Caliente

I grew up a California boy, which means Mexican food was a part of my everyday life. In fact it’s a top-​3 favorite cuisine for me. Now I live in Boston where Mexican food is literally a joke.
So imagine my surprise when I tried Mexican food at Caliente in HK (TST) and it’s actually better than most of Boston’s Mexican options?!?
Let me get the negatives out of the way first. I was disappointed in the burrito. It was bland, beans were hard and undercooked (why were both refried beans and black beans in my burrito in the first place?), and many of the ingredients that should normally be standard inside the burrito were of extra cost as a side item (really, salsa is extra for a burrito?).
That said — everything else was amazing!
The high notes: The grilled corn on the cob! OMG Fantastic!
The tacos were delicious. We ordered the 5-​set, and picked one of each — pork, beef, chicken, shrimp, and fish. I can definitely say you can do without the seafood varieties, they were overcooked but edible since the flavors were incredible. Pork shined the brightest. I will say their soft taco shells (a true Mexican no-​no) were likely not made in-​house, they were a bit more chewy than one would hope… but it’s easily forgivable.
On the other hand, the free chips and salsa that started the meal were likely in-​house made, and delicious top-​to-​bottom. I especially liked how fresh their salsa tasted.
The margaritas were also sweet and tasty. I think I preferred the traditional lime over the guava, mango and wild fruit options. All could have used a bit more tequila (or maybe I’m just a lush), but then again it was happy hour so I can’t complain.
The best item on their menu might be… drumroll please… their nachos‽ Yes, the most non-​Mexican item was also their most spectacular. How the heck did they manage to get a little of every topping onto every chip? That feat of perfection is a rarity in the USA, and it actually makes a big difference. Now keep in mind, nachos are a staple on every bar/​pub menu across America, so one would more likely call it Tex-​Mex than Mexican. But who cares, it was freakin’ delicious at Caliente!!!
I’ll be back for sure. A class-​act Mexican establishment in the heart of TST.

If we had stopped eating after the corn on the cob and pulled pork tacos then I would have rated this place higher, but unfortunately we didn’t.
The Shrimp tacos (we ordered the fish but they messed up the order), was bland and uninteresting. I had the chicken fajitas for main, and it was ok. my wife ordered the Chicken nachos which was enormous but unfortunately they made yet another mistake with the order and gave her the beef ones! She doesn’t eat beef. 2 mistakes with orders and the place was 90% empty!
The senior waitress was most apologetic and tried to do all she could to rectify the problems, but by then it was too late. without her intervention however I would have rated this place a 1 or 2 star!
We had high hopes for Caliente as there are currently no decent Mexican restaurants in HK, and it still remains the case.