Lotta A.
Yelp
As much as I love London, the Mexican food here makes me want to take the first Virgin Atlantic flight back to California. Contrary to what a disturbingly popular chain would lead you to believe (ahem, Wahaca), Lancashire cheese, new potatoes, feta, English peas, and savoy cabbage DO NOT belong in tacos, burritos, or quesadillas. After months of trying different "Mexican" establishments here only to find the offerings too bland, too greasy, too sweet (Benito's Hat's beef), or just too incorrigibly wrong, I was elated to discover Chilango in Angel.
The first time I tentatively ordered a chicken burrito with black beans and guacamole here, I grimaced when I saw how carelessly the burrito was wrapped. Despite this shortcoming in technique, however, Chilango makes one fine burrito. The grilled chicken is juicy and flavourful, and the guacamole is the best I have had in London (outside of my own kitchen, of course ;)). With liberal dousings of hot sauce, the Chilango burrito is the closest you can get to the exceptional burritos found in San Francisco's Mission district. If you are in the mood for something lighter, the salad with grilled chicken and guacamole is also a winning combination that you can eat for lunch or dinner without worry of contracting a food baby.
I would love to give Chilango five stars, but there are just a few minor issues they need to sort out first:
1) The arrangement of ingredients inside the burrito: the ingredients are not well dispersed across the tortilla, so it might take 10 bites of pure chicken before reaching any guacamole.
2) The wrapping of the burrito: they could take a lesson from Bombay Burrito on how to tightly wrap a burrito so that the bottom is not a soggy, sloppy mess that inevitably ends up running down your hands. Maybe this post would help? http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-wrap-a-burrito-so-it-doesnt-fall-apart-when-you-eat-it-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-189756
3) The consistency in their seasonings: recently I had the chicken salad with guacamole and black beans twice within a week (don't judge), and the second time was considerably less flavourful than the first. The first salad was purchased on a Thursday evening, and the second on a Tuesday for lunch. Tuesday's lunch was the first time I noticed the inconsistency, so hopefully it was just a fluke.
Overall, I am so happy to have found Chilango in London. As long as they never compromise on their ingredients and recipes, I will remain a loyal customer.
(Most recent visit in October 2013)