Sherman's Food Adventures: Budgies Burritos

Budgies Burritos

Let's face it, there are not many places to go for a good burrito in the GVRD. Sure, there's Taco Del Mar (which I actually like); but you'll get the usual people pointing out that it's a fast food chain. Okay, whatever the case, at least it is not Taco Bell nor Taco Time. Sure, there is Dona Cata; however, they only have one burrito on their menu (from what I can remember). I can go through a whole bunch of Mexican restaurants in town and the story will all be the same - either it is not very good or it's not worth the price. However, there is one place where you will find a pretty good burrito for a low price. Okay, let me get this out of the way before the "authentic burrito police" come knocking on this post - the burritos at Budgies aren't exactly "authentic'. However, they do not advertise as such and really, if it tastes good, who really cares?

On my way home from a doctors appointment, it was getting late and I needed to grab some dinner for Viv and myself. Since I was nearby, I paid a visit to Budgies Burritos. The first thing you'll notice when you walk into the place is the hipster vibe. From the unique artwork down to the minimalistic decor, it's got a certain grunge, punk, anti establishment, and hippie air to it. There could be something else in the air; but I won't speculate on that... I walked up to the order window and a very mellow dude took my order. He wrote down my choices on a small little whiteboard that he later passed to the "burrito-maker". One thing you need to know before I go on... The food here is vegetarian. Okay cue the dramatic music. Yes, I am eating a vegetarian burrito. No, my doctor didn't suddenly condemn meat in my diet; rather, I really wanted to see if these burritos would be good without meat. Honest!

The JameDog caught my eye with it's garlic roasted potatoes, rice, beans, cheese, chipotle sour cream, lettuce and salsa. There is a choice between refried beans and black beans. I chose the former. Wanting a kick in my burrito, I opted for chipotle salsa. I picked up the Henry for Viv which consisted of tofurkey sausage, rice, beans, cheese, sour cream, salsa and lettuce. To make it easy, I chose the refried beans and chipotle salsa for her as well. There are 2 sizes available, a 10" and a 12" (different of $1.00). Guess which size I got? The 12" of course!!! I've been told that upon leaving, make sure they got your order right and that you got the right amount of change. Apparently, mistakes are common. For me, no mistakes at all and the service was friendly.

So how were the burritos? First off, they are quite large, the thing weighs a tonne! Definitely good value for the $7.50 each. Second, especially with the chipotle salsa, they were not devoid of flavour or spice. Even the tofurkey was pretty darn good. Will never mistaken it for meat; but it had a good bite to it and had a nice texture. The potatoes in my burrito were soft, but not mushy. However, after awhile trying Viv's, I think the Henry was better because of the tofurkey. Definitely not a "wow" eating experience; but it was satisfying, inexpensive and I did not have any meat urges.

The Good:
- Burritos are quite large and heavy
- You really don't miss the meat (at least I didn't)
- Good value

The Bad:
- I guess if you're dead set on eating meat, then move along
- From other people, it looks like that mistakes happen here

Budgies Burritos on Urbanspoon

5 comments:

holly said...

If you like burritos, Red Burritos on Commercial and lst have a pretty good one. They have chicken, beef and shrimp versions and they are also loaded with rice, beans, etc. It's pretty filling. They make their own taco chips too, which are pretty tasty.

The only drawback is parking. I think they have other locations too.

Sherman Chan said...

Thanks for the tip Holly. I've heard conflicting opinions on the Red Burrito, I guess I have to try it to find out!

Anonymous said...

What do you mean by "exactly" authentic? They don't look authentic to me! --Burrito Police

Sherman Chan said...

Burrito Police... it was a typo, thanks for pointing it out... they are not authentic, that's what I meant, if you look at the context I put it in...

egirlwonder said...

I'll second the Red Burrito recommendation... though I don't like being charged extra for cheese.
I had a chicken one with green chile sauce - the cilantro made a world of difference, really brightening up the flavour.

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