Bad Manners
Mexican restaurant · Shoreditch ·
Breakfast burritos, tacos al pastor, gorditas, and coffee
Breakfast burritos, tacos al pastor, gorditas, and coffee
"We were huge fans of Bad Manners’ old Hackney location. And Shoreditch locals are the lucky neighbours of this Mexican cafe’s new home. If it’s anything like the original spot you can expect excellent sausage burritos, birria tacos, and baja fish numbers." - sinead cranna, rianne shlebak
"Ignore its name, Bad Manners is a pleasant choice for a wolf-it-down breakfast or lunch around Shoreditch. The burrito spot is set up in a gleaming Airstream on the grounds of Shoreditch Church, where bleary-eyed media nodes can pick up a coffee and a comfortingly gooey egg and bean burrito. These breakfast burritos, along with a sausage option, are compelling but could do with leaning heavier on the egg, and perhaps the introduction of bacon—which is always welcome if you’ve made the bold choice to eat a burrito for breakfast and wave your productivity goodbye. The lunchtime beef barbacoa is similarly tasty, if a little stodgy with white rice, but Bad Manners’ array of tingling sauces takes everything up a notch. The salsa verde and salsa de arbol are particularly good and the tortillas, glistening and translucent in parts, are excellent. Food Rundown Sausage Burrito A folded omelette, a smushed sausagemeat patty, gooey american cheese, and the wreckage of some tater tots is a great combination. The red salsa is great and we’d recommend more on the side. It’s an indulgent way to start the day and if there was more egg and cheese involved, we wouldn’t be unhappy either. photo credit: Emily Hai Egg & Bean Burrito There’s no need to explain how good the combination of egg, beans, and cheese is to a British person. This is our pick of the breakfast burritos. photo credit: Emily Hai Barbacoa Burrito The beef barbacoa is as tender as you’d want it. The strands of meat pull away and there’s plenty of flavour to it. The layer of flavours in this burrito is good: rice, beans, sauces, pickled vegetables. But the ratios could be sorted out as there are a few uneven bites going on. photo credit: Jake Missing" - Jake Missing
"Open for: Breakfast and lunchPrice range: $Bad Manners — a breakfast and lunch kiosk, originally called Quarter Kitchen, which Max Fishman opened with chef Rodrigo Cervantes in a Hackney churchyard in summer 2022 — serves some of London’s best Mexican food. Originally from Mexico City and previously an employee of Smoking Goat, Koya, and Rita’s in London, Cervantes cooks a mighty fine breakfast. Options include two tortillas with hash browns, fried eggs, and smoked bacon glazed with maple syrup and sugar; breakfast burritos based on the American McDonald’s version (with sausage patties, American cheese, and chopped peppers); gorditas; tepache; tacos al pastor done on a small yakitori grill inside the kiosk; and the mess-making bright-red pambazo. Bad Manners also serves excellent coffee and features a range of espressos from some of Europe’s best roasters.Best for: Mexican and Mexican-American breakfast outdoors." - Adam Coghlan
"A churchyard isn’t a conventional brunch spot, but Bad Manners isn’t a conventional place. The Mexican kiosk, set among the gardens and gravestones of St John at Hackney church, slings excellent breakfast burritos, plus hearty egg, bacon, and hash brown tacos. The simple seating setup is alfresco and open to the elements. If it’s glorious out—great. Get in line with locals, order from the hatch, and find a table from which to people-watch. But if it’s grim outside, get your foil-wrapped breakfast to go." - jake missing, sinead cranna, daisy meager
"A churchyard isn’t a conventional place to eat, but Bad Manners isn’t a conventional place. The Mexican kiosk, set among the gardens and gravestones of St John at Hackney church, slings excellent breakfast burritos and changing specials like kimchi-topped chilaquiles. But the hearty egg, bacon, and hash brown taco is a menu standout. This stunning stack strikes all the sweet, savoury, and carby notes with a soft tortilla, sweet salsa roja, a golden hash brown, glossy fried egg, and candied bacon. It’s a dish we’d brave the outdoor-only seating in all weathers for. " - jake missing, rianne shlebak, daisy meager, sinead cranna, heidi lauth beasley
