BENITOS HAT @ NEW ROW

I have had a little break from Burrito madness. I ate so many in LA that I had to take some time out and relax, eat salads and take yoga classes. Two weeks in and I'm bored out of my skull, but supple, so I decided to hit up the new branch of Benito's Hat. I've visited the original Goodge Street place before. It was ok. A pretty average Burrito. That was about two years ago though, and Burrito madness has gripped London, so I was looking forward to trying them out again.

The service was ok. The guy was doing two Burritos at the same time, which was pretty confusing and stupid. I think he shaved off 5 seconds from the Burrito making process, but this also meant I didn't get exactly what I wanted. There was no queue either, so a big HUH?, for the serving guy. Oh well. I went for the chicken Burrito as the meat looked the craziest. It had an orange spice rub all over it. For sides they have the usual stuff, along with a coriander and onion mix and pickled chile peppers. I got all that stuff, because I'm good.

FOIL OFF. Hm. First bite seemed pretty good. Salsa was hot, nice flavour to the chicken, but the more I ate, the more I realised that the seasoning on the chicken was pretty gross. Too much. It tasted like one of those old el paso spice mixes, i.e. too much salt, and a little chalky. I wolfed some more, but all I could taste was the seasoning. It mixed with the sour cream and went around bullying the whole Burrito til it all tasted the same.

The rest of the show was unimpressive. Beans were too soft and completely bland, and I could only taste the guac every now and again, which wasn't great anyway, lacking flavour and citrus zing-a-ling. Needed more lime! I also had a tomato salsa, but along with the gooey mess of the beans and guac, the predominantly ripe tomato/onion mix made the Burrito even more soggy. I was glad to see extra peppers, but sadly they were pickled. I hate them. Fresh habaneros plz.

Eh. Not a great burrito. Maybe the other meat options would kick it up a few notches but I was pretty underwhelmed. It was well put together, reasonably priced (£6 for chicken wi/ guacamole), and in a good, central location. Beyond that, it was a bland, inoffensive affair. Even the initial kick of the hot sauce fizzled out and got swamped by the seasoning. Sorry Benito, ur Burrito made me bored.



good:

- hot sauce
- big meat portion
- free chips
- well wrapped

bad:

- chicken cut too big/overseasoned
- pickled peppers
- bland beans
- soggy
- pointlessly hurried service


19 New Row, Covent Garden, London, WC2N 4LE


4.75/10