La Placita
La Placita, 13th Floor, Food Unlimited section, Times Square, Causeway Bay. Phone 506-3308 SET in the celestial heights of Times Square, La Placita is an attempt to bring true Mexican flavour to Hong Kong as an alternative to the generally one-dimensional Tex-Mex variant.
While a stylistic success, the restaurant did not quite work and we left with a clearer impression of the garishly coloured lamp shades than of what we had eaten.
From the moment we walked in we sensed a muddled air on the part of the owners as to what La Placita was all about. An obvious attempt had been made to marry old Mexico with avant-garde design themes, but the blasts of colour had you thinking Andy Warhol's ghost could wander in at any moment wearing a sombrero.
The typically Hong Kong pastiche might have come off had the food not left us wondering what we had just eaten: Was it really Mexican? The presence of tortillas and tequila certainly gave that impression - but most of the food had a generic quality.
The Mexican chef had spread his net wide in designing the menu, bringing together indigenous dishes from central, northern and coastal regions of Mexico. Perhaps if he had been less ambitious and concentrated on a particular theme instead of the pick and mix approach the result would have been more compelling. The meal felt like a lunchtime buffet and apart from the French desserts most of the food was blandly nondescript.
Service was attentive throughout, although the waiters tended towards the obsequiously nice and on a number of occasions presented us with food we had not ordered.
From a disappointing wine list, which we were assured would be expanded soon, we chose a Chilean dry white ($220), this being the only south American inclusion.
A soft Mexican cheese wrapped and baked in tortillas ($42) made a perfect entree, combining especially well with the almost harshly dry white wine. By contrast the taquitos dorados ($45), a golden fried chicken starter, was stringy and had a floury consistency.
In an attempt to get in the mood we opted for a cactus salad, ensalada Azteca ($60). It wasn't bad, although it must be said it seemed to differ little from the average gherkin - at least to first-time cactus eaters.
For the main course we plumped for baked red snapper in a sauce of chillies, olives, capers and white wine. The capers and olives overpowered the rest of the ingredients - not an entirely bad situation since the fish was overcooked.
The grilled beef was marinated in beer and passable although it tended on the tough side. It came with an array of side orders which seemed at odds with each other - guacamole, salsa bean soup, and flour tortillas just did not seem natural complements.
Desserts were excellent - chocolate mousse ($48) and white chocolate cheesecake ($50) - but then how often are desserts the best thing about a Hong Kong restaurant? The meal for two cost $884.
