Benito's Hat: Mexican Kitchen, Covent Garden

At last a burrito I can respect. 

The jaw locking pork burrito at Benito's Hat is a behemoth example of what a burrito should be. It is literally bursting with pile upon pile of tender, fragrant shreds of carnitas pork - braised slowly and simmered with lime juice, balsamic vinegar, black pepper, cumin and oregano. The balsamic may lack authenticity, but is a deliberate improvement beyond reproach since it adds a superb kick. It comes topped with mounds of black beans (slow cooked and flavoured with avocado leaves), coriander and lime rice, lettuce, grated Montery Jack, guacamole, sour cream and salsa - all somehow rammed into a soft tortilla. I can't believe what I'm seeing as it's being built. But I keep quiet and watch bemused as they somehow manage to wrap it all up. It costs £5.50 (plus 50p for the guacamole). Bargain.

The Peanut Gallery's chargrilled steak burrito is right up there with the pork. Marinated overnight in chipotle chilies, lime and spices the lean meat is supremely tender with an earthy, smoky flavour - he opts for the slow cooked pinto beans with paprika instead of the black beans (£6.00).

This is gutsy Mexican food. It tastes both fresh and interesting. And (tip to other burritos I've tried recently) it's not overloaded with refried beans to the point of saturation of all other flavours.

Benito's Hat opened its new outlet in Covent Garden on 16th July, an offshoot of its popular Goodge St restaurant. The decor in Covent Garden is different - quite stark and white, with splashes of green and red, it doesn't encourage lingering. It screams fast food (despite the careful, slow cooking involved). But chef Felipe Fuentes Cruz concedes this, and admits the team are already considering changes to soften some of the edges and encourage their patrons to linger with that extra margarita or dessert.

You get the idea they're flexible enough to make whatever changes are required to satisfy their customers - some Goodge St customers have commented that the food tastes different, which Felipe puts down to the different, more modern equipment being used in the new kitchen. If the new stuff doesn't work out, they'll revert back to the same equipment as in the original store. It seems to be working out to me...

Named after Benito Juarez, a former Mexican president with a penchant for a certain distinctive wide-brimmed hat, Benito's Hat is the enterprise of Ben Fordham (ex-lawyer who has honed his culinary skills in Mexico) and head chef Felipe (formerly of other London Mexican restaurants like Green & Red). Felipe, hailing from Puebla in Mexico, is happy to chat with patrons as he works the floor and the cash register, and his passion - devoid of any ego - is obvious. 

The aim here is to bring the vibrant flavours and colours of Mexico's rich culinary culture to Londoners who are over the bland Tex-Mex scene.

The flavours are simple and fresh. And, for once, the pork burrito tastes and smells distinctly different from the beef one. 

There are tacos, salads and soups as well. 

We start with a couple of margaritas - classic for me (£5) and watermelon for TPG (£6.00). Made with 100% Pure Blue Agave tequila (no mixers) they're excellent. 

We accompany them with some light and crispy tortilla chips with a terrific guacamole - chunky fresh avocado, with the zing of lime and the bite of summery tomatoes.

We also try some tacos with 2 types of chicken - Ben's chargrilled chicken breast, marinated overnight in chipotle chillies, cumin and cinnamon, and Felipe's braised chicken breast version cooked in a blend of achiote (the seeds are ground and used as a mildly flavoured colouring agent in Mexican cooking), tomato and guajillo chillies (£4 for two). They come in soft flour tortillas with the recommended lettuce, cheese and salsa (although you can add other toppings). Alone they would be a much smaller meal than the burritos, and together with a burrito, it's all way too much. But we battle on in the line of duty...

Felipe's braised chicken is particularly good (again, so tender) but the tacos are less interesting, less meaty - I'm afraid they don't compete with the magnificent burritos so I take a couple of bites and decide not to waste rapidly diminishing stomach space.

And then, although we can't believe we're doing it, we have dessert. By this point our chairs are creaking, on which grounds we steer away from heavier options like the tres leches cake and go for a ball of dulce de leche ice-cream, sprinkled with cinnamon and surrounded with a higgledy piggledy array of buneulos (strips of fried flour tortillas) liberally sprinkled in sugar and cinnamon (£3.50). Presentation could be improved, and while I didn't adore the bunuelos I devoured them in a way you wolf down the empty calories of a packet of Doritos after a big night on the town - in that wasteful, dirty, mindless sort of way. The ice-cream was lovely.

Benito's Hat is great value - you could easily get away with a meal and a couple of drinks for around £15 (or well under a tenner for a quick bite without alcohol).

The only real drawbacks are some confusion around the method of service - the idea is to order up at the counter and walk along selecting your toppings. Some customers were clearly a little befuddled about where to start queuing from, and even while things were quiet, there is a bit of a wait. This issue will probably only magnify as the queues start rolling in.

However, not only is it the first burrito I'll actually return for (once I've digested this one - it may take a while), but it's also inspired me to take heart that good Mexican fare in London may be worth looking for.

Benito's Hat Mexican Kitchen, 19 New Row, Covent Garden, London WC2N 4LA (Tel: 020 7240 5815)

The original Benito's Hat is located at 55 Goodge Street, Fitzrovia, London W1 4NB.

Greedy Diva was a guest of Benito's Hat.

El Camino: New Mex in Soho, London

It's a Saturday night, pre-theatre, and we need a quick bite in Soho. There are 2 seats free at the bar at Bocca Di Lupo, my stomach's spiritual home. Tantalisingly tempting. But there's also a new Mexican place which just opened up around the corner.

Another burrito joint? More black beans, more tortilla chips, more guacamole. So far, Mexican food in London has not captured my imagination nor my heart. However, we're in the mood to give a newcomer a go. Benevolently, I put aside my preconceptions of all London Mexican food experiences gone before it, banish still biting memories of mole hell, and march earnestly down to El Camino.

Owned by Ned Conran (son of Terence), El Camino is an offshoot of the better known Notting Hill Mex cafe of the same name. However the look here is less boho, more Soho. A mixture of dark, sexy and sleek (The Peanut Gallery pumps his chest here thinking he's about to get a mention), combined with colourful, tawdry table cloths and enough Mex kitsch to inspire some serious Tequila action, including an intriguing array of hot sauce bottles lining the walls. And word on the street has it that Dick Bradsell, cocktail guru, is shaking things up in the basement bar, so we know you should be able to get your hands on a respectable drink.

The food is decent too. My generous beef burrito was oozing with ground beef, which was slow cooked and tasty, but with the usual black bean overload. By the second half, I was all beaned out. Try separating black beans from mince and see where it gets you. I'd probably have preferred the grilled steak option (hold the beans).

TPG ordered a chicken taco but a grilled chicken burrito was delivered. He took it on the chin. Quite literally [cue monster sauce blob and "napkin to chin sign language" here]. The chicken was tender and ample, and definitely on the better than average end of the burrito scale. But again with the beans...

We thought we'd test out a third dish, just to mix things up - the grilled fish with lime. Quite nice. Grilled well. Not much more to it.

Apparently the pulled pork burrito is the one to try. No good to me now, are you hindsight?

So the food's quite good (for Mexican), possibly really good if you like black beans, and probably even better if you order the right dishes. The food is at least big enough to require 2 hands, in hand slapping defiance of recent Mexican style "tapas" trends. El Camino has all the staples, salads and grilled bits and pieces. And it has a fun, upbeat charm that will keep the passing crowds coming. Drinks and 3 dishes set us back around £30 for two.

However, in the end a burrito is, after all, just a burrito. Even if it does come with an exotic chilli and tortilla chip garnish.

El Camino is, on the burrito/taco scale, well above your average Tex Mex fare. But it's not as good as a steaming hot bowl of pappardelle with a slow cooked ragu. There, I said it.

El Camino, 25-27 Brewer Street, Soho, London, W1F 0RR

Boho Mexica, London - An opportunity lost

I grew up with a large, sequined sombrero hanging from my bedroom wall. It was at least 15 times bigger than my head at the time, and I took much pride in anointing it to the heads of my visiting 7 year old guests - if worthy. Now, I only wear it on weekends.

But, perhaps because of my early associations with the sombrero, Doritos and The Three Amigos, I have this pervading sense that I am meant to like Mexican food. I can chomp my way across a cob of corn like it's going out of style. I gorge wholeheartedly on chillies and spice. Mexican food essentially holds all the promise of exotic comfort food. Salsa me up, amigo.

So why can I not find any decent Mexican restaurants?

I fully anticipated that Boho Mexica was going to be the turning point in my Mexican dining experience. A place that would do away with the cheesy, Tex Mex slodge, lay my tacky sombrero to rest, and lift London's Mexican dining scene to a whole new level.

And so it was that I and my 6 food loving accomplices came to be drinking salty margaritas and chilly beers at Boho Mexica one rainy evening in London this week. As eager as me to enjoy the feast were L & L of the Humble Kitchen fame, Susie, The Peanut Gallery, and newly engaged lovebirds Emma and Andrew.

The surrounding mood of the room is upbeat, if a little less raucous than expected. I like the boho look - original Mexican newspapers and sepia posters from the 1930's and '50s line the walls, and the overall character suggests there will be joyful howls of "arriba!" if the place ever cranks up. Unfortunately, it never gets close.

Perhaps head chef, Aunt Patty, was not in the house. But as plate after plate of sloppy, tasteless secretions were paraded out to the table, my expectations sunk increasingly lower.

We started off with several serves of the Guacamole Tia Patty with home made tortilla chips. The guacamole was lovely, although the mean little serves of tortilla chips were not enough to dig up even half of it. TPG resorted to a surreptitious use of his fingers.

We sampled several dishes from the tacos bar, including a couple of serves of each of the Carne D.F (grilled rump steak, marinated, topped with chopped tomato, onion and chilli), Los Verduleros (Portobello mushroom, raja poblana and cheese), Cochinita Pibil Yucatan (Mayan style braised trio of pork served with red pickled onions) and De Pezcao (sauteed sea bass in herbs topped with coleslaw).

Carne D.F

I was expecting these to be tiny, so their miniscule proportions were no surprise. Mostly, the tacos were quite nice, in a mundane sort of a way, although the steak was fairly flavourless and chewy. Their unsatisfying nature was due more to the complete lack of oomph than the fact that we needed so many plates of them to get anywhere near satiating our hunger.

De Pezcao 

Next came several plates of Empanadas de Flor de Calabaza - a twin set of hand made Mexican turnovers filled with zucchini flower and cheese, and topped with green salsa. These simple Mexican style pasties were the best dish of the night. From here, it was all sadly downhill.

Enchiladas de Mole

Enter the Enchiladas del Mole - chicken drowned in a hefty discharge of chocolate and chilli sauce, a smattering of sesame seeds, with herb rice on the side. This is a dish with a face that only a mother could love. There is no need for me to reminisce here about days gone by spent trudging through cow paddocks - I'll let the photo do the talking. Who knows what the sacrificial chicken tasted like? The sauce completely overpowered the dish, tasting overbearingly of licorice; it possibly ruined our taste buds for the rest of the meal. The rice was dried out and flaky.

Pipian Verde

Next came the mystery meat course. Pipian Verde was (apparently, according to the menu) pork tenderloin in a pre-Hispanic herb sauce. Once again, with so much sauce (of unknown herbal variety) and bland meat, just what we were eating was anyone's guess.

Puerco a la Jamaica

The Puerco a la Jamaica was pork tenderloin in a "secret Hibiscus flower sauce" with corn mash. I remember being thankful for the mash. The pork was among the better of the meat dishes, but hardly rates as more than a vague recollection.

Bistec a la Mexicana

The now familiar feeling of discontent again swept over with the Bistec a la Mexicana. It consisted of little strips of rump steak in tomato herb sauce, with unremarkable sides of plantains and black beans.

Pezcao a la Antigua

The Pezcao a la Antigua is sea bass in traditional Veracruz style sauce. Both the fish and the tomato sauce concoction were fine (although fairly humdrum) with vinegary, big green olives.

Despite the unrelenting procession of previous disappointments, we were looking forward to our 3 plates of Bunuelos de Navidad for dessert - home made dough fritters drizzled in vanilla dark sugar cane syrup.  How could you go wrong?

Well, let me tell you. Despite looking the goods, these nuggets were completely uncooked in the middle and tasted every bit as feral as you would expect plain raw dough seeping in cooking oil to taste. Now, I normally subscribe to a view that even a bad dessert is a good dessert - but we hardly made a dent in these.

Finally, the drinks. Boho has a great cocktail list, and my margaritas were lovely and salty. Although, I must admit, I prefer my margarita served in a nice, festive martini glass, rather than a narrow little tumbler with straw. At least it was hard to go wrong with the Coronas.

Apart from one waitress who was ok (although not overly useful on menu suggestions), service was mostly disinterested and brusque, bordering on rude. Given the immense number of plates and drinks we had ordered, it was also slightly odd to be prompted to leave to make way for other diners as we were still trying to fight the regurgitation of the last piece of dough not-quite-frittered. (Particularly as we had not given any indication of how dire the food and service had been.) We were not told of a time limitation when we made our reservation.

While each dish is quite cheap, ranging from around £3.00 - £5.50, I have rarely eaten so many dishes for so little satisfaction, and by the time they mount up to £33 per head (with drinks), I can think of many better places to spend my hard earned.

Boho Mexica feels like a great opportunity lost. I don't know if I'm giving up on Mexican fare entirely at this point, or whether I should just keep on plugging away for the right destination. But I do know one thing - it's adios for you and me, Boho.

153 Commercial Street, Shoreditch, London E1 6BJ