Tortilla Oxford Circus

Burritos are food that come with a lot of baggage. They have a reputation for not being healthy and could be considered the Mexican equivalent of the kebab.

Coming from a Mexican background and adopted by southern American states as their go-to fast food, they are synonymous with over-indulgence and corpulence. Say the words ‘taco’ and ‘burrito’ to people and what will be invoked is a gluttonous combination of meat, hot sauce and gloopy, gooey cheese. This is largely to tacos and burritos being subsumed into the American fast food market as well as the addition of ingredients such as fries and bacon in order to garner a more widespread appeal.

Returning to the core identity of burritos, fajitas and tacos is the Mexican grill Tortilla, which has just opened up its fourth London outlet near Oxford Circus. The set-up, given the plethora of ingredients, is akin to a Subway venue, but without the feeling that you are merely passing along a production line.

I went for a grilled chicken burrito whilst my companion, eager to keep his carbs in check, went for a grilled steak naked burrito, this coming in the form of the burrito wrap placed in a bowl with no tortilla.

For every type of filling, there are a choice of what goes into your tortilla wrap or bowl. I went for lime cilantro rice, pinot beans, mild salsa and sour cream whilst my companion went for Mexican rice, black beans, hot salsa and Monterey Jack Cheese. We both plumped for the medium-sized option (£4.70), which filled us both up. However, there is also the larger size if you need to feed a small army and can only rustle £5.70 in loose change.

What was immediately apparent on biting into the burrito was the freshness of the tortilla used. A lot of burritos suffer from using a very heavy bread which is beneficial for keeping everything together but can result in you feeling like you are chewing through liquid concrete as you get further and further through.

Both my companion and I agreed that there could be a little more meat added to both our dishes but overall, the freshness of the ingredients played a big part in providing a substantial and flavoursome dish. Special mention should also go to the margaritas on offer. Although they might seem a little pricy at £4.25 a pop, you get a full whack of tequilla and a huge brain freeze if you take it on too fast.

Tortilla
6 Market Place
Fitzrovia
W1W 8AH

Tel: 020 7637 2800