I am not sure I would call Paoblo Escobar or El Chapo a couple of rascals, with the term rascal defined as “a mischievous or cheeky person, especially a child or man (typically used in an affectionate way).”

“Well that cheeky chappie El Chapo, what a jolly japster he was in his prime. With an estimated 2k – 3k people  (still no match for Escobar’s alleged 4k) kill count, he really was quite the rascal it seems” is probably a couple of sentences you are unlikely to see or hear to be honest.

I mean I of all people love a pun (the blog is littered with them, the cornier AKA the shittier the better) and I suppose it is all a bit of fun, but can’t say I quite get the use of people (of dubious standing to say the least) in terms of certain products. Why mass murdering psychopaths El Chapo and Paoblo Escobar are fine and dandy whilst others heinous criminals are not just seems a bit odd to me.

I very much suspect most people would be more than slightly taken aback and not a little put off/horrified if they saw products like, “Dr. Shipman’s patented pain killers”, “Peter Sutcliffe’s ripper Yorkshire puddings”, “the Josef Fritzl wiener schnitzel“,  or, perhaps, a “keep all your important contacts close at hand with the Ghislane Maxwell 100% secure digital rolladeck – no one will ever now who you know“.

These people are rightly maligned as monsters and use of their names to try and sell stuff, you would hope, would be a PR disaster.

This bring me to the recently opened  Rascal Burrito in the Cardiff burb of Cathays,

whose menu includes burritos with notorious drug baron/psycopath monikers.

I mean in respect of the use for the chicken burrito of El Chacal, the absolute de Gaulle of it 🙄 and they have missed a trick with the lack of a Chilli Don Carlo.

Love a bit of Latino food and the menu (sans the madmen monikers) certainly looked very much up my calle.

After much deliberation (as to my criminal lunatic lunch of choice) I went for the al pastor (Al was a right pig apparently) tacos (3 for £8). Interesting “al pastor” fact is that its origins are more Lebanese than Mexican, with it being created by Lebanese migrants who arrived in Mexico in the early 20th Century. Apparently it’s a direct descendant of the shawama. Who knew?!

Fun fact out the way, this was a pretty  decent taco,

Nice tender pork, with a touch of spice and herbs (more oregano than cumin), sat in a double (body) bagged taco (the latter could have been cooked a tad longer on the flat top to add a bit more structural integrity, which ultimately failed here).

A refreshing and zippy pico de gallo added nicely to the mix, with sharp onions, tasty toms, citrussy coriander and just a touch of chilli heat. A squeeze of lime lifted it all pleasingly.

The star of the show, however, was the  salsa verde (green chilli and tomatillo, I think) liberally spooned on the top of everything,

which packed a pleasing (without being a  sucker) punch. Tangy and sharp, with bag loads of zing.

It is not really set up to eat in although they were happy for me to perch on the window seat in there to eat my tacos (take plenty of napkins is my advice).  

On the drinks front, there are usual suspects,

as well as the CBD based (and rather unimaginatively titled) “Trip” (skunk spunk being deemed a rather less appealing option, I assume).

There was also the promise of “made on site” aqua frescas, which sound interesting. Would be nice to see some jarritos (rather partial to the lime and tamarin ones) on the drinks shelves.

A second visit brought their burrito offering into play (I had a 15% off voucher from my initial visit).

My bad boy burrito choice was the beef based “El Chacal“.

Substantial in length and girth,

it was a well filled brute. 

Good flavour to the shredded beef, with spice infused rice and nice (non mushy) beans.

I went (again) for the lowest spiced salsa verde and this was perhap a mistake. My burrito needed a touch more ommph on the spice front and I think this was due to the application of the salsa verde being a bit on the mean side. I got Mrs. SF the El Chapo chicken burrito, which had a more generous application of the salsa verde and as a result a better spice level to it.

The verdict

This place does pretty good tacos and burritos. Good portion sizes, which makes them decent value.

I would, perhaps, ask them to dial up the salsa application next time or go up a notch or two in terms of the salsa heat (the macha) to add a bit more picante to the equation.

The details

Address:  98 Crwys Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF24 4 NQ

They don’t appear to have a website as far as I can tell and limited social media presence (Instagram only: @rascalburrito98)