Whitecross Street Market EC1 | Instagram/luardos

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This is the new van

I really liked the old van, but I suppose it has gone to the great parking space in the sky.

Favourite choices

Pork carnitas, which is a burrito with slow-cooked pork

Sweet potato, vegetarian burrito. (This is the recommendation of the staff at Fix Coffee.)

A cheeky extra is chorizo which gives your meal that extra pop.

The secret menu choice – If you want to impress your work colleagues by ordering vegetarian, but you really want some tasty meat and are feeling a bit subversive, ask the staff to slip some chorizo in with the mix. It’s a brilliant combination with guacamole, which is what the vegetarian burrito comes with.

All your choices

Tortilla. The starting point for all burritos is the tortilla made from flour. In the standard burrito you get a 12-inch flour tortilla which is toasted. (If you want, you can have a ‘naked burrito’ which uses a gluten-free tortilla. Just ask at the start.)

Fillings. This is your first decision. You have a choice of:
‘Carnitas‘ – tender slow cooked pork
Chicken breast
Beef cooked in spicy chipotle
Vegetarian

Extras. On top you can order some extra guacamole (50p) or chorizo (50p) or you can add sweet potato to upgrade your veggie meal (50p).

Hot sauces. You have a choice of three different hot sauces.

On top of the tortilla. Now they start making your burrito. On top of the toasted tortilla they put some cheese, which starts melting straightaway. Then they add rice, black beans, fresh coriander, your choice of three different hot sauces, and then your choice of filling. Pork is the bestseller; second best is chicken. Then you come to what they call the cold corner, where you can choose salsa and guacamole. Finally, they top it off with a drizzle of sour cream. (If you ordered a lot of hot sauce you might want a lot of sour cream to balance it out!)

The story behind the van

Simon set up this business 13 years ago. This is how it came about. Simon had a friend who had a street food van, and Simon loved what it was all about. He went with his friend to sell food at a rock festival. There were lots of sellers of Mexican food there but the food was terrible. It inspired Simon to do something excellent instead. He started off with a van selling delicious little snacks, but the demand was always for burritos, so that is what he now sells at Whitecross Street Market.

The current van is pink. The previous one here was green. They were both decorated by a friend of Simon’s, a graffiti artist who goes by the tag, ‘Insa’. The hanging decorations are references to the Mexican ‘Day of the Dead’. The icon on the front window is of ‘Our Lady of Guadalupe’.

Simon is still enthusiastic about producing the best authentic Mexican food. Food is prepared fresh every day.