Restaurants
Getting that Chunky Feeling at King Burritos
This is part 4 in a series where I attempt to discover Toronto's best burritos
A few metres west of the corner of King and Bathurst sits King Burritos, a three month old burrito restaurant that some might remember as Slice of New York, a pizza and wrap place. In fact, the neon Pizza & Wraps sign on the window hasn't kept pace with the new theme. Or has it? Pizza remains, perplexingly, on the menu. Wraps are gone and replaced with a small selection of burritos, tacos and quesadillas.
Since the place is called King Burritos (although the menu says King Burrito), and since I am on the prowl to uncover the best burritos in Toronto, I opt to skip the pizza and order a large veggie burrito ($5.99).
Inside, the good size burrito is stuffed with chunky grilled mushrooms and cauliflower. This is a nice touch. Too many burrito places haven't figured our what to put in their veggie fillings and too often if they put a vegetable medley, the ingredients are too small to give the burrito a satisfying texture. Here the cauliflower spears were soft enough to chew but big enough to recognize; and the mushrooms were quartered or halved instead of thinly sliced.
Accompanying the veggie feature were a standard array of fillings, all included in the price. Refried beans, guacamole, lettuce, pico de gallo....all fresh and tasty enough. Next time I'd pass on the salsa though. It was simply too sweet and had that fresh off the shelf at Dominion quality.
Talking to the manager at King Burritos I get the sense he really knows his restaurant's place in the Toronto burrito hierarchy. He's trying to emulate the best of local faves like Burrito Boyz and Big Fat Burrito while aiming to keep the quality of ingredients high and prices competitive. While I give him kudos for adding a hard-to-find lamb ($7.99) burrito to the menu, it's just too bad he can't find a way to add fish or shrimp varieties.
Previously in this series: Burrito Fresh, Mexitaco and Burro Burrito
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It's perfectly reasonable to search for the best vegetarian burritos, but that is not the same thing as finding the best burritos overall.
Maybe I'm just bitter because all the burritos in Toronto suck, as compared to where I grew up (in California, where burritos were invented). If you really want good burritos, go here: http://www.costena.com/ .
The taste of meat never adds anything.
And yes, I agree that it should be titled "the search for the best veggie burrito in town".
For a good comparison of different fillings in the same burrito place, look at <a href="http://mividaentoronto.blogspot.com/2006/07/great-burrito-hunt-big-fat-burrito.html";>my review of Big Fat Burrito</a>, we went and bought one burrito of each kind, and then dissected them (before eating them).
I appreciate that some people are vegetarians. Eat whatever you want. But please understand that you are eating something that is quite different from what most of the world calls "a burrito".
As a side note, if anyone were to open a place that served true California burritos, all the rest of the burrito places in Toronto would go out of business. It would simply be impossible to eat a true California burrito and then return to what Toronto currently offers. I keep waiting for someone to do it.
After all, if a burrito joint is able to produce a good veggie burrito by using quality ingredients and by paying attention to the texture of the veggies aren't they more likely to put the same kind of attention to detail into the standard chicken or steak items?
I've tried the steak burrito at King Burrito and it was GOOD. I liked it a lot more than Burrito Boyz or Burro Burrito with their excessive sauces and long wait time, but yeah, if you're going to compare everything to <a href="http://www.burritophile.com/user_review.php?pid=3&;rid=666&uid=530" target="_blank">Taqueria Cancun</a> then what would even be the point?
Fish tacos are only eaten in the northwest part of Mexico, the one that is close to California (specifically, they were invented in Ensenada, they're eaten with cabbage, not lettuce). That's why people who have been to California know them. No one else in Mexico eats them. The rest of the country eats beef or pork tacos. But if you really want to eat like the majority of Mexicans, eat rice and beans. People are so poor that's all they can afford.
I've never seen the point of having a fish burrito --- all the dough and the other ingredients overwhelm the flavor of the fish. Better to keep it simple with fish.