Benito's Hat

Venue: Benito’s Hat, Goodge Street

Food: Burritos

Cost: £5-6

Rating: 82%

www.benitos-hat.com

Twitter: @BenitosChat

Serving up high-quality pork, chicken and steak burritos, Benito’s Hat always has huge queues (I overheard management talk of over 500 happy customers every day) and is definitely the no.1 burrito in this part of town. Packed to the rafters with beans, rice, generous meat offerings, salad, salsa, sour cream and of course guacamole, Benito’s Hat is a staple of my takeaway lunching roster and one of my favourite spots.

Given the queues, the Hat is astonishingly rapid and efficient, with the ultimate conveyor-belt of serving responsibilities – the 6-person team includes tortilla/beans provider; meat selector; two ingredient fillers; chief wrapper and cashier. Once you learn the system, you can direct the creation of your burrito from start to finish in less than 20 seconds.

The making of the burrito is very ‘manual’ and hands-on, which extends to a few ingredients being added with hands. I once witnessed an amusing standoff between shell-shocked staff and a slightly odd female customer who asked for her burrito to be completely filled using spoons rather than hands. Quite frankly I prefer mine manual. It adds to the homemade feel.

Some additional points that should be noted:

1. Too much rice makes you bloated and drastically reduces your ability to work after a burrito. Ask for a half-spoon of rice at most to improve workability
2. The munching of complimentary taco chips is a good way to stave off hunger before you can sit down to tuck in
3. 95% of the time Benito’s Hat burritos are perfectly wrapped, which is well above average
4. Always have guacamole
5. Benito’s Hat do a wheat-free option (best to tip them off beforehand I have found), as well as tacos, salads and vegetarian options, although quite why anyone would want a vegetarian burrito is beyond me!

And to the scores…the first-ever ‘double 10’ for taste and portion size says it all. Benito’s Hat only fails to score my highest ever mark due to its workability issues (which in a sense is a compliment!) and the prevalence of burrito joints (despite standing out from the crowded market).

Taste 10

Portion size 10

Service 8

Speed 9

Originality 6

Choice 8

Workability 5

Office response 10

Value for money 7

Brand 9

Overall: 82%