The Best Burrito in Vancouver - Day 2

posted at 11:00 pm
on Oct. 14, 2008

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The Best Burrito in Vancouver, Day I

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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

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The Best Burrito in Vancouver, Day I

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The Best Burrito in Vancouver - Day 3