Adobo

Mexicans take pride in the critique of authentic mexican food. SURPRISE this is better than the Mexican food found in the states. It had a Chipotle flair but with true mexican authencity. I loved this food. I would give it 5 stars but it’s not a sit down resturant. This place has a fast food vendor line only, which worked out because I took my order back to the hotel.

I’m a big fan of Mexican food, and the growing popularity is obvious here as within a three minute walk you can easily reach Adobo, Picante Mexican Grill as well as a street food vendor doing burritos down Strutton Ground. The truth is, they all have positives and negatives (although to be fair, mostly positives!) but here is my summary of my experiences at Adobo.
I mostly stick to «naked» burritos — basically the contents of a burrito in a box, not because of any wheat or gluten intolerance, but because it’s simply a great deal less messier to eat at my desk! Adobo do a good box — it’s literally stuffed to the brim to the extent that I no longer get soured cream when I order here because it ends up smeared all over the lid as it’s usually the last thing to be added which has caused a mess at my desk before.
If you’re coming here for the first time, then pay the extra and get the beef barbacoa — it’s simply excellent. You can also pay extra and get chorizo added to anything, although I haven’t yet. I’ve also tried the pork which is good, but the chicken was a little dry when I had it last (the stall on Strutton Ground does an amazing chicken and chorizo tinga).
You get to choose two salsas which makes it a bit more interesting if you’re having it pretty much like a salad as I do — I really like the corn salsa, it’s something a little different that no other chains do.
So all in all, a fine place that really gives you some volume for your money. I’m a big guy and I struggle to finish a box when I get it from these guys, in fact I think I’ve only ever done it once.

Adobo’s opening of a second London outlet in Victoria underlines just how strong the market for Mexican food is now in the area. Five years ago there were no specialist burrito places in Victoria or Pimlico: now there are four. As such, Adobo is relatively late to the area, and has made the striking decision to pitch its entry within a stone’s throw of the most successful and popular burrito joint of the existing three, Picante. Bold, or foolish?
It’s a difficult question to answer, characterised by a battle between the promise of Adobo’s innovative yet unpolished young pretender versus the confident veteran of Picante. I think that Picante’s burritos currently best Adobo’s, mostly through being more consistent. Some of the early burritos I had at Adobo got the balance of hot versus cold fillings wrong, such that the burrito was cooler in temperature than ideal. More recently though Adobo has been doing better here. Adobo also deserves credit for having a few tricks up its sleeves that Picante lacks, like the option to have a wholewheat tortilla wrap (for 30p extra), chorizo slices in one’s burrito (£1 extra) or a smaller burrito. I particularly like the variety in size: the fact is that sometimes one isn’t that hungry, so having the option of a smaller burrito is welcome. Prices meanwhile are about the same between the two shops i.e. £6 for a basic burrito.
As such, marking Adobo’s efforts are difficult at present. On one hand they’re still a little rough around the edges. But on the other hand I’ve been three times now and they’re definitely getting better. For me they’re teetering on 3.5 at the moment, which I’m going to round up to 4.