Like many other aspects of the Hong Kong culture, our culinary scene is largely driven by fads.
Two years ago we experienced a burger craze, followed by a steakhouse obsession. Now that beef patties and porterhouses are no longer in vogue, food lovers flock to taco joints like moths to the flame, whatever the cost. It seems only a matter of time before American fast food chain Taco Bell – and its irritating canine spokesperson – jumps into the fray.
Nevertheless, the spectacular failures of Krispy Kreme and Dairy Queen in Hong Kong may be giving Gidget the Chihuahua some pause.
But I digress. Opened last August, Brickhouse is tucked away at the end of a narrow back alley off D’Aguillar Street. With no signage on the main road, the restaurant is impossible to find without asking for directions and looking like a lost tourist. The taqueria is wedged between and under old tenement buildings in the kind of place you expect to be dripping roof juice and infested with local crawlies.
Despite its "ghetto" location, the restaurant displays the typical hubris of a new kid on the block. For starters, Brickhouse accepts no reservations and has no phone number for inquiries. It does not serve lunch and puts a one-hour limit on dinner tables, which is their way of saying “eat up, pay up and get out.”
To avoid a long wait, my guest and I showed up at 6:30pm for an early supper. By then, the restaurant was already packed to the rafters. We were seated at the open counter by the entrance, with nowhere to put our jackets and bags. I was literally eating in the alley, inches away from the crowd standing around an oil barrel like union workers at a picket line - they were poor folks who arrived after 7pm hoping to get in. The people at Brickhouse weren’t kidding when they promised us “street food.”