Mucho Burrito Celebrates Cinco de Mayo

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Sean

Mucho Burrito, the fastest growing Mexican restaurant chain in Canada, today launched its fourth annual Cinco de Mayo celebration. As part of the fiesta, Mucho Burrito will send one lucky customer to Mexico! Five dollar burritos will be featured on Saturday, May 5 along with daily deals throughout the first week of May at 45 Mucho Burrito locations across Canada.

“We’re excited to add some spice to spring by celebrating Cinco de Mayo with Canadians,” said Alex Rechichi, CEO and president of Mucho Burrito “With the rising popularity of Mexican cuisine in Canada, commemorating this important day in Mexico’s history is a great way to experience more of the country’s rich, vibrant culture.”

To kick-off the fiesta, Mucho Burrito will be offering in-store deals with the purchase of an entree, including:

Monday, April 30 – Free can of pop, tortillas & salsa item
Tuesday, May 1 – Buy two tacos and get one free
Wednesday, May 2 – Free cookie
Thursday, May 3 – Free Guacamole
Friday, May 4 – Free Tortillas & Salsa

Mucho Burrito will reward one lucky guest with a trip to Mexico for sharing their “Mucho Experience” on Mucho Burrito’s Facebook page. To enter, guests simply upload an image of themselves having a great in-store dining experience. By uploading their photo, guests also have a chance to win a $25 gift card, each day for the month of May. Ten finalists will be announced on June 4, 2012, and Facebook fans will have a week to vote on their favourite photo. The contest winner will be announced on June 11, 2012.

Full contest details are available at http://www.facebook.com/MuchoBurrito.

Cinco de Mayo marks the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over French forces led by Napoleon himself in the Battle of Puebla in 1862. While well-known in the U.S., the fifth of May is just gaining popularity in Canada as a celebration of Mexican culture and cuisine. Mucho Burrito is marking the historic occasion nationwide at its locations in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Vancouver, and surrounding communities.

A Tale Of 3 Chicken Sandwiches

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Sean

Lately I’ve noticed that I eat a lot of sandwiches when I’m out so here is a brief sampling of 3 of the latest chicken sammy’s I’ve chowed down on lately.

First up is the cheapest out of the bunch, it’s Mc Donald’s new “McBistro” line of chicken sandwiches and came in at $5.99 before taxes. I chose the crispy version of this because I was of the understanding that it was a new version of the crispy breast they had before but the sandwich I got from my local Mickey D’s had the old breast and came packaged in the old line of sandwich boxes but was on the new whole wheat bun, I went with the BLT version out of the 3 choices, the tomatoes could have been fresher and I took them off after taking the picture~you could tell they weren’t sliced that day and the chicken was really tough. In the end it was a meh kinda sandwich and let’s just say I wont be having another one~there pretty much the same line of “Supreme” sandwiches they had previous but just on a different bun.

Next up and in the middle position price wise is the Fatburger Classic Grilled Chicken Sandwich, it was the special of the day so the combo ended up only costing me $9.79 plus tax. I’ve never had the grilled chicken sandwich at Fatburger before, the chicken breast was nicely seasoned with a lemon pepper blend and had a nice tang, it was juicy and tender, toppings wise it was kept simple with lettuce, tomato, mayo and pickles. I must say that I really like the fries here compared to other fast food places, there crisp and tender on the inside and seasoned with a bit of salt, also there cooked to order which makes all the difference.

Lastly we have The Big Chick from Vera’s Burger Shack over in Kits, again I stopped in on the day when all combo specials were available so the combo ended up costing me around $12 after taxes. The Vera’s crew marinade this chicken breast in bourbon and the burger is topped with sautéed onions, provolone cheese and bacon, veggie wise it had lettuce, tomato and a pickle. I’ve had this before when I first tried Vera’s and it’s a good chicken sandwich but for some reason this one refused to stay in the bun and the chicken breast slid out more with each bite so needless to say this gets the messiest sandwich award. On a flavor note I’d suggest getting cheddar or something else as the cheese on this because the provolone totally dominated this and it wasn’t a good thing. My meal also came with fries and a drink, the fries here are hand cut and fried to order but the ones that I got needed to be cooked more and lacked seasoning so 2/3 of the basket were not eaten but at the end of the day it’s not about the fries and the chicken sandwich was good and the quality of the toppings were there.

So out of the 3 sandwiches I’ve mentioned the one at Fatburger is the one that I’d go back for or eat instead of a burger, the seasoning on the chicken was unlike I’ve had at any other place in Vancouver and definitely made the sandwich standout against the others.

Mucho Burrito-Fast Casual in the West End

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Sean

Mucho Burrito opened its doors in the summer of 2011 and the people are eating up the fresh take on take on Texmex classics. With locations across Canada and some in the states it’s a better option than Taco Bell or Taco Time-these guys here are cooking real food here right in front of your eyes so you know your not getting any mystery meat here!

Here is what there all about according to their website:

“Get ready to change your tune about what you think Mexican food is! Mucho Burrito™ hits just the right notes with our made-to-order gourmet Mexican menu. Just one taste of our hand-rolled burritos, tacos and quesadillas will tell you how much effort we put into our mouthwatering products. We’ve put a fresh gourmet spin on Mexican food! Our tender “barbacoa” (shredded beef) and “carnitas” (shredded pork) are slow-cooked (about 8 hours!), retaining the tantalizing flavor of the Mexican seasonings we amply apply. There’s a reason these meats are marinated overnight – it’s called “succulent!” Delicious salsas and guacamole are made daily. Mucho Burrito™ offers it all in a bright, fun contemporary atmosphere you’re sure to love.”
Johnny Mucho

I will say it was refreshing to see real meats being grilled in the open kitchen and veggies being sautéed in fresh batches as needed for the burritos and other dishes-something you don’t usually see at fast food restaurants.

This review is based on a couple visits, on my 1st visit I went with the 12″ medium Barbacoa burrito with guacamole for .99 cents extra and a side of black bean and corn salsa with tortilla chips for $2.09 more, they also have a selection of Mexican soda’s-Jarritos, that I quite like so I grabbed a pineapple soda.

One think I will say is that this meal came out to just about 15 bucks-a bit on the expensive side for a meal for one but the ingredients were really fresh and it tasted just fine, the beef was flavorful and melt in your mouth tender. It was packed with ingredients and then grilled in a press resulting in a crisp top and bottom but on the other hand it was a pain and a mess to eat and ended up falling apart.

They have a selection of salsas you can add to your burrito-I went with the green tomatillo, it was pretty mild and you can also add fresh chopped jalapeño for some spice then if you want more heat they have a selection of hot sauces up front for your enjoyment.

The black bean and corn salsa that I chose is one of the options to have in your burrito so it wasn’t a wet salsa like you would expect so eating it with the chips was a bit hard and it’s better off used in the dishes, they had the traditional mild,medium and hot salsas to choose from for your chips, the chips were hot and fresh and fried on site I think, packaged up in little brown paper bags and placed in a warming cabinet up front, it was a nice touch from just plain old cold bagged tortilla chips.

On my 2nd visit I decided to go with what I would usually have-a burrito salad for $8.99, this time I chose the carnitas-slow roasted shredded pork-one of my favorites. Again I went with pretty much the same stuff as I had in the burrito but the rice is replaced with lettuce, you also can choose your beans-pinto or black-in both cases I went with black beans. This was a good meal and was just what I was expecting, the pork was flavorful and tender. Again my meal came in at the $13 mark after taxes.

To wash it all down I chose a grapefruit Jarritos and I’d recommend it to anyone-it’s super refreshing and tastes just like the pop named Squirt that is sold in the USA.

With the choices in meats-they even have chorizo as a choice and the quality if the proteins Mucho Burrito is set apart from similar TexMex fast food places but the price for a meal won’t have me coming back when there are better price options for me closer to my apartment but it’s a good option if you work in the area or are just looking for a quick TexMex meal.

Tossed

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Sean

A new option for healthy quick eats has opened it’s doors in the Downtown core and I wouldn’t call it fast food but rather good food fast. The Tossed chain is from the USA and the location in downtown Vancouver is the first and only in Canada.

The interior is bright and modern and goes with the healthy eating concept, the food is prepared when you order it but everything is packed to go~even if your eating in, you can order online for pickup in advance right now but eventually going to get there online ordering system to the point where they will deliver your food to you in your office downtown, they also do catering.

The menu is really diverse compared to other options like this in the fast casual market, they offer custom made salads as well as chef created choices, soups, sandwiches, panini, smoothies and desserts as well as something I haven’t seen before-fat free, whole wheat buttermilk crepe wraps.

On my first visit I was served by the owner of the location, he was very helpfully with suggestions and answered any questions I had.

I went with the Turkey Crepe Wrap for $7.95, it had smoked turkey, smoked bacon, romaine hearts and chopped tomato with mayo.

It was a was a good lunch but the smoked bacon flavor over took the wrap and the turkey flavor was muted, as for the crepe as a wrap I really like it compared to a tortilla, the texture and flavor were light and showcased the ingredients in the wrap. Your wrap comes in some white paper-keep it on and peal it down as eating otherwise your wrap will be a mess to eat-I removed the paper to get a photo and have learned my lesson, also you might want to not get them to cut it in half and eat it like a burrito.

On my 2nd visit I went with something I saw on There Is Always Room , Heather raved about the soups here and I had to try them-I love some good soup, they had Mushroom Bisque or Chicken Noodle, I went with the bisque as part of there Tossed 2 combo for $7.95, you get your choice of daily soup or 1/2 salad (Caesar, spinach or vegetarian) and 1/2 a sandwich or panini.

The soup was totally delicious, it had a mix of wild mushrooms in it including shitaki, the flavor of the broth was nice and rich in a good mushroom way, it wasn’t a creamy mushroom soup that’s for sure~I licked my bowl clean and would order a large bowl of this again.

I chose the roast beef sandwich for my main on multigrain bread, it had baby arugula, roasted red peppers and thousand island dressing. It was one good sandwich, the bread was nice soft yet it totally held together, the thousand island dressing was light in taste and worked with all the ingredients~something I never would have put on a sandwich, the arugula and roasted peppers provided a nice savory note and were a nice change from the typical lettuce and tomato for a roast beef sandwich.

I think Tossed is a great healthy option that fits with the lifestyle of a lot of people who live in Vancouver, they also offer a gluten free menu, it’s a great addition to the Vancouver Good Food Fast Scene!

You can order and check out there menu online by clicking here

Fat Burger on Denman St

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Sean

Fat Burger is an American chain that has made its way up to Canada about 4 or 5 years ago. With a location on Denman street it’s not far away from my place but to be honest I made a visit here right after they opened years ago and they had a bit of a different menu~and it wasn’t a good thing, the prices for a burger, fries and a drink were over $14 and the value for money wasn’t there, I made the decision not to come back~till a couple weeks ago!

The decor inside is very American Diner and the walls are adorned with record albums from classic American artists and each location has a Wurlitzer Jukebox and the seating consists of booth type seating and some tables.

I ordered up their “Big Fat Deal”, it consisted of a bacon double cheeseburger, an order of their skinny fries and bottomless fountain drinks for $9.99. This was a better priced option that what I had before and made a lot more sense to me for value for money.

After placing your order at the counter your burger is cooked fresh so they give you a number and bring out your meal to your table when it’s ready~nice touch in my eye’s. They have all the usual condiments at the table as well as their brand of MSG free seasoning, I like the fact it’s MSG free but it’s still high in unnecessary salt so use it sparingly.

After waiting for 5 minutes my food was delivered to my table, it’s a nice amount of food and the burger looked like a classic bacon double cheese and would satisfy any burger lover.

The fries here have changed since my first visit~the potato skins are new and they are a bit thicker now, still they were good fries~not soggy and well seasoned but as I got to the bottom of the container they were soft from sitting.

My burger on the other hand was just what a bacon double cheese should be and it definitely kicks the Golden Arches in the butt!, the bun was soft yet it held together throughout the eating of the burger.

It was almost like my burger had a bacon tongue!, the burger size here is very similar to Nimby Burger in Kits, there not as big as Vera’s Burgers but still I didn’t walk away hungry.

With a good meal on this visit I’d come back and try them again, the restaurant is also really kid friendly, while I was eating dinner a coupe Grandparents came in with 3 little ones and the staff hooked them up with toys to draw on and keep them occupied while waiting for dinner and it totally worked and the kids were quiet with Grandma and Grandpa smiling away!

Gyudon Ya

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Sean

Gyudon Ya opened it’s big wooden doors last year and I’ve passed by it a million times. They serve up Japanese fast food in the form of donburi rice bowls or in other words~Japanese rice bowl or dish.

It’s usually packed at lunchtime with office workers getting a quick lunch and is generally slower on the weekends so when I was walking past on a Saturday I stopped in to give them a try.

This place used to be a little cafe for many, many years and these guy’s took it over just over a year ago. The seating inside is limited to the bar and the window bar behind that, there are a couple of 2-top tables but that’s it. I wasn’t a fan of what they did with the place~it looked kinda dirty or “grungy” looking.

Food wise I went with something that totally sounded good:

The “grilled” beef short rib bowl, the quotes I used were also on the menu like that so it should have been a warning sign!, I chose to make it a value meal and my choices were kind of limited~potato salad or cabbage salad and miso soup

the cabbage salad was a total miss, the mix was a bag coleslaw mix and it wasn’t very fresh and the dressing had a sweet taste to it that I couldn’t put my finger on. The miso soup would have been OK but for the fact they put so much kombu in it that it wasted like the ocean.

My “grilled” Short Rib bowl consisted of 90% rice and about 10 thin slices of beef that has an odd rubbery texture to them and a sweet sauce in them, I don’t think they were freshly “grilled” and I have no clue why they use quotes around the word grilled other than to mean “grilled like?”, there was also some Japanese pickles and lettuce as well in the bowl but like I said~it was mostly rice.

With all the good food in this city it really stands out to me when I get a bad meal and boy I can say I didn’t feel good after eating this, I don’t think I’ll be back.

Rasoee Indian Kitchen on Robson

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Sean

One of the new franchises to open this year has been Rasoee, serving up Indian food in a modern environment with a few twists on some of the classic Indian dishes is what sets them apart from what else is on the market.

I was lucky enough to have won a free regular size curry bowl and a free “small bite” or in other words~appetizer from there weekly twitter contest so I headed off to the location I’m near the most~Robson Street and chow on some curry!

I went with a bowl of beef curry on basmati rice it usually goes for $7.49 on the menu.

The curry bowl was a decent size and the chunks of beef were on the large size, the curry itself was OK, the flavor of it was kind of one note and the meat was lacking the flavor of being stewed and cooked in the curry like I’ve had at other Indian places and one thing that I didn’t like was the sounds of a microwave being set when my meal was being prepared evident by this

the meat was lukewarm in the middle and kind of tough~in a nuked kind of way. I think next time I’ll stick to chicken or totally vegetarian.

This is the small bite I chose, they call these Potato Tikkis, again they go for $2.99 for 2 pieces and they comes with a side of Rasoee Indian ketchup.

They are vegetarian and filled with ground chickpeas, spices and potato and the outside is light and crispy. I really enjoyed these on their own but I didn’t like the Indian ketchup~it had the taste of strawberry jam for some reason and it was too spicy for my tastes.

At the end of the day my meal was OK from Rasoee and I’ll still keep them on my list of quick eats when I’m in the area.

Steamrollers on Robson Street

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Sean

Steamrolls has been serving up there fresh and healthy take on burritos in Vancouver for over 10 years now.

Your food is assembled in front of you with freshly prepared meats, vegetables and sauces daily and they use steam to cook everything. I’ve been eating off and on there for half of that time and the one thing I keep coming back to is the Original Wet Burrito. If you want you can get any burrito made into a salad bowl or “roller bowl” as they call it and you can add beef or chicken for $2.

This is the Original Wet Burrito for $7.45 + $2 for chicken. It’s definitely called the wet for a reason!, it’s a flour tortilla, spanish rice, pinto beans, jack cheese, lettuce, guacamole, garlic yogurt sauce and bathed in their mole sauce. The mole here is on the sweet side but it is quite flavorful and works with the ingredients in the burrito and it’s definitely a knife, fork and spoon type of dish.

Steamrollers have a ton of other menu options for breakfast, lunch and dinner and do seasonal specials like a turkey burrito around Thanksgiving and Christmas, follow them on twitter @steamrollers

The Market Grill on Granville Island

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Sean

On my quest for good burgers around the city~or whatever city I’m in for that matter I’m always on the look out, one of the places that has been around for a while is the Market Grill located in the main eating area at the Granville Island Public Market.

The style of the place is straight up 80′s and hasn’t changed since they opened I’d venture to say but that’s all good because I’m here for the food!.

The menu is good old-fashioned beef, chicken burgers balanced with a side of salmon, veggie hot dog and sausage options if you’re not looking for that traditional burger, I also see they offer breakfast here as well.

I’ve stuck to the beef burgers mainly here but on one visit I met a lady next to me from California who had the salmon burger and she said it was petty good.

The Market Special $9.25, mushrooms, onions, special sauce, swiss cheese and tomato served with wedge fries. This was a really good burger, the flame grilled parry had that great charbroiled flavor, the mushrooms and grilled onions added a nice moisture to the burger and the bun held up nicely. The fries here are wedge style and have a great crisp outside with a nice fluffy middle and are nicely salted~great fries at this joint that’s for sure.

The Deluxe Classic $8.15, loaded with relish, onion, pickle, mustard, mayo and tomato’s. This was their standard burger I take it and the meat on this occasion was kind of dry and the chunks of onion took away from the burger. On the bright side~the fries were great again!.

I’m looking forward to trying the Californian burger, other than that I’d suggest the Market Special if you’re looking for something really good and a solid burger.

Mc Donalds new Supreme Chicken Sandwiches

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Sean

Mc Donald’s Canada has launched a new line of premium or as they say “supreme” chicken sandwich’s this August. Coming in 3 different flavor combinations~Tangy Thai, Mushroom and Swiss and the classic chicken BLT~both available in crispy or grilled.

The sandwiches are oblong and the in this case the crispy chicken patty~I don’t know if I can call it a breast

it was all white meat and not the same texture as the Mc Chicken patty but at the end of the day it was an enjoyable eat and nicely seasoned.

As you can see I went with the crispy BLT sandwich $5.81 incl HST for the sandwich alone

the sandwich is a good size even if you’re a big eater, it’s on a soft tender bun that is special for the supreme sandwich line and its all nicely wrapped so you don’t wear it!

This ended up being a great chicken BLT and I really enjoyed my sandwich, I’d definitely order this one again.

The next day I stopped into the same Mc Donald’s that I got the above sandwich from and picked up the Swiss Mushroom Melt with the crispy chicken patty, this time there was a different crew working at the store~it was the Canada fire works at the Celebration Of Light so they were also busy, that being said this is that greeted me when I opened the box:

not wrapped nicely like this one:

so I peeled back the wrapping like a crappy Christmas gift:

now having worked in fast food in my teenage years this sad-looking “supreme” chicken sandwich screams “WHO PUT ME TOGETHER HATES THERE JOB!!”, the sandwich was sloppily put together, the lettuce was brown, wilted and frankly gross~I took it off and thus most of the sauce came off with it and half the cheese was in the box.

After doing some plastic surgery to my food I ate a couple bites, I wasn’t as happy this time as I was when I had the BLT, the mushrooms on this tasted like they were out of a can~limp and really soft, I went to put my sandwich down and then noticed this on the underside of the wrapper:

not what I like in my food, keep your hair on your body whoever cooked my food and head back for retraining at head office because you can’t make food to spec.

This all being said I’m going to wait to get the Thai sandwich when the regular crew is working and my Swiss sandwich is where it belongs~in the garbage.

Updated Post:

so it’s the next day and things are back to normal in the West End after the fireworks. I stopped in and grabbed a Tangy Thai Supreme Sandwich, I was hoping for a better experience and here it is in pictures:

someone missed the demo on how to build new sandwiches!

whats under the hood?

REALLY!, roasted red peppers and 4 1/2 moon cucumber slices topped off with sweet Thai chilli sauce.

overall not taking appearance into account because if it was made text-book I still wouldn’t have liked it, it was crying for some lettuce and some kind of mayo to cut the chilli sauce. This was my least favorite sandwich and crispy is the way to go with these bad boys~the patty fits the bun better. Also below is a lesson why these sandwiches should be wrapped in the paper the are supposed to come in:

it’s freaking messy and the ingredients fall out~not good when 50% of the veg falls into the box but hey~there wasn’t any hair in my food this time!. To see properly made sandwiches check Foodology.ca and Diana’s take on Mc Donald’s new offering’s.