I couldn’t really figure out whether Mexicali Cocina Cantina in Studio City was named after the city of Mexicali or because it is a blend of Mexican and Californian food. Whichever it was, I was pretty impressed with the creative creations on their menu. It seemed that nearly everything on their menu had undergone some sort of upgrade from 87 octane to at least 89. Rather than just beef burritos, they had Kobe Beef Burritos. Rather than just fish tacos, they had Ahi Tuna Tacos. Everywhere I looked on the menu, there was something that seemed inspiring, at least in name.
I finally settled upon their Braised Beef Burrito. What can I say, I just love food alliterations. This was made with braised beef, mixed cheeses, goat cheese, cilantro and red onion. Wait. Goat cheese on a burrito? It sounded kind of insane, but I went with it and asked for the burrito without red onions. The burrito was 9.25 and I was pretty impressed that they managed to keep everything around 10 bucks for all this premium Mexican fare. But even 9.25 can be expensive if the meal is no good, so I waited for my burrito before I made final judgment on the price.
The burrito looked quite good upon delivery and I sliced it open to ensure that no red onions has caused calamity within. I saw that none were present and proceeded with consumption. At first, I loved the thing, the concept of braised beef in a burrito was a godsend. Why hadn’t anyone thought of this before? And goat cheese? More like orgasm cheese. Nothing bad has ever come from goat cheese. But then, I kept eating. And eating. And eating. And my mouth got dry. And I got painfully thirsty. And then I realized I was eating some of the saltiest food I’ve ever had this side of a TV dinner. Everything tasted like it had been doused in a saline solution. It tasted great at first because it brought out the flavor, but the continuing eating just destroyed the flavor and I had to drag myself to the end of the burrito.
The only part of the burrito I was looking forward to by the end was the goat cheese. It was the only low-sodium buffer in a sea of salt. While this braised beef burrito sounded good in name, the execution turned into a salty mess. I’m sure some of the other burritos don’t make you feel like the Dead Sea afterward, but the braised beef burrito failed me.
