El Loco at Excelsior

"Mexican bites, Sydney El Loco does an excellent taco for a fiver. A crunchy tangle of chopped cabbage, coriander, spring onion, and a spiced mayonnaise done in messy zigzags over the lot arrives at our table. Little cubes of "mystery" meat, offal perhaps, are tender and packed with flavour. El Loco’s safer selection of $5 tacos – chicken with sweet corn salsa, chilli marinated tofu, prawn and salsa verde and lemongrass beef, are also good. El Loco is a flip-flop, sand-in-the-shorts kind of place, though it tends to attract a suited or hipster crowd. Mexicana cactus and sunset mural walls suggest tequila is consumed to fit a general festive hot sun vibe, not just to get drunk. For the jalapeno margarita, the barman shakes up a shot each of Herradura Reposado Tequila, Cointreau, roasted jalapeno syrup, lime juice and a wash of Ilegal Mezcal agave with some clunky icecubes, and throws it in a clear plastic cup with some roasted jalapenos. It’s a sweet and acidic muddle of completely awesome. Two in our party get the Excelsior hot dogs ($9) because of ordering envy on a previous visit to El Loco. The foot-long dawg is a grilled pork Frankfurt in an almost-as-long soft bun. Picked jalepenos are hidden in there, and the top is laden with pico de gallo, a fresh finely chopped salsa of tomato, white onion, chilli and lime juice, then it’s squiggled with mayonnaise and so much cheese. Both diners held their bellies while I ordered another taco."