Poncho No 8 - Mexican cuisine

Summary

At St Paul's Poncho No 8

Snapshot
Cuisine:	Mexican – Burritos, tacos, nachos, salad.
Price:	Ranges from £5.90 - £6.50 Drinks from £1
Healthy:	Yes. Full of beans, rice and salad.
Tasty:	3.5/5
Address:	St Paul’s  11 Queens Head Passage, Paternoster Square, EC4M 7DZ  Spitalfield’s  5 Stewart Street,  E16AJ  Soho  32 Old Compton Street,  London  W1D 4TP
Opening times	St Paul’s Mon-Fri: 11am-9pm Spitalfield’s Mon-Fri:11am-8pm Soho Mon-Sat: TBC as this has opened recently.
Eat in/Takeaway:	Eat-in and take-away. Delivery available in Spitalfields now for orders over £15!
Recommended dishes	The focus is on the burritos. City Pig recommends trying all the fillings unless you are a vegetarian.
Vegetarian dishes	Yes but only one vegetarian option available.
Loyalty card	No loyalty card scheme.
Website	www.poncho8.com/

Lunch analysis

Poncho No 8 is a Mexican quick eat and it appears from the long stretches of people queuing from inside the shop that this is very popular with the city boys and girls. I anticipated this would be the case and was anxious to get a seat with my colleague.

We arrived at about 12:15pm on a Friday, and luckily we weren’t too far behind in the queue. At that stage, I was very eager to understand what was so good about Poncho No 8.

You can select from choosing burritos, tacos, nachos or a skinny box being just salad and then fill this up with one of the filling choices being chicken, pork, braised beef, steak, vegetarian option (chargrilled vegetables), followed by toppings that range from guacamole, jalapenos, sour cream spicy sauce or non-spicy sauce and rice and beans. Not to forget, the option of tomatoes and lettuce as well.

There was quite a lot in my burrito wrap, while I watch it being rolled up without the contents spilling out. I was worried how I would eat this in the most presentable way but was equally delighted that so much filling was jammed in.

I went for the pork burrito while my colleague tried the chicken burrito.

Poncho's Pork Burrito and guava drink

Poncho Pork Burrito

Chicken Burrito

Burritos are presented in foil and in a boat shaped container

Bowl of lime and hand gel to remove germs

The burritos were delicious, it was not oily or too salty, and it felt very fresh and homemade.  Each bite of my wrap, was filled with pork, salad, beans and rice and sauce which meant not much chatting got done as I was too busy munching away.

I tried the guava juice which was a small bottle but because it was only £1 I gave it a go. It was not too sweet and was a refreshing juice to go with the burrito. I have had guava juice and it is one of my favourite drinks but often find in London we are overcharged when paying for exotic fruit drinks.

The price for the drink is good compared to other eateries but maybe too small for the city boys and girls although, in particularly for the city boys! I think it is a new drink brought out and they are trialling the guava drink and size.

I am impressed by:

a)      A very hygienic eatery that has hand gel for consumers to wash their hands before eating.

b)     Clever marketing –all light green, the poncho no 8 bag, the hygienic spray and the bowl of limes!

c)      The staff are engaging – asking me if I would pay £1.50 for a bigger bottle of guava or happy with the small size.

d)      Most of all the food is fresh, tasty and healthy, lots of vegetables in my burrito. Helping my five a day!

Overall, this was a key winner for me.

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