Mexican rave: on the hunt for Hong Kong's best tacos and tequila
Our reporters embark on a Mexican restaurant marathon ahead of Cinco do Mayo, the day the country celebrates victory over the French army in 1862
A couple of years ago we tackled a trail through most of Hong Kong's Mexican venues in search of taco perfection and found some ho-hum food. We thought we would hit the trail again in search of good food - now that Mexican cooking has evolved in the city - plus tequila and the more refined mezcal to match.
The taco trail map
First stop is Agave in Lan Kwai Fong, the busiest branch in the small local chain. It's a small outlet with a large tequila collection, all of them 100 per cent agave. We consult the experts on the differences between tequilas and between that spirit and mezcal. Ryan Fitzgerald, a leading bartender from San Francisco who was recently at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental's Masters of Mixology event, says, "mezcal is tequila's older, smokier brother".
While tequila is made on an industrial scale from one type of agave only, mezcal is still made in small batches by peasant techniques from one of up to 25 of the cacti - you'll notice the difference in the added complexity, fruity, chilli flavours of mezcal.
As mezcal is not always available and you may be stuck with a choice between tequilas, the advice is to go for one that is 100 per cent agave. Others can be as much as half made with other unspecified alcohols and are best left to college students who don't care about hangovers - we're looking at you Jose Cuervo Especial.
At Agave in LKF there's a possibility of mezcal arriving soon but for the moment we try the tequilas. These are chased not with a squeeze of lime, something we often find a bit soapy, but sangrita, a mix of orange, tomato and lime juices with salt and Tabasco. It's a great finish to some smooth tequilas - we tried a flight of Tequila Corraleo, Don Julio Reposado and Herradura and found them all smooth and easy drinking. They do have Jose Cuervo Traditional, not to be confused with the swill with the yellow label, and affordable and drinkable Cuervo made with 100 per cent agave.
We may well have hit a tequila gold mine, but this is a dry well on the taco front. They don't sell them. We have a chorizo pan tostado instead and are not disappointed by the sweet combination of melted cheese, onion jam and spicy chorizo: tasty, and filling for a night of drinking but hardly authentic.