Beach Burrito Company: Mexican beached in Newtown

Last year had to be the year of the burrito and taco in Sydney: from the fast-sprouting popularity of "healthier" Mexican fast food chains, to pub menus and dedicated Mexican restaurants decked out in Dia de los Muertos Day of the Dead style.

Beach Burrito Company is a chain that falls into the latter category and its Newtown outlet pumps with music that matches the colourful and somewhat dark, macabre wall murals celebrating the dead.

Monteith's pear cider at Beach Burrito, Bedford Street, Newtown

Unlike a majority of the Mexican food chains, Beach Burrito is a licensed venue which offers a couple of frozen margaritas and an interesting list of beers. The pear cider isn't terrible but probably not the best match to the cheesy Mexican fare.

Chilli fries

There's no pretending when it comes to the chilli fries - there is nothing healthy about it. Not-quite crisp potato chips come smothered with a generous helping of cheese and beef mince chilli with beans that's spicy really only where there are dried chilli flakes.

Sour cream and a rich, smooth mixture of avocado guacamole round out the rather large small-size basket of chips that's about a meal on its own.

Prawn and mango quesadilla

The sour cream and guacamole also accompany the quesadilla, which is a sizeable and particularly cheesy option covering half a large white plate.

Corn chips on the side add crunch and interest to the flat tortilla filled with prawn pieces and sweet mango cubes, while the pico de gallo tomato and coriander salsa contribute much needed freshness amid all the melted cheese.

Mucho burrito

The muscle man sticker sealing the foil wrapping of the Mucho Burrito gives an accurate indication of what's within.

It's a bit of a monster meal-and-a-half, filled with almost every meat on the menu, rice, beans, cheese and more; enhanced with a beer and some of the fiery hot sauce options on the tables.

Mexican food has quickly become a Sydney mainstay, in the land of fast food at the very least. It will be intriguing to see what new food trends arise in 2013 but in the meantime, I'm happy to beach myself at Newtown's little Mexico.