Dr. Frost-Rathbone and I decided to frequent Benito’s Hat in order to ply our trade of Burrito Benchmarking. Here are the preliminary results:
Environment
The Covent Garden branch of Benito’s Hat has a very pleasant interior. Bursts of colour everywhere and a very funky vibe. A mixture of high and standard tables and (as we visited in the evening) some rather nice mood lighting on tables and around them. I’m afraid the quality is rather poor but I have supplied pictures below.
Burrito’s At The Speed of Light
I would advise deciding on your fillings before you start your order at Benito’s Hat because the service moves fast. Really fast. I shall take proper recording equipment to analyse the phenomenal burrito creating speed more accurately on my next visit. I would estimate we went from ingredients to burrito in under 30 seconds – and this with my indecision slowing the process. Just what a hungry professor needed.
Stay Loose
Such phenomenal speed comes at a small price. The wrap was slightly looser than I would consider ideal. I should stress this is a very minor complaint provided you are eating sat down. It can be a bit of an issue for the burrito-on-the-go though, as a looser wrap will result in more fall out. (I can’t tell you how many of my neck ties have perished at the hands of a loose wrapper.)
You get out what you put in
Overall the ingredients were good. Both my pork and Dr Frost-Rathbone’s beef were slow-cooked to perfection – soft, succulent, flavourful meat. The medium-hot sauce delivered the sweet bright heat that can only be achieved with good quality peppers and had enough slow burning heat to add flavour without becoming overpowering. The guacamole was not the finest I’ve tasted, a little tart (possibly due to slightly under-ripe avocados) and in need of some punchier flavour. It was by no means unpleasant but lacked the umph of a great guac. Refried beans were good, but the black beans (not generally my favourite) were an unusually flavourful accompaniment to the beef. I have been converted to a black-beaner and will select them next time I visit Beneto’s Hat.
Conclusion
Overall, this was a fine burrito. The service was sterling – extremely expedient while still being genuinely friendly. A little accompaniment of tortilla chips was a simple but very enjoyable addition to our burritos. A few minor areas for improvement but I shall definitely return to Benito’s Hat.
Doing Your Own Burrito Research
If you’d like extend LBRI’s research on Benito’s Hat then they are here and here [gmaps] details are on their website and they’re also on Twitter at the rather pithily named Benito’s Chat. Do please share the findings of your research either in the comments below or you can tweet me here.