Heirloom

The gentrification of Sheung Wan continues with Heirloom, a new restaurant on Hollywood Road, a stone’s throw west of 208 and directly across from the brightly painted entrance gate of Hollywood Road Park.

Pisco and K dropped by as we heard that they had tacos on the menu, and if there is something that Hong Kong desperately needs, it’s more tacos.  We arrived around dusk and sat at a table adjacent to the sidewalk.  The space on the ground level was completely open and the opportunity to dine al fresco on this mild evening was wonderful.  More tables are located upstairs on the first floor, where bookings are accommodated.

The menu is relatively compact, with sections listing tacos, appetizers, sandwiches, mains/larger plates, and desserts.  Sandwiches were not available at dinner, although it was not clear if that was standard policy or a one-off on this evening.

Heirloom offers four kinds of taco: carnitas, fish, black bean, and chicken mole.  We chose two fish tacos, one carnitas, and one chicken mole.  The salads look interesting, so we ordered a Balinese salad, with red cabbage, chopped long beans, kaffir lime leaf, and chicken, with a lime/lemongrass dressing.

The server informed me that the chicken in the salad would be 30 dollars extra, even though the description on the menu included chicken and had no mention of a surcharge.  Note to management: make sure your menu clearly communicates pricing.  While the dollar value of the charge is not large, it left a bad taste in my mouth (figuratively) and felt unprofessional, as it wasn’t clear if it was a menu printing error or if they had just changed the price in the few weeks they had been open.

I declined the chicken upsell.

The salad arrived first, and it is a colorful explosion of a dish, with a few slices of avocado lying on a Jackson Pollock mess of shredded purple cabbage.  Small bits of long beans are scattered throughout.  The texture and taste were quite good, with the rich avocado serving as a counterpoint to the crisp cabbage.  The taste of kaffir lime leaf is quite strong; some may feel it’s overpowering but I quite liked it.  Overall the salad has a refreshing taste and something I would order again on a humid summer night.

It is an absolutely monstrous portion, and I find it unlikely that one person would be able to finish it.  Our party of two barely finished it.

Of course, when the tacos arrived, I realized why we would need to finish the salad.  There is no diplomatic way to say this, so let’s just state that the tacos are small.  Diminutive.  Larger than microscopic, as they are visible with the naked eye; a crestfallen eye undoubtedly moistened with sadness and disappointment.

The tacos are served on small corn tortillas, but they use one per taco, where most tacos I’ve eaten are served on two (long internet debate; TL;DR – it depends).  It did not help that they were a little greasy, either, so some of the tacos ended up being greasy globs of goodness (look at the carnitas, front left in photo) wrapped in a greasy tortilla that was practically falling apart.  Not exactly what I wanted in my taco.

The taco fillings are generally delicious, if limited in quantity due to the single-tortilla policy.  The whitefish tacos were perfect, with the chunks of fish meat cooked just right so they were done but not falling apart.  The carnitas was competent if not spectacular.  The chicken mole was a little tough and forgettable, but as nothing can come close to the mole I regularly ate at La Carta de Oaxaca, you should probably order it and judge for yourself.

If the fish tacos were doubled in size, three would make a decent meal.  As it stands, you probably need to order eighteen to fill your belly.  Alternatively, order the Balinese salad and you will be fine.

The space at Heirloom is literally a breath of fresh air, and the actual food is promising; I am sure the execution will improve as they have just opened.  I salute the ambition of the menu to combine some traditional Mexican flavors with an Asian twist (eg, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf).  Nobody else in town is exploring this palette of flavors and they deserve to be tried at least once.

The one aspect of the experience that prevents me from recommending repeat visits is the price.  One salad, four tacos, and a cup of tea ran 263 HKD with no service charge; I added a modest 10% gratuity, bringing the total for the meal to a frankly extortionate 290 HKD.

As expat incursions continue eastward, I am quite certain Heirloom will be successful, overrun with a stream of guests hopping out of taxis that were hailed in Mid-Levels.

But if I see any of them misbehaving at Mr Taco Truck in Quarry Bay, while I am eating the best tacos in Hong Kong and drowning in horchata, you will hear from me.

Food: B+
Ambiance: A
Service: C
Value: D
Overall: C+

Heirloom
226 Hollywood Road
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
+852 2547 8008
[map]