months ago and I haven't had a chance to check it out mainly due to trying to stick to a healthy diet while marathon training. 

Having never tried Barburrito I was interested to see where they ranked in the burrito pyramid of excellence, near the top with the burrito kings of Daddy Donkey, chipotle and Tortilla or along with the mass ranks of average burrito providers.

Today I was kind of in the mood for something a bit plainer and probably chicken based but the pulled pork option soon grabbed my attention as I walked in!

My burrito ingredients today were:

Tomato rice
Mild beans
Pulled pork
Roasted onions and peppers
Medium 'ranchero' salsa dressing
Guacamole 
Lettuce
Cheese (I didn't ask for it but still got it!)
Sour Cream

So to review my burrito: 


The actual tortilla wrap: Pretty poor, doughy, quite chewy, no flavour, disappointing. 
Tomato rice: OK, not a great consistency and no real flavour. 
Mild beans: I love my beans and these were pretty good, they gave good consistency and texture and added a good nutty type flavour.
Pulled pork: Nice, not particularly authentic as such but tasty and meaty. But Barburrito are stingy with their meat portions! Might have been a one off but wasn't very impressed with the small little scoop of meat I received!
Roasted onions and peppers: Good and a nice option as not everywhere offers this vegetable option, again added plenty of flavour and a nice bit of crunch to the burrito. 
Medium 'ranchero' salsa dressing: hmmm, not sure, a bit smoky and very tomatoy and was perhaps a little overpowering. 
Guacamole: 75p for some guacamole was decent but I forgot I ordered any as it didn't really taste of anything and again there was not very much of it! 
Lettuce: Nice lettuce, fresh and crunchy but come on you don't have a burrito to have some nice lettuce?!
Cheese (I didn't ask for it but still got it!): No idea, didn't taste it and didn't notice it at all. 
Sour Cream: Another highlight, cool and soft proper sour cream adding coolness. 

Overall rating: Pretty disappointing,  found the burrito to be a bit on the small side and I as I mentioned they were not very generous with their portion sizes. The individual ingredients all seemed to be of decent enough quality but altogether it just didn't work. As I have already said the salsa was a bit overpowering and there were too many poor parts to it especially the tortilla which was very poor. Things could have been different if I had had a more generous meat portion, will have to see next time, if I give them a next time that is. 

Barburrito experience: Mixed reviews on my experience of Barburrito as a chain. I liked the actual restaurant as it had plenty of seating and was a better restaurant set up than many of its rival chains. However the staff weren't great and didn't have any of the South american charisma you usually associate with staff in burrito places irrespective of their actual background. The other big problem was that they got my burrito wrong, on the last stage I asked for sour cream and lettuce but ended up with cheese as well! Big no no! I cant remember ever having an incorrect burrito before as it just doesn't happen so this is a massive disappointment. The other thing I didn't like was the upselling, too many offering of meal deals, drinks and extras, people especially in the city know what they want and don't want to be hassled to this extreme and it did ruin the experience. 

Rating: I have struggled to think of a rating as I never want to score too low, but I cant give it anymore than 3/10, it was however more than edible but it wasn't filling and it wasn't satisfying or tasty. 

Very disappointing, I will have to go for another burrito soon to get a better experience than what I had today so stay tuned for my next review coming soon!

Bank Holiday Weekend Barbecue

A bank holiday weekend, is there much anything much better to do than a barbecue?! 

For the first time I decided to make my own burgers with a bit of assistance from a recipe from a chef called Jamie Oliver, not sure maybe some you will have heard of him he's quite good.

The recipe I used can be found here

I used it fairly loosely and made some burgers with and without mustard, to be fair there wasn't much difference in taste just colour, appearance and texture as the mustard ones were lighter in colour and slightly softer due to the added moisture.

So if you love a barbecue or are looking forward to having one this summer feast your eyes on the following documentation of my burger making process and subsequent barbecue. 

Carnivores beware you will be licking you lips in anticipation by the time you get towards the end! 

First step; finely chop some onions and lightly fry, for my first batch I used a normal onion but for take two I used a red onion and I think a regular probably worked best.

The onions were fried in some cumin as well to add a little extra flavour and kick which I think worked really well.

Next finely chop some flat head parsley, I tried to take a lot of care and attention in my fine chopping of both the onions and parsley and think it is definitely worth doing this so you get nice small pieces distributed throughout your burgers.

Time to start mixing up the ingredients, this is the mince mixed in with the onions and parsley. 

Next breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan, I know Parmesan in a burger! Wow did it work out well! It added so much to the texture and brought a soft dreamy feel to the bite of the burger the way that only melted cheese can. The Parmesan also provided the most deliciously pleasant after taste that lingered so delightfully at the back of your mouth after every burger.

Once everything was in the mixing bowl it was time to crack an egg in and season with a little salt and pepper, then it was time for the best bit!

Getting involved! 

I love getting involved with the meat whether its getting you hands right intoa mixture like this or preparing a nice chunk of roast beef or feeling up a chicken with herbs and marinade in preparation for a roast dinner.

The end result, some lovely little balls of meaty goodness.

I experimented with slightly different shapes and sizes and made a few massive burgers that weren't far off an inch thick and filled a burger bun from edge to edge.

However I felt smaller fairly thick burgers worked best and although that left a lot of excess bread around the burger they were best for cooking and were the right portion size.

I prepped my burgers in the morning so in the afternoon I had time to sort out the actual barbecue and entertain our guests. 

I am not an incredibly macho guy but the lure of making fire and cooking in this way does bring out a massive primeval urge in me and its something I really love doing. The eternal mysticism of fire never fails to captivate.

Fire under control and the coals burning nicely, the time has come to get cooking!

Having only a teeny tiny barbecue the grill was pretty fully loaded as you can see which worked OK but just required a little rotation to move things in and out of the hottest areas to get more consistent cooking. 

The end result, I was so busy enjoying it I almost forgot to take a picture!

My major discovery was the revelation that is brioche buns. I am a massive fan of brioche as a breakfast treat but have never had it before as a burger bun and cannot recommend it highly enough! The sweetness of the bun mixed with the creaminess of the parmesan from the burger worked like a dream.

It wasnt all meat though we did serve up some healthy veggie stuff in the form of peppers stuffed with rice and feta cheese. Not only are roasted peppers ridiculously tasty they add that nutritious balance as well as adding a vibrant dose of colour.

A picture of my barbecue in full flow, a magnificent sight!

And of course we made sure we had a bit of liquid refreshment to help wash all the food down! 

What summer barbecue would be complete without a glass or several of Pimms?!

All in all the barbecue was a culinary triumph for the tastebuds and one I look forward to repeating again soon once I have recovered from eating the burger shaped equivalent of a small cow!

Naughty but nice - Pasta, beans and cheese

Today's lunch is naughty but nice as it is one of my favorites but not overly healthy.

Pasta, baked beans and cheese.

Today spices up a bit with the introduction of colourful and crunchy sweetcorn.

I used to eat this regularly but now I view this dish and pasta its self as a once a month treat.

There is something about the way melted cheese and warm beans combine that provides a magically comforting foodgasm that I found today as always very enjoyable!

Greek holiday foodporn

First of all I need to apologize for anyone who sees this and then loses their motivation to stick to their diet or clean eating plans.

Greece had some amazing food that I really enjoyed and I just wanted to share some pictures with you:

I didn't gorge myself as much as I could have because the main reason I was in Greece was to go to a friends wedding so I was very conscious I had to fit into my suit at the end of the week so I did hold back a bit.

This photo sums up Greek food, everything seems to be cheesy or fried or both! This is onion rings, fried squid, fried cheese and cheese stuffed peppers, all awesome!

                                                  

Stuffed tomatoes and peppers, I thought it made a great photo?!

                                                   

A lovely relaxing Greek beer, nothing beats a beer on holiday especially sat by the beach watching the sun go down.

                                                   

A typical pre dinner appetiser of fresh bread and dips. 

                                                   

Haribo in smurf shapes? I was pretty amazed this was actually a thing!?! I managed to resist buying them as amazing as they were.

                                                   

A traditional Greek dish that's not cheese or not fried which is a slight surprise, Moussaka, very enjoyable.

                                                     

These are possibly the best crisps I have ever had! I always love finding new flavours and varieties of UK foods when abroad. 

                                                   

The revelation of the holiday fried Saganaki Cheese, just a joy of melted, fried cheesy goodness.

                                       

Unfortunately my four cheese pizza didn't live up to the promise that I thought it would bearing in mind how enjoyable I had found the other cheese dishes.

I hope this hasn't set you tummy rumbling and your taste buds going too much?!

I hate to think of all the calories, but I know I will have burned them all off soon enough.