Flying Burrito

I’ve lived in all the US border states with Mexico and so the burrito is as familiar to me as your momma.
So it was with great trepidation that I tried Flying Burrito. On the one hand, I was super hungry and it was busy. On the other hand, the financial district of London is about as far from Mexico as you can get (well, Moscow is farther).
I rather liked the quick, assembly line process. The end result, however, was underwhelming. Notably, the pork filling I chose was drowned out by a very pungent marinade, which I now see contains apple cider and ginger (two ingredients I’ve never seen in Mexican cooking). You only need a few, simple things to make a luscious Mexican pork dish.
It was also too wet… the burrito began disintegrating too soon. And the cheese, rather being warm and gooey, was cold and hard. These were more mechanical/​assembly errors.
Overall: this is a prefect example of ethnic street food being assembled by people who aren’t familiar with said food. The parts seem to be there, but it just doesn’t quite come together.

Something strange has happened to my tastes recently as I’ve wanted to eat burritos for lunch, it must be the benign influence of Eamon B. Flying Burrito is the closest to my office and seems a popular place with the city folk as the queue is often out of the door.
As a creature of habit I always go for the pork burrito which isn’t that bad. At £5.70 it is expensive considering that a burrito should be cheap Mexican food in a wrap.

Decent but doesn’t stand up to existing joints
Pros: Location, location, location. Fresh ingredients and offers cactus, which is not commonly found in London.
Cons: Simply not as well seasoned and ranks relatively low compared to existing burrito providers, which are in descending order of preference
(1) Luardos (Whitecross St) the best! and love the loyalty card and the x-​mas tequila shot for frequent customers. nothing beats their burritos in flavour, and service always comes with a smile
(2) Tortilla (Angel)
(3) Chilango (Fleet Street, Upper St)
(4) Benitos Hat (Fitzrovia) also great service
(5) Mas Burritos The Flying Burrito
.. .
(10) Burrito Bros (Clerkenwell) one of the worst, ever.

This is a new burrito joint that has opened up close to Liverpool St station … replacing a bagel shop. I was quite pleased as this might mean that I would get a closer alternative to Poncho. But sadly that did not turn out to be the case :(
It’s located close to Liverpool street station … right off London Wall, which ensures that it’s very busy at lunch time. The menu is standard … one has the option of having beef, barbacoa, chicken or veg burrito or tacos. The veg filling has some interesting ingredients and its cooked in dark chocolate sauce. The red meat tastes good and the chicken is fabulous … spicy and juicy rather than the dry pieces that are more common.
The list of extras is also not very different from what one can find elsewhere … except for the cactus leaf salsa, which i didn’t like.
There is place for about a dozen people to sit inside the store which will make it an attractive proposition in winter.
The prices are reasonable. But I don’t foresee going back here very often. The reason is that they just can’t wrap. On both my visits I have found the fillings «leaking out». So even though the food is good, eating it isn’t convenient. I will return … for the chicken and veg … but less frequently than I would have liked.

I’ve been on a bit of a burrito quest lately in my run up to my SF pilgrimage. I’ve even biked 10 miles on Sunday to get a burrito from Chilangos so it was with great pleasure when I noticed Flying Burrito had finally opened just across the street from one of my clients.
Today a burrito sounded just right to drag my hungover brain out of its shell after Unilocal’s gin tasting extravaganza at Graphic Bar last night so I popped over.
The shop is cosy and definitely caters to the drop by, grab a burrito, and head back to the office crowd as there is virtually no place to sit. The menu selection is simple with the usual beef, pork, chicken and veggie options which can be made into burritos, salads, or tacos. The standard size costs you £5.70 and there is a smaller version for £4.95.
The first strike was when they were stingy with the meat and salsa. A small clump of shredded beef and a line of salsa do not make a burrito great. The second strike came when I felt I was being a bit hurried along in my choices (to guac or not to guac — I got it and was very pleased with that choice) despite the fact I was the only person there. I was also not pleased at the lack of peppers and onions as a substitute for beans.
Anyways, the burrito overall was tasty but lacking in punch. The flavours are good but mild despite me opting for their spiciest salsa. I like a bit of fire so perhaps next time I’ll indulge in some hot sauce on top.
Overall, I can’t complain and it has a better price to size ratio than Chilango although falls short in terms of flavour and is definitely lagging behind Free Bird’s £5 behemoths. The biggest selling point is the convenience of the location and the relatively simple menu should make the lunch line move quickly too.