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!

Poncho8 Burrito review

I love burritos and have been wanting to do some kind of review/rating system of the various different chains and  By the way I am more of a 'man v food' type of guy rather than getting all fancy and gourmet.

So Poncho8, this is the second time I have been and the last time was only because I had some sort of voucher. Again there is one near where I work and there seems to be a couple dotted around mainly the city.

Poncho8 have big shoes to fill as they were previously voted best burrito in London by the Evening Standard so expectations are higher than average.

Today I was in the mood for steak, not usually my meat of choice as I normally go for chicken or pulled pork. Today was a good day to go for it though as Poncho8 offered British steak, chilli beef as well as Barbocoa as well as chicken, pulled pork and tofu options so top marks for variety!

My burrito ingredients today were:

Tomato rice

Pinto beans

British steak

Peppers

Mild salsa

Sour cream

Cheese

I know, I know again no guacamole! Again same as last week I wanted to give the steak a chance to fill my meaty desires without being overpowered by the awesome green stuff.

So to review the burrito; 

Tortilla wrap: quite plain but quite meaty.

Rice: pleasantly tomatoey which added to the burrito experience.

Steak: a little pink, not too chewy or tough which is the way I like my steak but not overly flavorsome.

Salsa: I went mild but it still contributed a nice gentle kick of flavor to the burrito.

Peppers: seemed really fresh and were very crunchy.

Pinto beans: excellent, they weren't re fried but almost were like that as they were starting to break up and go mushy, some of the best beans I have ever had!

Sour cream: not quite a big enough portion but still brought the desired cooling effect.

Cheese: again not quite enough but still brought a good bit of flavor, over the steak/beans/sour cream/cheese combination worked really well when they all congealed towards the bottom of the burrito, an inspired selection!

Overall: pretty good going! Really enjoyed the steak although could have been tastier, the rice was good, loved the crunchiness of the peppers as that brought a nice texture to the party. The big plus point for me though was the beans, loved them! Beans are a key player in burritos for me so if they are great the burrito is on to a winner as it was here. As I have already said the steak/beans/sour cream/cheese combo worked really well and combined as beautifully as I had imagined when selecting them as options.

Poncho8 experience: good, very quick service by what seemed a helpful and genuinely enthusiastic team. As I have said great options and variety of meat and good options available as well with the rice. I love the little poncho8 bag (pictured above) as well really colorful and has that Mexican flavor to it. The simple things were done well as well like having a napkin in the bag and the burrito being firmly and well wrapped.

My overall experience would have to be a 7.5/10 as it was a really good burrito but not enough to blow me away as it didn't have really strong authentic flavors. I wouldn't say it was the best burrito in London but I am happy to rate it up there as one of the best. I am a hard marker and was a really good burrito which filled me up and left a good taste in my mouth and good feeling in my belly.

So that's 2 reviews done with Poncho8 coming out on top, hopefully there will be many more reviews to come and stiffer competition ahead!

Chilango Burrito review

So moving away from running and on to my love of food and a bit of foodporn to freshen things up.

I love burritos and have been wanting to do some kind of review/rating system of the various different chains. By the way I am more of a 'man v food' type of guy rather than getting all fancy and gourmet.

So Chilango's, I have been a few times and really enjoyed their burritos and as there are a few near work hard not to pop in. 

My burrito ingredients today were:

Plain rice

Black beans

Grilled marinated chicken

Peppers

Medium salsa

Lettuce

I know, I know no guacamole! Well I wanted to give the flavours of the chicken and salsa a chance without being covered in green gu! Don't get me wrong I love guacamole but just fancied a change.

So to review the burrito; 

Tortilla wrap: plain and artificial in texture and taste.

Rice: plain and dull (no options provided), but the plus point being it wasn't overly packed up with rice which is always a way to ruin a burrito.

Chicken: tasty and nicely grilled

Salsa: dark and tasted burnt and not a nice flavour to it.

Peppers: nice, just right amount of crispness.

Black beans: really good black beans, but no option of refried beans! Very disappointing! 

Overall: not great but OK, not a lot of flavour and didn't fall in to either the authentic flavourless camp or the artificial and sickly but still really enjoyable camp that burritos tend to divide themselves between.

Chilango experience: not good, staff were friendly and efficient but major points lost for no rice options, a pretty awful tortilla and a disappointing salsa. Also the little things got to me like no water available, no napkin put in your take away bag (I realised this half way through my burrito sat in the park with mucky hands!), the burrito was reasonably priced and also reasonably filling although time will tell on that front!

My overall experience would have to be a 5/10 as it was disappointing but edible at the same time. It would have got a much lower score but the redeeming features were good quality black beans and chicken and the fact the burrito wasn't overly packed out with rice.

Hopefully I will have some more burrito reviews to follow soon.... 

Tasty brown rice lunch

I had a great idea for using up a bit of left over bacon; I made my own kind of risotto dish for lunch.

Probably not technically a risotto but a rice dish non the less with tomatoes and mushrooms  to accompany the said bacon with a few generous squirts of ketchup.

It ticks all the boxes, delicious? Had bacon in so yeah! Nutritious? Made with brown rice so a nice whole food card source and it had a good amount of veg in it via the tomatoes and mushrooms. Quick and easy to make? Pretty much, rice never takes too long and it only took a few minutes to fry up some mushrooms and bacon, and I did extra rice so got some for lunch tomorrow. The test will be whether it fills me up and keeps me going all afternoon? Time will tell?!