LONDON BURRITO BLOG

Croydon. South London (Surrey if you must). Famous for its 1960s town planning, home of Nestle UK and the headquarters of the UK Border Agency. For the last few months it has also been home to Tacolisa.


Tacolisa is a (well I guess you'd call it a Mexican inspired) takeaway that replaced a short-lived peri peri chicken shop at 90 High Street. It is a small bright store but most of its windows are obscured by big posters, one advertising a rather unappealing "chicken caesar taco".

But don't let that put you off! Tacolisa is pretty good. The soft tacos here are rolled like burritos and the fillings (chicken, steak or mixed-bean veggie) are complemented by lettuce, cheese, sour cream and salsa.

Assuming you add mixed peppers, guacamole and jalapeños - and go for the large "big daddy" option - you have yourself a near burrito size taco for around £5. Just make sure you add some chopped chillies to their hot salsa as I find it pretty mild on its own.


Quesadillas are also on the menu and you can make a meal of it by adding nachos. Choose to dine in and you'll be treated to proper plates and cutlery. You can tell that I'm writing about Croydon by my surprise at that!

Tacolisa isn't authentic Mexican food, but then neither is it claiming to be. Nor is it (thankfully) a Taco Bell. Don't be put off by the "chicken caesar" poster outside, walk in and order yourself a Croydon style taco! I doubt you'll be disappointed.

I have been to Tacolisa a number of times already. Partly because it is only about 10 minutes away from work, but mainly because it is good.


 

It's the Oxford vs Cambridge burrito race!

Having featured The Mission in Oxford before I thought it was only fair, and about time, to pop up to Cambridge to sample the burrito offering from Nanna Mexico.

Google searches bring up mixed reviews of this place which is located on Regent Street in the heart of the city. The restaurant is pretty small with a tiny area around the order counter and a smallish seating area a few steps down.

Nanna Mexico was quite busy at the time I visited on a Saturday lunchtime. There was quite a line of people with many apparently using discount coupons to get their lunch. Mainly due to a lack of available seats I opted to take my burrito to go and braved the outside cold to consume my food.

It didn't take long for me to be disappointed. The foil around the burrito had been badly wrapped and some of its contents were all too quickly finding themselves on my hands and on my jacket. But this is street food at heart so I wouldn't really have minded had the thing tasted as it should have....

But it didn't - it was bland and it was boring. A good job that I was in Cambridge for the day anyway, as a trip just for a review really wouldn't have been worth it.


And so for the inevitable comparison between the burritos served up in Oxford and Cambridge. I really like The Mission in Oxford, they serve a mean burrito with great salsas. Cambridge - err, not so much.


Oxford 1 - Cambridge Nil.

 

Flying Burrito, the "South African and Ukranian take on a Californian interpretation of Mexican food" place on Middlesex St, is expanding with a second store planned for opening in May.

The new Flying Burrito will open at 18 Blomfield St, EC2M 7AJ in what was formerly a Bagel shop not far from Moorgate and Liverpool St tubes.

These guys do good burritos (and an excellent breakfast burrito) and more of the same can only be a good thing! It seems like the quite limited opening hours will soon be extended too...

More info on their blog.


  

2011 is looking like another big year for burrito restaurant openings in the capital.

Benito's Hat will become a three strong chain in April, with the opening of a new restaurant on Great Castle Street (near Oxford Circus). In May the long awaited additional Chilango on Chancery Lane is due to open and Chilango have plans to open two additional sites later in the year.

Chipotle is also looking to expand in London with the next one likely to open during the first half of the year in Baker Street.


I'm sure there will be more...

 

For my first post-California burrito of 2011, I headed up to Holborn to check out one of the newest places in town - Adobo. The new opening is adding density to the ever increasing number of similar places in the Clerkenwell and Holborn areas.

Adobo still felt very new when I visited in mid-January, having only opened about a month before. They have an interesting menu with pollo, barbacoa, carnitas and, unusually, albondigas (meatballs). You can also choose to add chorizo along with the usual choice of extras.


I opted for my usual choice of chicken, and it was good. It could have been better - it didn't seem as fresh as I would expect - however I visited at the end of the day and expect it would have been much better at lunchtime.

This is a welcome addition to the London burrito scene and I will most definitely be returning.