Restaurant Reviews


Poncho 8

 
As a nation we maintain a relatively traditional and humdrum attitude to lunch time, seeing it as little more than a means of sustenance at the halfway point of the day. This blasé approach has resulted in a largely limited and lacklustre culinary choice between cold, listless, pre-packed sandwiches or uninspiring ensembles of wilting green leaves pertaining to be salads. However, a revolution seems to be a foot, with a flurry of Mexican inspired Burrito bars springing up all over town, offering a warm and tasty solution to our current bland and conservative approach.
Entering Poncho 8’s Spitalfields branch you’re instantly hit by how bright and vibrant the decor is, simultaneously looking as fresh and clean as it is vivacious. With so many similarly themed restaurants around town Poncho 8’s inviting glare is a smart marketing move but with limited seating space it becomes apparent the only way to judge this quaint establishment is in the food.
Primarily a ‘takeaway’ store (apparently cues during lunch hours are so large, patrons are advised to pre-order online to ensure they’re served!) the choices on offer are your bog standard; Burritos, Tacos, naked burritos (in a box sans-tortilla, with salad) or nachos. However, there are some subtle touches which separate Poncho’s from its competitors.
I chose to go for a ‘Poncho’s Pork burrito’ with all the trimmings (rice, beans, salsa, guacamole, jalapenos – the full works). The courteous lady behind the counter must have been regretting her generosity the moment we got to the end of the production line, squeezing with all her might to successfully contain this feast of flavour within its intended tortilla shell. She was finally successful and the resulting wrap was a surprisingly fresh tasting, explosion of flavour that was only undermined by the mess it created. My guest, not being a carnivore chose the vegetarian option. Non-meat eaters aren’t normally well catered for when it comes to Mexican food and whilst the choice at Poncho’s was still limited, the inclusion of tofu to the veggie burrito showed a little more thought than the usual trick of  just substituting meat with a few extra dollops of beans! My only niggle would be the lack of sauce available for guests to add to their meal. My highlight of these types of emporium is the ability to enhance the spiciness of your meal with a plentiful choice of sauces, however this wasn’t the case at Poncho’s, a mild disappointment considering the ingredients and flavours they use are of such a high standard.
Where Poncho does surpass its competition is in its drinks menu. The classic Spanish and Mexican Frescas mark a pleasant change to the usual collection of soft drinks and beers. My guest enjoyed her Agua de Jamaica (made from hibiscus) but not as much as she enjoyed stealing my Tamarindo (made from tamarind fruit pods). Neither of us however dared to try the Spanish Milkshake without milk!
Poncho’s manages to do just enough to separate it from the numerous other chains attempting to cash in on this culinary revolution and whilst not exactly reinventing the wheel when it comes to Mexican food, sometimes too much change isn’t always for the best.      

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