Mexico Food & Liquor

For a restaurant themed with Day of the Dead skulls and skeletons, Mexico Food & Liquor sure has a lot of life. Office crowds by day and Surry Hills tequila lovers by night turn the madcap room into a fiesta, and a successful trans-Tasman operation adds to the cred as much as the three Mexican-style chilli sauces on every table. Crisp spoon-shaped tostaditas make a good starter, the tortillas topped with a refreshing mix of crab, almond and cucumber. There's a Neanderthal coffee and ancho chilli beef rib plonked on a plank, and a terracotta bowl of chunky, refreshing ceviche - a citrusy, herb-strewn jumble of kingfish, grape tomatoes, chilli, lime and red pepper. The spice hit continues as you segue into the sweetness of a dense ancho chilli, cinnamon and chocolate olive oil cake with yoghurt, or a deep, dense Mexican hot chocolate.