An unmemorable breakfast burrito at Rockwell Kitchen
By Kerry Slater
A gourmet food truck on Pacific Coast Highway near the Palisades serves up a breakfast burrito that, in the eyes of this reviewer, can only be described as highway robbery.
Rockwell Kitchen, located on PCH by Topanga State Beach, is a food truck offering everything from grilled steak and fondue burgers to turmeric lattes and kombucha. After a morning surf, my stomach was speaking to me so I dropped by for one of my favorite things to eat: a breakfast burrito.
At Rockwell, the breakfast burrito is called “J’s Burrito” and costs $10 for a basic version with eggs, Dominican-style beans and avocado. This is reasonable for a breakfast burrito on the Westside but what is a bit excessive is the $2 charge for bacon, and in my book, a breakfast burrito needs bacon unless you don’t eat pork. So after tax and tip I was looking at a $14 breakfast burrito and thinking ‘this better be really good.’
The first bite did not knock me off my feet. Not that it was bad. It just was bland. But just like you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t judge a burrito by the first bite. One has to get into the heart of it before passing judgment. Unfortunately, the rest of the breakfast burrito at Rockwell Kitchen was the same mediocracy.
The biggest problem was the rice. In a normal burrito, adding rice is questionable in my opinion. Why add more carbs to something wrapped in carbs? In addition, rice dilutes the flavor of other components. In a breakfast burrito, adding rice is worse, especially when the rice is replacing something like fried potatoes, which give the burrito great texture. The end result at Rockwell Kitchen, in large part due to the rice, was a breakfast burrito that from end to end is mushy. In addition, the egg to everything else ratio was an issue. Eggs are such a fundamental part of a breakfast burrito but in this burrito, the eggs are hidden behind the beans and rice. In many ways, it was more like a rice and bean burrito with eggs.
Overall, I am not discouraging you from trying Rockwell Kitchen. I plan on returning to check out other menu items which looked good, especially the fondue burger. But I cannot recommend the breakfast burrito, especially for $14. I am not a great chef, but from a flavor profile, I could have made something better at home for a fraction of the price. In addition, many days of the week there are taco trucks in the same area that I am sure to have a breakfast burrito that is better and certainly cheaper.
Taste: 6/10
Value: 4/10
Quality: 6/10
Overall: 5.3/10
