Chinese food and burritos are not necessarily a combination easily pictured. It seems more fish fingers and custard than cheese and crackers, yet LiangJi Wraps has brought the Chinese burrito to London.
They’re not an oddity; the Chinese burrito is a traditional street food popular across China. There are more than 1,000 LiangJi restaurants in the country, and the chain now has its sights set on the UK.
The British Museum branch is no more than a hole in a Shaftesbury Avenue wall. A couple of rickety tables dominate the room, and bar stools line the walls.
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The back of the shop is full of steam thanks to the industrial-style open kitchen from which the most fragrant fumes waft with every opening of the door. It takes me about five steps to walk up to the counter, at which I promptly order an £8.50 beef wrap.
(Image: Lea Dzifa Seeberg)
It appeared in my hand within minutes, and I was free to retrace my five steps back into the West End’s hustle and bustle. The wrap survived 30 minutes clutched in my hand on the Elizabeth line, and when it finally saw the light of day it looked… like a burrito.
I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting, but its sheer burrito-ness baffled me. And I was further bamboozled when I prepared to tear off a chunk and was met with unexpected resistance.
(Image: Lea Dzifa Seeberg)
Unlike the soft wraps used in Mexican food, LiangJi Wraps uses a wheat based, chewy disc more similar to the pancakes you get with roast duck in a Cantonese restaurant. Less of a bite and more of a maul, I eventually made my way into the centre.
Cucumber and lettuce supported beef so tender it fell apart and melted in my mouth, and LiangJi’s ‘special sauce’ drenched the whole affair. Special sauce, in this case, seemed to mean chilli and soy sauce – and it was the perfect match for the rich meat.
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As I kept eating, the heat gradually built until it reached a crescendo of satisfying burn. The entire meal was nothing but mess; beef falling onto my lap, sauce dripping from my fingers, tears running from my eyes and the feral ripping of the chewy wrap.
My jaw aching slightly by the end, I could have done without the intense chewing. But everything else made for a wonderfully wild experience, and one I’m in a hurry to repeat for just £8.50.
You can find LiangJi Wraps at 234 Shaftesbury Ave, London WC2H 8EG, or order their food on Deliveroo.
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