Mexican in Kennedy Town: 11 Westside is a terrace-blessed Mexican establishment in new luxury residence The Hudson on Davis Street.

Look & Feel: Spacious, dimly lit. Deep mural-covered alcoves behind the bar. Utensils in gilted frames on the wall. Raw concrete walls and exposed pipe ceilings. Communal marbletop tables inside and wooden picnic tables outside.

Meet the Chef: Mexican native Esdras Ochoa is the man behind red-hot Sonoran Mexican restaurant Salazar in Los Angeles. 11 Westside is his first project in Asia.

On the Menu: The menu is actually extremely simple. Expect failsafe Mexican staples like chips and salsa/guac; different types of tacos (chicken, beef, pork and vegetarian); salad and ceviche starters and steak and fish mains. And when we say steak and fish mains, we do mean exactly one steak main (USDA Prime hangar, $298) and one fish main (red snapper, $258).

Jeng: The tableside guacamole (literally made tableside and paired with tortilla chips, $150) is amazing: the avocados are at the perfect ripeness, and simply but beautifully seasoned. The Echo Park baby corn is another tasty if predictable dish.

Not So Jeng: Perhaps the expectations were too high. Perhaps we’ve had better on the west coast. Perhaps the thought of $50 per taco even at such a trendy, gorgeous establishment that is otherwise on the affordable side, was a bit hard to stomach. Perhaps we waited too long for them to come. Whatever the case, the decent-tasting-but-unmemorable Al Pastor (roasted pork with pineapple accents — our favorite of the night), Carne Asada (prime rib with ponzu sauce), Pollo Asado (grilled chicken with garlic and sweet citrus) and Cauliflower Veggie (cauliflower with adobo sauce) tacos are not the stars of our show at 11 Westside.

Great For: Large parties.

FYI: There’s a pool table here!

Check out Hong Kong’s newest restaurants and bars here.

This writeup was based on an independent visit. The Loop HK doesn’t guarantee/sell restaurant review coverage. See our editorial policy here.