Celine L.
Yelp
After living in LA and consuming tacos on a near-weekly basis for 7 years, I don't even wanna taco 'bout the quality and selection in Hong Kong. So of course I was ecstatic when my LA friends shared that the LA "Taco King" Chef Ochoa will open an authentic al pastor joint in HK. Although I never got a chance to try out Mexicali Taco when I lived in LA (I'm a die-hard el taurino and el flamin' fan), I had faith in Chef Ochoa. I prayed and I prayed that it would not be overpriced and unnecessarily fancy. We already have Chino that satisfies that category of fusion Mexican. I just wanted an authentic down-to-earth taco joint! Alas, thanks to the expensive rent in Hong Kong, it's just not profitable to open an low-priced restaurant anymore.
After hearing less than stellar reviews, I bided my time and finally made a trip to try this place last night. The star dishes were the three tacos: AL PASTOR $38, CARNE ASADA $48, POLLO ASADA $38
The prices weren't as unreasonable as I've been told. But it IS overpriced. Back in LA, tacos were $15 after tax each, and Chef Ochoa's tacos sold for $25 per from Mexicali. Adding the fancy bougie décor and imported/quality ingredients, it's actually somewhat justified (they do have to pay rent after all!). Also compared to tacos in Hong Kong, Chino costs $48-$58 per taco and Cali-mex serves awful tacos for like $90 for 3, taco prices here is actually comparable.
On to the tacos, my first issue with the tacos was that it came luke warm. The tortilla was quite thin and miles better than Brickhouse and Cali-mex . But it was not your typical fresh handmade corn tortilla. (Holla Guisados!) At the very least, heat up the tortilla before serving it! That's really like the basic which almost no Hong Kong restaurants get right!
On the bright side, there were plenty of meat in all the tacos (but not overflowing), they were all topped with red onion (I've only seen white used in tacos though, but not a big deal), a small dollop of guac (it's ok, al pastor doesn't usually come with guac anyway and would have costed an extra $8) but where's my cilantro, there were probably one leaf sliced finely in it.
Like Chino's, the AL PASTOR was also topped with a pineapple (I removed it anyway). At first bite, it tasted sweet. What is this? Peking duck flavoured al pastor? I immediately asked for some ghost pepper salsa and doused it with it. It was medium spicy, probably made with only a single drop of ghost pepper. I'll try the other type of salsa next time. I dream of being reunited with el taurino's bright orange spicy salsa every night, and once again my dreams were shattered.
The POLLO ASADA taco was slightly on the bland side, but I already doused it with the ghost pepper salsa, on the plus side, the chicken wasn't dry. The CARNE ASADA possessed a stronger-than-usual beef flavour (in a good way) and was also more fatty than your typical carne asada. Again, I doused it with the salsa.
Ceviches are one of my all time favourite food so of course we ordered the CEVICHE PACIFIC $98. I was pleasantly surprised at the price (ceviches costs about $120-150 in LA). However when it arrived, I saw how tiny the dish was and that it only came with ONE chip. The taste was on point though, it was tangy and packed a punch. However the red snapper was cooked, and where were the shrimp? Not sure why Chef Ochoa decided with a cooked dish, because Hong Kong people love their fish raw. Maybe to save on cost?!
The ECHO PARK SWEET CORN $58 were 8 baby corns. I normally don't like baby corn but this one was tangy and well balanced. It came with a dollop of house mayonessa which paired very well. I do wish they used normal corn though. For that reason alone, I would not get it again.
The CHIPS & SALSA $50 was somewhat satisfactory. I make a way better salsa. The tomato was grinded up and it could use more lime, salt and cilantro. However it did fill me up. I read about how overpriced and bland the GUACAMOLE $150 was (plus, I make a mean guacamole myself) so I skipped that.
Overall only the tacos are worth getting. The mains seemed expensive and I didn't read anything positive about them. Generally, 4-5 tacos should fill you up. I'm giving this place a 4 star because it does serve the best tacos in Hong Kong (beggars can't be choosers!). However if this were in LA, it would only get 3 stars for the tacos and 2 for the sides.
***
Tip: Just get tacos, ask for extra salsa to boost flavours. BYOB!!!
Favourites: Good tacos, nice decor, BYOB
Meh: Slightly overpriced (but then again, what new place isn't?). Cold tortilla, sweet al pastor, cooked ceviche, baby corn, overpriced guac, not a big fan of their Salsa Molcajete (only one type of salsa in their dishes).
Last Words: I hope they focus less on fusion and more on authenticity. This place is kind of like the Ho Lee Fook of Chinese food (somewhat keeping to its roots while being somewhat fusion). This place is promising though.