Oscar, my dog, is a lazy bugger (can’t think where he gets that from, but in his defence he is getting on a bit) and is a pain in the arse to walk on the lead. As a result I tend to drive him to the park, so the walk (where, when on the lead, involves him peeing on every car tyre, lamp post, gate, street sign etc) on lead is kept as short as possible. The downside of this is it rather cuts my walks short and I do like to get up to at least 10,000 steps in a day.

Due to this, I was a tad short one day and thought why not pop out (sans the recalcitrant pooch) for a spot of lunch, with the walk there and back taking me passed the 10,000 steps.

I am always on the look out for places to eat and the new(ish) menu at Parc Deli in the every more interesting (food wise) Victoria Park rather piqued my interest, with both a breakfast

and lunch menu.

Lunch it was (they are not dog friendly, which bearing in mind the compact and bijou size of the place is fair enough) and (as the title suggests) it was the burritos that caught my eye.

Recalling a meal at this place many, many moon ago, when they were doing Mexican food at night, I went for the Mexican chicken number.

I was told (due to a back up of take away/delivery orders) that it might be up to 20 minutes. I was fine with that (prefer to know) and as it happens the wait was less that 10 mins.

Decent size, for the £6.95 price tag, I thought.

It was certainly very generous with the filling,

with a good ratio of cheese, rice, veggies and spicey chicken.

There was a nice level of spicing here, more a tingle on the tongue rather than a full on chilli-fest (former better for lunch in my view).

My only real complaint was I would have liked the tortilla to have been subject to a touch of the grill pan to give it a bit of colour and a better texture (it was just a tad doughy/claggy – I wonder if the time pressure led to that element being missed?).

I often profess on here my visceral hatred of the pizza/ lasagna and chips combo and have never really got my head around the Welsh obsession with half and half curry wise, but I am nothing if not inconsistent so I ordered some chips.

Chips can often be a bit of an after thought, with few things more disappointing than a limp dick chip, but here they had a lovely crisp exterior and a fluffy interior. Decent portion size too (probably too much with the burrito if truth be told – have always had eyes bigger than my stomach which based on the size of my stomach likely makes me a giant squid).

I went for the standard (£2.75) rather than the Mexican ones and my only tiny issue was they could have done with a touch more seasoning (but I am a bit of a salt fiend, so probably fine for normal people). Mayo (by far the best condiment for chips and that is a hill I am prepared to die on) was provided on request.

On the drinks front they have coffee and shakes (the latter all a bit oddball for my “vanilla” tastes),

but I fancied something a bit more refreshing.

I bloody loathe most fizzy drinks now the H&S killjoys have ruined the majority by taking out the sugar and replacing it with vile artificial sweeteners. I am convinced that given 20 years we will look back on this in the same way (ditto re highly processed plant based products) as we do now with regard to butter and margarine (the latter viewed now on a par with polonium).

This blood orange sanpellegrino did seem to somewhat buck the trend, with that awful saccharine sweetness thankfully missing.

The verdict

Good spot for lunch this, with the ability to build up an appetite before or walk off your lunch after with a stroll around Victoria Park. Parking (if you not within walking distance) is pretty easy.

It is quite small, but seems you can reserve a table.

Their breakfast burritos look interesting and I may well partake, as a take away, when walking the dog (if he can be arsed).

The details

Address: 444A Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff, CF5 1BJ

Website: https://parcdeli.com/