Eat Drink Hong Kong

Tequila is to mescal what Champagne is to sparkling wine. What distinguishes Tequila is that it is made from the blue agave plant which is found only in the Tequila region of western Mexico. We were sitting in a restaurant/bar called Agave in Lockhart Road, half a world away from western Mexico, staring at a drinks list that offered a bewildering selection of Tequila based drinks.

“Tequila Macho”, said my companion, “seventy-five bucks, a tequila blanco with white rum, dark rum and then some stuff like wimpy orange, pineapple and lime.”
“Are you having one?”, I asked.
“No, no , no,” she replied. “I’m going to have a Heart of Fire ($70), Tequila blanco, peach schnapps, sparkling wine and a slice of orange. What are you having?”

I returned my attention to the menu while my companion ordered a plate of nachos gringos ($83), tortilla chips with cheddar cheese salsa and a huge dollop of sour cream. “Margarita I think, El Toro Loco ($70),” which translates as ‘crazy bull’. It is made with Tequila blanco, absinthe, Red Bull and a dash of lime.

I was planning on ordering another starter but the waitress talked me out of it, insisting that the nachos were large enough for two. I took her word for it – I do have a tendency to over order sometimes.

The music was quite loud but not so loud that we couldn’t talk and whilst I would hesitate to say it was latin music, it did have a distinct party feel. The decor had a very tropical latin feel, yellow painted walls with painted red beams across the ceiling.

Combine with intricate light fittings and other ornamentations along with a ceramic tiled bar, and the plate of nachos gringos, and the effect is complete. It was a big plate but I wasn’t convinced that I couldn’t have managed another starter. Nevertheless, I let it slide and we dove into the nachos.

For the main event my companion had ordered the grilled fillet steak ($180) topped with chipotle sauce, oaxaca cheese and cilantro (coriander). For those of you that don’t already know, a chipotle is a smoked jalapeno chili pepper. It is believed the practice of smoking them goes back to even before the Aztec civilisation and that it came about because the thick fleshy peppers were hard to dry properly and tended to go mouldy. Smoked, they can be kept for quite a long time.

I did sneak a taste of the sauce and it was still quite tangy, not too spicy and altogether rather delicious. I would have been envious but I had a bowl of Camarones al Diabla ($160), or sauteed prawns in devil sauce. It had three little chilis next to it on the menu suggesting that it was going to be very spicy indeed.

It was quite spicy but not so much that it would challenge a seasoned chili aficionado. But I was impressed with how the flavour of the habaneros had been brought out without threatening to take the roof of my head off. Both dishes were served with Mexican rice and refried beans.

The waitress enquired if we still wanted the other starter or if we would prefer a dessert. We plumped for dessert. I could have eaten the starter but my companion was beat. Well almost. Any hopes I may have harboured for keeping the crepes with caramel sauce all to myself were very quickly dashed, “That’s so yummy” she said.

The waitress wondered if I’d like another Toro Loco. I was tempted but I knew that if I did I would soon be looking for a sombrero to wear and a sturdy table to dance on.