We’re blessed with some fine Mexican food in London these days, and today’s rambling is all about Mexican street food favourite Luardos. A regular on the Kerb circuit for a long time now, Luardos’ van is painted the brightest of pinks, making it unmissable to the eye as well as the stomach.
Shamefully, despite Luardos being around for a whole decade now and parking up a mere 15 minute stroll from me down at Brockley Market most Saturdays, it wasn’t until this year’s Glastonbury that I actually got my laughing gear around one of their huge burritos. Not only was it one of the best meals I’ve ever had at Glasto – and trust me, the food line up alone is worth going for, certainly nothing to be sneered at – Luardos served up one of the best burritos I’ve ever had anywhere.
I’d heard about Luardos award winning tacos in the past – particularly their fish taco, i.e. the kind of taco I have the most time for, but perhaps sensibly at one of the world’s biggest festivals, the team kept things simple with burritos and nachos on offer. Whilst food at Glasto is on the most part excellent, of course there are a few mishaps and some of the nachos I saw on offer were enough to make you cry – dry tortilla chips with a bit of salsa and truly, the saddest amount of cheese. Not at Luardos of course – nachos served with all the trimmings (£7-8.50): cheese, beans, pico salsa, guacamole, hot sauce, sour cream and the choice of the meats featured in their burritos.
And about those choices: well, this is the best part. Options of slow cooked chipotle beef brisket flavoured with star anise, garlic and spices (£8); pulled pork with fennel and orange (£7.50); chicken breast poached with onion, garlic and bay leaves (£8), as well as a meat free vegetarian option (£6.50 – free guacamole, otherwise an extra £1). As you can tell, picking a poison was hard. I opted for the chipotle beef burrito with hot sauce and experienced some sort of Nirvana chomping down on the grass in front of The Other Stage, whilst my friend loved her chicken burrito so much she returned to me a couple of days later raving about Luardos yet again, having just inhaled the the pulled pork version.
These burritos are not only packing on the meat front, but are full to the brim with Monterey Jack cheese, rice, black beans, coriander, homemade salsa and banging guacamole, with the choice of mild or spicy sauce to top it all off – and all of this is homemade by Luardos themselves, consistently committed to serving up the very best quality food to their customers.
Now I’ve seen the light I’ll be heading down to Brockley Market for another soon – I’ve got my eye on their breakfast burrito which is exclusive to the South East London market. All the usual suspect fillings of a burrito but with the added genius of chorizo, fried egg and rancheros sauce. Yeah, I know, I’m salivating too.
Kerb Camden, every day. Mon – Thu, 12-6pm; Fri – Sun, 12-7pm
Whitecross Market, EC1, every week day between 11.30am and 2pm
Kerb Kings Cross, Thursdays between 12-2.30pm
Brockley Market, Saturdays between 10.30am and 2pm
N.B: Check twitter for updates/changes to Kerb and Brockley market dates.