Lunch at The Burrito Bar, South Bank

The Burrito Bar at South Bank Parklands
5/167 Grey Street, Southbank

I would have never called myself a huge fan of Mexican food but in the past few months, the desire for a burrito or a bowl of chili con carne has emerged at unsuspecting moments. Let's blame Guzman Y Gomez. Even though I wasn't absolutely blown away by it when I first tried, the concept of clean and fresh Mexican (verses over-processed and cheesy) has really grown on me.

Marc and I tried to go to the Burrito Bar a while back but they weren't open... even though according to the trading hours, they should've been open. We ended up going to Ginga on that occasion but I was still curious to try the Burrito Bar. Yes, it was the funky graffiti art and colourful furniture that appealed to me. I'm easily swayed.

This time, the doors were open and we got in. I spent some time studying the menu since there were quite a few options despite it being a considerably 'fast food' venue. The dining style is sit-down but casual, along the same vein as Grill'd.

The ultimate Mexican burrito - with grilled chicken and steak, rice, black beans, salsa, cheese, pico de gallo and guacamole

Marc ordered the ultimate Mexican burrito. It was stuffed with rice, black beans, chicken and guacamole. Marc complained that it wasn't spicy at all but I saw on the menu that it says 'mild' in brackets so I don't think it was supposed to be. I tried some and was unimpressed. There was too much rice and I found my own burrito much more flavorsome.

Fajita - with authentic salsa verde, sauteed onion and capsicum, el original guacamole, lime rice and grilled chicken

My pick was the fajita. I didn't really understand the way the menu was laid out and ordered the fajita thinking it was a completely different entity to the burrito. I remember that they were different products from Old El Paso's cook at home packs but I suppose that's hardly the authority on Mexican food terminology. The reason why I didn't want a burrito is because I know burritos contain rice and I hate rice. In any case, whatever a fajita is supposed to be, mine was like a 'burrito' with a spicy, tomato-based chicken filling and guacamole. Despite it's rice content, I thought it was quite tasty.

The burritos we had at The Burrito Bar were quite good. I wasn't blown away by Marc's ultimate Mexican but I liked my own fajita well enough. I'm keen to try the other menu items because it is a funky little space to grab a bite in South Bank parklands.