Burrito Mania

A Burrito is the yummiest Mexican food ever. A meal in itself, it comes in a soft flour tortilla and all varieties of fillings but what distinguishes it from a regular wrap is Mexican staples like refried beans, yellow rice and cheese, and maybe topped with salsa, guacamole and sour cream.

The best ones in Ireland that I've come across so far are Acapulco and Taco Taco (Skip Cactus Jacks please). I recently tried one at this newish Mexican 'fast food' or casual dining place called Burritos n'Blues in Ranelagh. It's really hard to say which Vegetarian burrito is better, Taco Taco's or Burritos n Blues'. but the major diff is that BnB's veggie burrito has grilled vegetables in it (Flame grilled courgette, aubergine, sweet red onion, chillis, red and yellow peppers) and they come swathed in a scrumptious dollop of Mahamarlo's secret Garlic sauce. (I want that recipe!) while Taco Taco used pure raw vegetables.

There's plenty of choice in BnB for the non-vegetarians with unique burritos like the Barbeque burrito, Irish pub Burrito and the Silver Bullet. They also do Quesdillas, Flautas, Nachos and Tacos. Originally Mexican (it's run by a Californian woman with Mexican staff), they make their food fresh and ready to order and all for good value. They also do a 16 oz one called Burrito Grande! Try that and let me know. My only quip is that it's all the way out in Ranelagh and there should be a branch in town.

It's California taste at it's best. Now where to find some good Churro huh?

Fresh Guacamole and Mexican Potato Skins

Went to celebrate L's birthday tonight in Acapulco, the Mexican restaurant on George's street. Been there a few times before (got my surprise birthday bash there) and the food is always yummy albeit a teeny bit pricier than a lot of other places. But then a lot of other places don't make their guacamole fresh and tangy like Acapulco does, or their fajitas spicy and sizzling, and the desserts oh my....well I could go on.

I've never tried the chilli, which was trés tempting but I was ravenous and you know when you're super hungry and you want to 'bite' into something not suck or slurp it? Well I was in a bite-some mood (when am I ever not?) so I forego the veggie chilli (yet again) for my tried and trusted fave: The enchiladas (I used to watch an ol Winnie the Pooh episode when I was a young kid where Eyore made enchiladas for everyone, I remember thinking then how exotic they sounded and wishing I could have me some enchiladas) : Soft tortilla wraps filled with vegetables and refried beans, served with sweetcorn and Mexican rice, drizzled all over with melted cheese, guacamole and spectacular sour cream! There's something about Mexican food that is very filling. Usually we skip out on the starters but since it was L's birthday we decided to splurge a bit and went for the combo starter for 3 even though there were 4 of us: it had some usual fare, the onion rings, the nachos, the buffalo wings but the two things that made my tastebuds hop into a space shuttle and rocket into space were the mini Corn Chilli Sizzlers deep fried baby corn and whole jalapeno chillies filled with soft cheese and the Mexican spud skins filled with cheese, sour cream and chives...yummy! ofcourse it came with salsa, sour cream and some spanking fresh guacamole, which was utterly sublime! It transported me right back to California. Nowhere in Dublin have I had such good guacamole (as of yet, not even Taco Taco!)

My friends got sizzling fajitas and Tostadas. Dessert as always is highly recommended in Acapulco. We were so full yet who could resist the deep-fried icecream, deep fried dish of bananas, caramel and cream in a tortilla wrap (quite tasty) while I had hot chocolate fudge cake with ice-cream. I usually dont like choc cakes (Yes for a cake lover it''s quite weird but I find choc desserts quite blasé usually) but since I got one at my birthday surprise party which my friends threw I've been sold on this cake. It's warm, soft and melts in your mouth along with ice-cream and gooseberry (I think that's what it is, but need to check that) sauce. The cake was as good but the portion was tiny compared to the last time. Not happy.

Oh and the service was so much better this time. Nice waitresses and cool manager who waved goodbye to us as we left as well as wishing L and her sis a happy birthday!