Burritos & Blues
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Location:
2 Wexford St
Visited:
about 1 year ago
Reviewed by:
Tom Lowe
Rating:
Recent months have seen a glut of quick Mexican eateries open in the city centre. Boojum blew in from Belfast, bringing hefty portions and a dynamite €6 student deal, while Pablo Picante, the cartoon luchador conceived by former ad-man Colm MacNamara, feeds suits from the corner of Baggot St, with a Grafton Street-adjacent location rumoured to be opening in October. Undoubted victories for the burrito aficionado (read: me), but none so great as the return of Burritos & Blues, under new management after its altogether dingier premises in Ranelagh closed in 2008, much to the vexation of the village’s young population.
I dropped in after the lunch rush on a Thursday afternoon to see if the newly-renovated spot on Wexford Street lives up to my rose-tinted memories of the original. Although the blues-rock music piping through the speakers hasn’t changed much, the menu certainly has: rather than a list of different burritos, the new Burritos & Blues asks the customer to choose their fillings, à la Boojum, offering little guidance for the burrito newbie.
The only obvious relic of the brand’s ancient renown is the Silver Bullet (€5.95), once Burritos & Blues’ flagship offering. The “Blow Your Head Off” salsa was sadly unavailable due to a shortage of green tomatoes, so I was offered a finely chopped habanero pepper in its place—an offer that no macho burrito connoisseur could refuse. Immediately reminiscent of the Silver Bullet of yore, the salsa was chunky and fresh, but lacking in the burn of its predecessor (though the bonus habanero certainly helped in this regard). The meat was, just as before, straightforwardly delicious and filling, and the cooling guacamole and sour cream took some of the fire out of the capsicum-heavy yellow chili.
Unfortunately, the tortilla was too thick, a small complaint that only really concerns the first and last bites. I also regrettably included unnecessary grated cheddar cheese and raw white onion. Those minor complaints aside, the freshness of the ingredients coupled with the generosity of the portions makes the Silver Bullet an attractive and hearty option.
Thanks to its bar-adjacent location, Burritos & Blues is the first of Dublin’s burrito joints to be able to cater to the post-pub crowd—it opens until 4am on weekends. Recommended for the bleary-eyed reveller are the Big Ass Nachos (€8), chips with the toppings of your choice—I suggest guacamole, any salsa, cheese, sour cream and jalapenos. It’s a perfect choice to share with a fellow carouser, although it’s a messy option, so to be avoided if you’re attempting any late-night persuasion of the opposite sex.
With two of the Ranelagh incarnation’s core staff, Fahima and Adnan, returning to fill your wraps and your stomach, and proprietor David Stone a relative of a member of the original management, it’s fair to say that Burritos & Blues is very much back in business: but this time with a better location and interior, and the experience that working in a failed restaurant yields. Little more than a fortnight after opening its doors, the quality of the food competes with its more established neighbours, although many problems still need to be ironed out, not least of which the confused and inefficient floor plan. Business already seems to be good for Wexford Street’s newest lunch spot: hopefully this time Burritos & Blues is here to stay.
