While walking through the aisles of a mall's food court, one would see a plethora of stalls selling everything from traditional South Indian to American food. But find a Mexican restaurant or outlet you will not, at least not in Chennai, until now that is.
California Burrito that has its outlet in Express Avenue offers Mexican food that is closer to its roots and we had to have to sample them. Upon arriving at the venue, we began with Snachos with Guacamole dip and a Peach iced tea. The nachos was crispy and tasted great, while the iced tea gave us the refreshment needed with such a snack.
Then came the Popcorn mushroom with a chipotle mayonnaise, which is a must try. Getting mushroom this crispy is an art and the boffins at California Burrito have managed to do exactly that. Having gobbled the popcorn rather quickly, we turned out attention to another highlight of the menu, the Quesadilla. We tried the Mexican corn fiesta which was soft and juicy, with the right amount of heat.
Having sipped some Pink Lemonade, we got the big guns from the menu, specifically the Crispy peri peri chicken rice bowl, Chipotle crispy chicken taco and the BBQ Chicken Burrito. Of the trio, the BBQ Chicken Burrito was the best, while the rice bowl came a close second.
Do note that for the mains, one can choose between a burrito, tacos, a rice bowl, salad and nachos which will form the base. Having decided upon that, you get to choose either veg or non-veg fillings and then decide your toppings. You can go further by customising the dish with extras like Cheesy queso, Crushed corn chips and more.
There's a reason why you get to decide what to have in your dish. Bert Mueller, the co-founder of California Burrito, said California Burrito wants to serve everybody, including vegans and added, "providing options for vegetarians is really important."
The entrepreneur, who went viral for promoting his business in the local language, said he did so because he is "a great fan of the Tamil language." "Some of our oldest and dearest employees are from Tamil Nadu and one of our investors is from Chennai," he quipped.
According to Bert, Indian and Mexican food have quite a few similarities. "We are not bringing something alien to the market. But, over time, we will come up with new dishes for India, including a new batch of products which will come in about a month and provide a bit more heat," he said. We, for one, can't wait to try them out.
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