Death by Burrito

As locations for a new pop-up restaurant go, the basement of Catch probably wouldn’t have been first on most people’s lists. But then that’s why most people aren’t launching their own super-popular burrito joints. Having literally popped up in the last few months, Death by Burrito is doing a roaring trade.

Once the dingy, glorified cloakroom of Catch, Death by Burrito has swapped out the tat for a very respectable looking restaurant. Wooden booths line one side, propped up on a platform and behind a banister, while a long bar hugs the adjacent wall. The booths are cosy and – shock! – they can be reserved, a rarity among London’s hip new venues. If there’s no room for a table then a space at the bar beckons, which is equally intimate, only with the added benefit of some shot drinking, cocktail mixing, temporary tattoo wearing bar staff for company.

The menu is simple. Light bites include a scallop ceviche, which is too small and unable to allow its flavour to power through the citrus. And, a plate of crab cakes that are huge and so good that you’ll pity the person next to you eating that ceviche.

Main choices hang between burritos and tacos with a range of unfamiliar fillings. Braised pig cheek and crackling, beef rib and Baja fish and slaw all stand out from the heavily salted, stodge of this reviewer’s burrito past. But at £12.00 is it a high price to pay for a gourmet wrap accompanied by tortilla chips?

Thanks to the atmosphere in here you’d have to say no. A pool table in the back, lively, (and more importantly) friendly staff and a frozen apricot, tequila cocktail that will convert even the staunchest blueberry Slush Puppy fans are all endearing qualities. And at £6.50, the cocktails make up for the price of the mains.

Death by Burrito is a lot of fun and their take on what is essentially gourmet comfort food is a real winner. Perhaps death by burrito wouldn’t be your ideal way to go, but we’d take it.