The Best Burrito in Vancouver - Day 2
posted at 11:00 pm
on Oct. 14, 2008
Previous entry:
The Best Burrito in Vancouver, Day I
Next entry:
The Best Burrito in Vancouver - Day 3
Well, today was better in some ways. Mostly non-burrito ways, but still.
We went to La Casita down in Gastown, and a very friendly waiter called me “friend” and brought us a basket of chips and salsa as we sat down. I felt so welcomed. The salsa was a puree, very spicy and very tasty with the crisp thin chips. Ah ha, I thought! This might be a winner!
For appetizer, Susie and I split ceviche in a sunday cup, which was delicious but not very Mexican unless I misremember my food geography. Still, hopes were high.
But then we hit a snag. The restaurant didn’t serve pork burritos. Alak! As an officer of science, I know that this introduces another variable into this experiment, making it even harder to truly say what’s the best burrito. I was extremely worried that, should this restaurant prove to be the tastiest, my finding might be challenged by the Academy of Burrito Science.
On the other hand, ehh, I was hungry. So I ordered the beef burrito just to see what would happen. Sure enough, a burrito came to my table, looking and smelling delicious.
The beef in it, though, was ground beef, which, while tasty and moist, just didn’t have the texture I was looking for. Spice-wise, Susie thought it was a little hot, and I thought it was too sweet and mild. Maybe we were both right. The tortilla itself was the right thickness, but a little too rubbery, which may have been more a matter of the content affecting it than the tortilla itself.
On top, there was a tremendous amount of delicious Monterey Jack cheese, and a chipotle sauce that was so creamy it could have used it as a facial moisturizer. Eating my way through it, I thought it was just all beef, but then came across a pocket of tomato and lettuce. Yum!
The plate came with: rice, which was more like a pilaf than Mexican rice, and had what I’d wager were frozen corn and peas in it; beans in their own bowl that were the consistency of oatmeal and about as memorable; and salad, which I ignore.
The background music was lovely, but it ran out about 2/3rds of the way through the meal and no one flipped the record. Quiet descended.
Overall, I was ready to give the burrito an 8/10, but then two things happened. First, I tried Susie’s fajitas. Which were, I have to say incredible. Totally perfectly seared, delightfully seasoned with peppers and cheese, and the corn tortillas underneath were amazing. So, a restaurant that can kick such serious fajita ass doesn’t get any sympathy from me if they can’t do a burrito.
Secondly, the bill came. The burrito was $14 and $2 for the chipotle sauce. $16 for ground beef better be some pretty damn good ground beef, and this wasn’t it. So I give it a 7/10. Next stop: Dona Cata on Victoria.
La Casita,
101 Cordova Street West
Vancouver, BC V6B 1E1, Canada
(604) 646-2444
Previous entry:
The Best Burrito in Vancouver, Day I
Next entry:
The Best Burrito in Vancouver - Day 3
