La Cantina’s Oumph!
Felix send their team to review La Cantina as one of the newest additions to the JCR.
The Junior Common Room’s (JCR) newest mexican-themed outlet La Cantina is growing traction, selling burritos and rice bowls for £4.50 and loaded Nachos for an even cheaper price of £2.50. Placed adjacent to Starbucks, the outlet does not fail to provide students with a new cuisine and a little more variety, as students choose their ingredients Chipotle-style. Felix send its Food & Travel team to try their options and to give their review.
The Ingredients
You start by choosing a burrito, or the contents of the burrito without the tortilla in a coriander lime rice bowl, and a protein. The current options are chicken, pork and an unknown plant-based protein named Spicy Oumph. In the second step, you can choose the following fillings: shredded lettuce, pickled jalapenos, refried beans, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, shredded vegan cheese, sour cream and guacamole. The final step is choosing one three sauces: mild salsa, the spicier chipotle salsa or lime crema. Free tortilla chips are provided on the bar in front of the outlet.
Fillings or toppings
The portions were deemed reasonable for the cheap price of four and a half pounds, hence the small portions of each filling was understandable, yet noticeably conserved.
The mild salsa is very sweet; the pico de gallo serves as the better tomato filling. The pickled Jalapenos add an appreciated sourness and spiciness that may not be for everyone, but does elevate the taste of the dish. And the spicy theme does not end there. Surprisingly, the refried bean sauce also provides a little spice. In addition, one member of the team noted that the beans were thick, and stuck to their throat.
The guacamole was unfortunately a dissapointment. Unlike at Chipotle or other burrito-outlets, the guacamole is not a premium and is included in the price, hence it would have been difficult for the La Cantina to provide a good quality of an usually pricy topping. The guacamole leaves a silky aftertaste that sticks onto the tongue. It works decently when mixed with other ingredients which cover its texture. Otherwise, the coriander lime rice was well cooked and the tortilla was deemed excellent.
The queue went to the doors of the JCR on Monday at 1pm
The tortilla chips were the highlight, giving away a beautiful crunch, followed by a subtle corny taste without the typical salty aftertaste. As a snack, the nachos are worth it, since they offer the same fillings and sauces, yet without one of the three provided proteins.
Protein, protein, protein
The biggest concerns with fast food is protein, as it is costly to provide, often skimped upon, and varies highly on the source. The amount of pork and chicken was lower than expected, while the amount of Spicy Oumph was enough for those who chose it.
The team guessed the vegan alternative to be seitan, as some pieces were chewy, and the others melted apart easily, however they are soya based kebab strips from the company Oumph!.
More veggies, fewer sauces
La Cantina provides ample sauces and all the fundamental ingredients of a burrito, yet a larger selection of vegetables and beans could be an improvement. The sauces overpowered the taste of other ingredients and the orange sauce was not a favourite for its ranch-like cheesy taste. Our suggestion is to choose on sauce per bowl or burrito, even the staff asks if you want multiple sauces, but not for the loaded Nachos.
