A couple of weeks ago I was invited to a burrito master class at Tortilla, a chain of Mexican burrito restaurants in London. I wasn’t feeling too well a couple of days leading up to the event and I had been to the doctors that morning and was told I had a kidney infection. Lovely. Still, I went partly because I didn’t want to let anyone down and partly because I love a good burrito.
We arrived at the Market Place branch just off Oxford Street and joined the group waiting downstairs. The evening started with a talk from the founder Brandon Stephens and the Brazillian head chef Bruno Pires. I was really happy to see that Brandon is obviously an avid burrito fan and his enthusiasm really won me over.
After the talk, they brought a load of ingredients for guacamole and we had a go at making our own. All of the ingredients were there for us to use – avocado, green chillies, garlic, coriander, lime, tomatoes, salt and pepper and we could use as many or little of the ingredients as we wished. Jack went for the minimalist approach – he mashed the avocado to a pulp, added chillies, garlic and coriander, plus salt and black pepper. I went for lots of everything. I quite often have coriander cravings so I piled it in, along with a lot of tomatoes (another one of my favourite foods). I added a tonne of garlic, chillies and lime and then a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Brandon was very impressed with Jacks and I was told that mine was very spicy – just how I like it!
We were then shown upstairs to the counter where we made our own burritos, two people at a time. I chose the large burrito but know just how horrible I have felt in the past after eating a burrito the size of a football so I didn’t pack it too full. I added half grilled chicken, half braised pork, romaine lettuce, pinto beans, black beans, lime and coriander rice, monterey jack cheese, guacoamole, salsa roja and sour cream. We were shown how to roll it correctly and then placed it in a warmer so that we could all eat together at the end.
Burritos have a bad reputation for being bad for the waistline but that reputation has come from America where they deep fry everything and even boil the rice in oil. Oof. At Tortilla, healthy food and cooking methods are employed but without compromising on taste. The pork is quality assured and reared outside, the chicken is barn reared and their lime and coriander rice is steamed. The guacamole is utterly delicious (they wouldn’t give their recipe away) and I thoroughly enjoyed my burrito.
For now they only run the master classes for bloggers but I would think that they would do well if they offered the experience to the public. It’s not somewhere that I would go for a proper dinner but I would definitely choose Tortilla over Pret or Eat as an on the go lunch or quick lunchtime pit stop.
Other fantastic burritos in London that I have had were from Daddy Donkey and Benitos Hat. There are others that I have tried but haven’t been so fond of but Tortilla is up there with the greats.
I’d definitely recommend visiting Tortilla if you’re around the area of their five locations, Oxford Circus, Islington, Southwark, Leadenhall Market, Canary Wharf or Hammersmith.
At roughly £5.95 for a large burrito, Tortilla is good value, well sourced, tasty Mexican grub.
Tortilla
6 Market Place
London
W1W 8AH
0207 637 2800
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Tags: cheap eats london, mexican cafe london, mexican restaurant london, Tortilla mexican restaurant
