11 Westside

營業中

休息中

Item: 11 Westside
Rating: 3
Author: eatwai

154 食評

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環境

服務

衛生

抵食

24488

西環

$201-400

墨西哥菜酒酒吧

106

eatwai

等級4

188

[ 11 Westside | 堅尼地城 ]

I decided to come to this Mexican restaurant to eat my very first taco at. I’ve heard lots of chatter about this place regarding its hyper-authenticity so I had huge expectations. Unfortunately, I can only regard this meal as average and decent. Nothing mind-blowing.

I came at 5:30 and there was only one other table being served. The restaurant is very spacious and much more elegant than I thought it would be. Nothing like the casual, street-style taqueria I was expecting. There is graffiti on the walls of empty frames and biblical visuals of angels too as their holy mascot.

The menu is quite extensive with a long list of tacos and plates and everything is on the expensive side. I mean, one taco for $60?! I can get not one but two whole meal boxes for this price! But, Mexican food is very rare in HK, especially the ones downright, so I was willing to splurge.

They import most of their ingredients straight from Mexico so you can get a taste of Mexican soil.

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G.S.C $180

Of course, I had to get their famous guacamole that is prepared and served table-side. Getting the salsa also seems like a better deal so why not. Both are served with some warm and crisp tortilla chips.

First up: the guacamole. Bonus points for the presentation of the trolley and the waitress even let me sample the mash before finishing it to see if it is to my preference. I asked for the chillis which might have been a mistake. On a few occasions I bit through a chilli and it immediately made my eyes water, so I suggest you play it safe if you don’t like spicy and ask to have it excluded. The avocado itself is very fresh, creamy and nutty, in amazing contrast with the juicy and fresh tomatoes and red onion. The cilantro also adds an amazing herbaceous aroma and bite.

Next up: their house-made salsa. It is a molcajete salsa, with its name derived from the mortar and pestle it is pounded in which creates the sauce. It is a simple and versatile salsa with fire-roasted tomatoes and chillis as its main ingredients. Their version is extremely refreshing with a welcoming but strong burn from the chilis. It is not too watery with the perfect chunkiness which suggests the tomatoes are very fresh. I love eating this sharp salsa with creamy and mild guacamole.

Lastly: their tortilla chips. These corn chips are served crisp and warm and lightly seasoned with salt, thus you can straight up eat them on their own. But be careful not to finish it all by itself or you will have nothing for the guacamole and salsa. The taste of corn is sweet, nutty and salty. They use maize from Mexico so it is even more fragrant. These were the perfect vessel for guacamole and salsa.

The portion of everything is great for sharing. Since I went alone, I managed to take away half of everything but I just ate the leftovers on my way home as they were too tempting and I wanted to enjoy them fresh.

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Elote Classico $78

I also got this famous Mexican street food as I am a lover of corn. I’ve never tried cojita cheese before but it is similar to feta cheese, something I am obsessed with. I don’t know if it is a good thing or bad but the cheese flavour wasn’t very strong and the cheese and mayonnaise only offered a creamy texture against the crunchy and sweet corn. I highly recommend squeezing lime juice on top as it creates another layer of flavour and actually awakens the cheese. The cheese is a lot milder than feta and just less flavourful overall. By using kewpie mayonnaise, it is sweeter and creamier.

The price is reasonable for the portion but I easily ate all three as it is not filling and the sweet corn is quite addicting.

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Tacos

Onto the tacos! I tried getting the less popular items to see if it is as good as the well-known ones. They served them all at the same time which was quite overwhelming as I didn’t know which one to eat first and did not want them to get cold/soggy/stale.

Let’s talk about the tortilla first before the toppings. It is a soft white corn tortilla and the lack of maize or taste of corn (unlike the tortilla chips) reminds me of flour tortilla which kinda put me off. The tortilla was also quite thick and thus you get a lot of dough in each bite. Fortunately, I like dough.

Baja Fish $60
beer battered sole, pico de gallo, chipotle aioli, cabbage

This fried sole is beer battered which creates a fluffy and crunchy coating that encapsulates the flaky fish and keeps it moist during the fry. The fish itself is well seasoned and it was not greasy or soggy at all.

The pico de gallo is refreshing but I wish there were more of it. The chipotle aioli is slightly spicy but quite flavourless and only offered some moisture and creaminess to the bite. I didn’t like the mountain of cabbage on top as it made it hard to eat, it is also not seasoned and thus very flavourless, only offering crunch with its role as a refreshment. I recommend squeezing lime on top of the fish to alleviate out the ‘fried’ nature of it and it also helps the (limited) pico de gallo balance each bite.

Mango Shrimp $60
butter garlic shrimp, avocado, chipotle aioli, mango salsa

The shrimps themselves were very underwhelming with 3 tiny, lithe pieces but at least they were cooked well and not dry. The bouncy shrimp went well with the tortilla but the sauce was the same chipotle aioli as the fish taco which did not impress me. The cost they saved on the shrimp went to the tangy and sweet mango salsa that made everything so much better. I personally am a huge fan of mango and eating the mango with the tortilla was already really good. The avocado on top surprisingly tied everything together. The creamy and nutty flavour works really well with the tender shrimp and refreshing salsa. All of these flavours being carried by the tortilla were really good.

California Veggie $50
fried cauliflower in salsa roja, grilled jack, avocado

Yes, I tried a vegetarian one too. This was definitely the worse one, maybe because I ate it last? as the tortilla got a bit hard and the cauliflower became quite stale.

The minuscule cauliflower florets themselves are tender yet crunchy but dramatically flavourless despite being covered in salsa roja. The grilled jack cheese didn’t offer many flavours, only more texture, in the form of hard and rubbery goo. But it did add savouriness which went well with the fresh avocado. The tortilla for this one is also weirdly thicker, perhaps due to the lack of topping.

Overall, the tacos were perhaps the biggest letdown tonight despite being the reason I came. I think it would have been much better if their tortilla had more corn taste and was freshly pressed and cooked. They could also work on the quality of the toppings instead of adding more. Each taco has at most 3 bites. I was satisfied after eating 3 but still had room more for my next dish.

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Ceviche Negro $178
hamachi in citrus, pico de gallo, burnt avocado, recado negro

The presentation of this dish already disappoints me. Why would you serve something that is pitch black on a dark plate? I have no idea what I am eating at first glance and already ruined my first impression.

Nonetheless, this dish was very tasty. The hamachi has been tossed in citrus which not only flavours it but also slightly cooks it and tenderises the meat. The result is an extremely tender piece of fish that is zesty, sour and tangy. The perfect combination with the refreshing pico de gallo and nutty, creamy avocado. The ‘burnt’ avocado is mainly for the show as it offers nothing flavour-wise.

I ate this with their black tostada which has a strong corn taste! (the fragrant corn is only evident when fried, why?), it also comes with commercial mayonnaise which you smear onto the fried tortilla for some creaminess and more tanginess to balance out the intense flavours in the ceviche.

The portion is quite generous (expected from this price) with very plump and thick pieces of hamachi. I would have appreciated more avocado as it is much needed in every bite to balance everything out.

FYI, the colour of this dish is a result of squid ink. I can see the vision they had for this dish with black as the theme but they could have executed it better.

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推介 🙆🏻‍♀️

💬 Overall, a pretty mediocre meal and realise that if people think the taco here is good, then HK must really lack Mexican food. To clarify, this restaurant is not bad but could definitely be better but I can still see myself coming back if I want some Mexican food as their tortilla chips and guacamole is really good. However, I will be going to Taqueria Super Macho next week to compare the dishes and see which place is better for Mexican food.

The price is quite high here but I know they offer taco Tuesdays every week which means BOGO on all tacos.

🗓 Revisit? ✅ ⭕️/ ❎