Mission Burrito is the latest entrant in the ongoing burrito battle taking over this city, but they're the first burrito place to be as bold as to claim to offer the elusive Mission burrito.

For the uninitiated, the Mission burrito derives its name from the Mission District in San Francisco. Almost half the population in the neighbourhood is from Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and out of this densely Latino area has come a number of popular taquerias , almost all making the best burritos this side of, well, the Earth.

What's the secret to the burritos? The authentic environs certainly help everything go down that much better. There are sometimes live bands playing, self serve (ie. free) corn tortilla chips and salsa and actual Mexican people cooking up fresh beef, chicken and other toppings in the kitchen.

But the real piece de resistance with the Mission burrito is what goes inside and how its wrapped, folded and steamed to perfection. An authentic Mission burrito must be made with a large flour tortilla and it must be steamed using a tortilla steamer. When I was last in San Francisco, I actually tried to buy a steamer, but shockingly they don't come cheap. The best deal I could find was something like $2,000.

Inside, a Mission burrito should include rice, a choice of beans (black, pinto and refried), some sort of meat or main filling, good salsa, guacamole and cheese.

So, with all this as the context, and having been constantly subjected to the grilled burritos made famous in Toronto by Burrito Boyz (and emulated by everyone else), I eagerly made my way to the newly opened Mission Burrito in the Grange Food Court across the street from OCAD .

The fact that they're in the food court obviously means they're in no way trying to replicate an authentic taqueria, but scanning the menu does reveal some promising signs. First up, unlike, say, Z-Teca , there are both black and pinto beans on offer. There's also free guacamole - meaning that guac is included in the price of the burrito. This is crucial. It seriously pisses me off when places charge you an extra buck for what is an essential burrito ingredient.

The other good move is that Mission Burrito offers a good variety of burrito options. For vegetarians, there's both a bean and cheese burrito ($4.85 Small/$5.85 Large) and the slightly more adventurous sweet potato, bean and cheese burrito for the same price. For an extra buck, you can add some veggies or meat. There's a grilled veggie burrito, chicken and steak, all $5.85 for a 10 inch and $6.85 for a foot long.

But today is Friday (which for many is pay day) but for Mission Burrito is the only day of the week they sell a harder-to-find-in-Toronto-than-it-should-be fish burrito. So that's what I decide to have. At $7.98 before tax for a 12 inch it isn't the cheapest lunch in the food court, but for an end of week splurge...ah, what the hell.

The fish burrito is made fresh to order, meaning some guy in the back whips out a pan and starts frying up some fresh, seasoned tilapia. To round out the burrito, I opt for the pinto beans, some onion and green pepper, mild salsa and a generous spreading of guacamole. While I wait someone hands me a free bag of corn tortilla chips. Yum.

About four minutes later my burrito is ready. It's wrapped nicely in aluminum foil and the structural integrity is in tact. There's minimal leaking and no sign of any tears in the tortilla.

Unfortunately, the tortilla itself is hot and cold. The crew behind the counter must be still getting the hang of the steamer and didn't give it enough, um, steam. Eating a cold tortilla isn't exactly gross but inconsistencies like this just means that Mission still needs to iron out some of the kinks in the operation.

Inside, all the ingredients are working well together. The guacamole is perfect and the pinto beans have just the right amount of spice. Nestled in a food court table, steps from a cheap Thai take-out, I'm not exactly taken back to my days in the Mission District in San Francisco, but the city has got to start somewhere and what's offered here may not be Mission, but it's not too far off.