Street Food Chef - Sheffield

If you're an avid reader of this blog, or if you follow my Twitter feed, you'll know one thing (well, apart from that I'm a greedy guts), that I bloody love burritos.

Manchester has five places where I can satisfy my infatuation; Pancho's, traditionally excellent; Margo and Rita's, from a van and pretty ace; Luck, Lust, Liqour and Burn, tiny well-thought mouthfuls; Barburrito, fast food but at least it's fresh and (last AND least) Taco Bell, shit and full of horse meat.

However, I've been hearing for some time that there was a contender to Pancho's title of best burrito in the North and it's not over here in the West - in a first for the blog, I bravely ventured over them there Penines, into the badlands of The East; all because I love you readers so much I'd risk my life on the frontline of food for you.

So who is this worthy contender and in which wilds can you find them? Named Street Food Chef, they're found in Sheffield; it's owned by Richard and Abi, who are passionate about food and ensure they use local suppliers, fresh ingredients and make everything from scratch in front of the customer. You can certainly taste the care and quality in the food they produce.

I hunted out the Arundel Street Canteen (they also have a burrito bar on Pinstone Street and a stall for markets too), the largest of their premises and slap bang next to Sheffield Hallam University in the centre of town. All I can say is those lucky, lucky students having this place right on their doorstep.

At Street Food Chef you order from the main counter, all the food choices are hanging above it - burritos, tacos, enchiladas, empanadas, nachos as standard. Then each dish has a choice of filling (brisket, slow cooked pork, chicken, veg or chicken mole) and on top of that there's sides and then choices of their homemade salsas with varying heat levels. For an indecisive greedy guts like me, it was hard work choosing when so many variants were on offer and all smelled so damn good - but the staff were patient and didn't mind me changing my mind a lot and my unending stream of personal dialogue - they didn't even send for a shrink/my parents.

I have a confession to make - I liked Street Food Chef and their wonderful fillings so much, I ate here on two consecutive days. The second day I even got there early for a breakfast burrito before I had to head back to civilisation, ahem, Manchester. Oh and I also shared all my food with my companion (or read, shared all my companion's food), so I could fully experience everything Street Food Chef had to offer. Don't judge me. This was research. For you.

Out of everything, I'd opt for the chicken mole burrito any day - don't let anyone ever talk you out of the mole; even if when you ask the staff, they say it has chocolate in it and you think this is weird. It's not weird; it's the most beautiful, smokey, intense, deeply flavoured and tender mouthfuls of wonderment that you will ever eat. And I'm not even exaggerating or nothing. The brisket and the slow cooked pork are pretty bob on too.

I'm in a quandary now - I love Pancho's, I undertake pilgrimages there whenever I can, I love the pork in adobo more than pancakes or life itself, but, and it's a big but - is Street Food Chef better? Having eaten extensively at both, having researched to the nth degree (research, not greed, remember...) I can only say... it's too close to call. Both are exceptional and I can say that I can unequivocally not choose between the two. Please don't make me.

Ps I know you all want to know - I pussied out and couldn't face the Hot Hot Hot salsa, I enjoyed tasting my food and the medium salsa picante instead.

Pps Drink some of the lime green Mexican soft drink they sell there - it's so tasty, probably not very good for you on account of the colour, but it's amazing!

Ppps I think they're missing a trick not calling it Street Food Shef... (hur hur, I'm so funny)

Price for a burrito is about £6 - I got over-excited and forgot to make a note of prices when I was there. On both times. It's a giddy-making type of food.

Food - 9/10

Service - 8/10

Atmosphere - 7/10

Value for money - 9/10

Total - 33/40

Go again - Yes! Just need an excuse to head over the Penines again now....

The Street Food Chef, 90 Arundel Street, Sheffield S1 4RE - Facebook - Twitter

www.streetfoodchef.co.uk

Pancho's - Arndale Centre, Manchester

Pancho's, a small stall that has stood in the hustle and bustle of the Arndale food market, first caught my eye with it's gaudy yellow sign and queues of burrito buying lunch-timers, last year - back then it was one tiny little stall; the Mexican husband and wife team run off their feet churning out never-ending streams of Mexican street food. Now they've got two stalls and are fast becoming a firm favourite in the food hall.

Eye-catching and tongue tingling! - Thanks to Pancho's

Pancho's makes the best burrito in the whole of Manchester and probably in the whole of the North West and maybe even in the UK. I recently had the pleasure of trying some North East burrito styling at Street Chef in Sheffield (they're missing a trick not calling it Street Shef...); very good (blog post soon), but still only on a par with Pancho's.
Hands up, you guessed it, this is a blog post from a bona-fide burrito fan - when Barburrito was initially alright and my taste buds weren't so...ahem...sophisticated, I'd make a weekly trip there. This was shortly followed by a burrito-cational few visits to the big smoke, where I tasted something closer to what I guess is the real deal (if anyone wants to take me to Mexico to taste the real deal, please get in touch) and since then I've craved a burrito roughly once a week. Thankfully Pancho's has been there to quench my thirst/hunger with this carby, meaty, zesty meal in a wrap.

If you crave a burrito please never visit Taco Bell in the Arndale food court.

In fact why does the Arndale bother providing the food court? Especially when you can walk approximately two minutes, indoors, and come across the delights of the food market? Maybe to keep the crowds away so I only have to wait behind five people for my burrito instead of ten?

Anyway, I digress, this is a post where I big up Pancho's and don't philosophise on the whys and wherefores of Arndale management.

The Pancho's burrito is a massive affair - I go for the smaller size and it's still massive. There's a revolving list of fillings, depending on what's been cooked that day by the staff; the filling are all very traditional (in a good way), rather than the crazy rat balls and smoked pig face concoctions you're likely to get in some 'street food' places these days.

Ripped open - look at all that filling!

If Pancho's have the pork in chipotle as an option, I implore you to have this filling over anything else. Whole bits of pork are slow cooked in a smokey, tangy sauce with a bit of a kick - it's sweet, it's spicy and it's lip-smackingly delicious. The pork with cactus is a pretty special affair too; lighter, but with an insane depth of flavour and great texture from the cactus - and you can't get more Mexican than cactus.

Along with the meat (or veg, if you're that way inclined/mental), the burritos are stuffed full of salad, beans, peppers, rice, cheese, sour cream and salsa (I always hold the cream and cheese, but that's a personal taste thing). The salsas are made fresh and shower you with an abundance of fresh, fruity flavours that cut through the carby, meaty, creamy burrito - word of warning, the hot habenaro will blow your head off (and also makes your lips majorly plump up, so a good choice if you're in need of plastic surgery but can't afford filler injections).

"This place sounds divine," you're thinking. But it gets better (really?!) - Pancho's staff freshly make salsas and sauces for you to take home (the chipotles in adobo saves you a hell of a lot of work and makes the base for the best huevos rancheros EVER) and they stock a wide range of dried Mexican chillies that are a) hard to find or b) that you usually need to be ordered specially online. Oh and mentally hot sauces, if you like that sort of thing. And (proper) tequila - but don't getting that if you have to go back to work.

Pancho's is a great place for lunch - don't got to Boots for some over-processed meal deal - for a quid more you can get a filled to busting (seriously, I don't know how they get all the fillings in without breaking those wraps), freshly made, authentic, flavoursome treat. And there's tables to sit at in the market too.
Pancho's Burritos, Food Market, Manchester Arndale, High Street, Manchester M4 3AH - Facebook - Twitter - www.panchosburrito.co.uk