Freebird Burritos

Rupert Street
W1F 0RG
(CORNER OF RUPERT ST & BREWER ST)

 

In my quest to try most of the burritos available in London, a few have eluded me (mostly due to their locations, which are often inconvenient for me). On one of our days off, A, C and I were walking around Soho and stumbled on Freebird Burritos. Since A is always up for a burrito, we got a carnitas burrito to share. It was pretty reasonably priced compared to other burritos in London (around 5 quid) but it seemed a bit smaller than others. The other thing that threw us off was the overpowering taste of orange juice in the carnitas. I know carnitas is often cooked with OJ, but all I could taste was oranges, and if you know me and my issues with fruit & meat combos, you know I wouldn't be a big fan of this. It's okay though, I've found enough other burrito places in London to keep me satisfied.

Chipotle

114-116 Charing Cross Road
London
WC2H 0JR

Why hello there Chipotle. I've missed you. Or at least, I thought I missed you. We spent so much time together in the US that when I left, I lamented your absence over and over again. So when you finally ventured over here, I was excited to see you again. But I forgot that in the years since we have parted, other places in London such as Luardos and Chilango and Benitos Hat were quietly taking your place. And now, you are not as wonderful as I remembered. You are more expensive (I couldn't even bring myself to pay for guacamole), and smaller, and just not as special. This all makes me very sad, as I realize you are just too late - our relationship will never be the same.

Luardos (revisited)

Whitecross Street Market

I've been on a little hiatus from eating out, and while I'm eating well at home, nothing has been exciting enough to blog about, really. There was a pretty decent apple and summer fruits crisp, which I made before but still haven't taken a picture of, and a simple pasta dish with tomato sauce, quorn mince, mushrooms and courgettes (zucchinis!) - side note, I have noticed pasta sauce is way better if you have the time to cook it for a long time over low heat, letting it thicken and concentrating the flavors - but anyway, I just remembered that I had a burrito again with W last week at Luardos, but this time I got a different kind. Considering that the last 20 burritos I ate there were the same kind, this is actually quite exciting. So here's a picture of a Luardos burrito with SPICY BEEF rather than pork. Yummy, though I prefer the pork. Still, I wouldn't have known I prefer the pork had I not tried the beef at least once...

Chilango

27 Upper Street
Islington
London
N1 0PN

C and I were planning to go see a movie so grabbed dinner beforehand at Chilango - a burrito joint close to the cinema. Prices are a little higher than at the other burrito places I've been to - 5.90 for a pork burrito, and an extra 80p for guacamole, but the burrito is definitely the biggest one I've had in London (probably about the size of one from Chipotle in the US?) Rice is cooked through but looks like basmati, and I chose black beans rather than pinto. Very tasty - ranks up there with Luardos and Benito's Hat, I think - good if you are really really hungry and want to be really really full after eating. I know the picture is awful, my camera phone is to blame...

Benito's Hat

56 Goodge St
London W1T 4NB

P and I met up for some belated celebrations and decided that Mexican food is entirely appropriate for congratulatory meals, which is how we ended up at Benito's Hat. The sudden influx of burrito places in London has made me very happy so trying out another variation on this theme is always encouraged. It's quite simple here - you ask for a burrito, tacos or a salad and then choose a filling (beef, 2 kinds of chicken, pork or roasted veggies) and a bunch of toppings. I went with the pork along with black beans, rice, lettuce, cheese, pico de gallo, salsa verde and guacamole. This place does the most generous serving of guacamole I have ever seen! It's wrapped up in foil (I approve of this method as it makes it so much easier to eat) and then served in a basket with tortilla chips (which were nicely salted). Seeing as how we were in a festive mood, we also had margaritas to go with the burritos.

This burrito is different again from Luardo's and El Burrito, but I think it may be my favorite so far - lots of options for toppings and the tortilla chips on the side push it slightly ahead of Luardo's. P pointed out that it rice is often slightly undercooked in burritos in London and I'd have to agree. Margarita was decent but nothing special. One flaw in our plan - burritos make you so full it is hard to have drinks afterwards! Oh well.

El Burrito

5 Charlotte Place
W1T 1SF

J's workplace is surrounded by tastiness so I met up with her today to try one of the three burrito places within walking distance of her office. El Burrito has a lot of options for fillings, and I went with the chicken tinga today. They pack a lot into these burritos, including pickled jalapenos. Quite different from Luardo's, since the rice looks like basmati and the beans are more of a bean paste than individual black beans. Also not wrapped as tightly so they're a lot messier to eat. Still tasty though, and they come with a few tortilla chips on the side (helps to scoop up all the filling that will inevitably spill out). I still slightly prefer Luardo's but then again I haven't tried all of the interesting fillings here (they even have a chicken mole). There are also tacos, quesadillas and nachos on the menu, but if you call a place El Burrito, it makes it hard to pick anything other than the namesake dish.

Luardos Burritos

Whitecross Street Market

So this is the burrito truck that tipped me off to the fact that there was a street market on Whitecross Street - I think it was summer 2007 when I ventured off with fellow burrito-lover W to see if the rumors were true. A bright sea green truck with "Luardos" painted across it greeted us and it was like all of our burrito dreams had come true - burritos are one of the things that made me constantly miss Texas (and even New York, sometimes). While these may not be the most amazing burritos I've ever had, they are certainly satisfying enough to quell the burrito cravings and at five pounds, pretty reasonably priced considering that they will fill you up for the entire afternoon. I always go for the carnitas burrito with guacamole, no sour cream - plus you can get a loyalty card stamped so you get your 10th burrito free. There are loads of other places to eat on Whitecross Street now but it's hard to choose anything other than the burrito once you're there.